Youth are essential to the survival of law.
Youth and the Survival of Law
Category: Tsm’syen Law Page status: Working
Principle
Youth are essential to the survival of law.
Law does not survive through written text alone. It survives through understanding, practice, and responsibility carried across generations.
Role of Youth
Youth ensure the continuity of law by:
- Receiving legal teachings from elders and knowledge holders
- Observing how law is practiced, corrected, and upheld
- Carrying legal responsibility forward into future generations
- Testing whether law remains balanced, relevant, and just
- Becoming future witnesses, speakers, and stewards of authority
Without youth participation, law becomes static and eventually loses legitimacy.
Relationship to Elders
Elders carry legal memory. Youth carry legal continuity.
The relationship between elders and youth ensures that:
- Ayaawx is not lost
- Adaawx remains understood in context
- Interpretation remains grounded rather than abstract
- Law adapts without breaking
Responsibility of Governance
Preparing youth to understand and carry law is a duty of governance.
Failure to teach youth constitutes a failure of law itself, not a failure of youth.
Modern Context
In contemporary settings, youth participation in law may include:
- Observation of dispute resolution
- Participation in cultural and legal education
- Advisory roles within governance structures
- Learning responsibilities before holding authority
Youth are not symbolic participants. They are future carriers of legal responsibility.
Cross References
Elders as Interpreters of Law Transmission of Ayaawx Adaawx as Legal Record Youth and the Future Line Legal Continuity