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A junior youth group is a small number (ideally less than twenty) of young people aged between eleven and fifteen years of age, gathered together with/by an animator, which is an older person trained through study of Ruhi Book 5. Such groups hope to instil a sense of direction into the lives of the participants, enabling them to see themselves as active contributors to society, and as having a spiritual nature.
Activities can include games, service projects, and the study of specially-designed materials. A number of books have been written for this purpose. The Ruhi Institute produced a book entitled Drawing on the Power of the Word. A book called Breezes of Confirmation was written in Zambia, (on behalf of the William Mmutle Masetlha Foundation), and another called Walking the Straight Path was produced on behalf of the Badi Foundation, Macau. These last two books were both published in Florida by Development Learning Press. All three books have similarities to the Ruhi books used for adult Study circles, and have now been augmented by a number of other titles, including Learning About Excellence and Thinking About Numbers. However, many of these further titles are only available in a "pre-publication" format, which means that they have to be downloaded from the internet. Glimmerings of Hope is now available in commercially printed form.
The Bahá'í World Centre is very clear that junior youth groups are an essential part of the core activities which will increasingly alter social structures in the direction propounded by Bahá'u'lláh. However, many clusters have yet to implement these on a large scale. It has been suggested by the World Centre that the age group most appropriate to act as animators, leading these groups, would be those who are currently considered youth, (i.e. of 15 years upwards), although no restriction is placed upon this. It is also frequently felt that each group needs two animators, rather than one, for simple logistical reasons, such as the enforced absence of one animator. As the system becomes embedded in the life of the community, some of the participants, having reached the age of fifteen, may well wish to begin the adult Ruhi books, and subsequently train as animators themselves. Consequently, given the right conditions, the system should become self-sustaining.
Within each cluster that has an intensive programme of growth, a co-ordinator is appointed for the junior youth activities. It is the role of this person to oversee all such activities, through encouraging training, encouraging group formation, accompaniment, etc. In some parts of the world a "resource person" has been appointed, who can co-ordinate, advise and encourage the co-ordinators from the various clusters.
In early 2020, many countries went into "lockdown" because of the outbreak of pandemic COVID-19. Some Junior youth groups are known to have transferred to an online existence.
Active Contributors to Society[edit]
For a variety of reasons, young people often seem to feel that there are too many problems in the world to actually tackle them, and although some individuals may have a vision of a fairer society, or a kinder one, or perhaps more ecologically aware, the enormity, and therefore impossibility, of the tasks of solving the problems and of creating a fairer society usually leaves them feeling impotent. One of the goals of the junior youth group is to make the young people realise that they do have the capacity to make some change, to make a difference. So by adopting some goal within their immediate environment - talking to lonely people, clearing up litter, cleaning off graffiti, whatever it may be - the junior youth realise that their actions do make a difference. This process should give the participants a sense of worth. Such acts of service are, therefore, seen as an essential part of the activities of a junior youth group. Indeed, the theme of the book, Drawing on the Power of the Word (see above) revolves around precisely this sort of activity.
All of the titles are concerned with developing language skills and the power of expression. Some in the first category also address mathematical concepts and social issues, while others seek to prepare young people to approach the investigation of physical, social and spiritual reality in a scientific manner. Though the moral concepts in the materials in the first category are drawn from the Bahá’í teachings, they are not religious in nature, nor do they treat subjects that are specifically Bahá’í. Many kinds of organizations, including academic institutions, will therefore find them useful for their educational programs with junior youth. The current titles in this category are:
- Breezes of Confirmation
- Wellspring of Joy
- Habits of an Orderly Mind
- Glimmerings of Hope
- Walking the Straight Path
- Learning About Excellence
- Thinking About Numbers
- Observation and Insight
- The Human Temple
- Drawing on the Power of the Word
In its own work with young people, the Ruhi Institute includes the items in the second category, which address Bahá’í-related subjects. Among these subjects are those with which adolescents most often struggle, such as, free will and predestination and the complex relationship between will and knowledge. Currently, the following titles are in this category:
- Spirit of Faith
- Power of the Holy Spirit
Availability of Publications[edit]
Each workbook is typically produced and circulated in pre-publication form, mostly by downloads from the internet. At a certain point, the text is considered ready for publication, and the item appears in book form. The "pre-publication" items are obtained directly from the training institute, rather than the normal booksellers.
Breezes of Confirmation, Walking the Straight Path: www.devlp.com
See also[edit]
