Student Values Survey Very Interesting

I just read a news release on values of 2500 Canadian high school and post-secondary students.  The headline grabbed me:  "Happiness Rules: Canada's Youth Don't Live for $$$"

I wanted to see how the student values compared with the Influentials and Cultural Creatives in Reboot Alberta and the random sample we did of everyday Albertans on the same values.

First the students are said to be "idealistic, optimistic and confident in their abilities to accomplish goals.  They seem not to be entrepreneurial nor interested in great wealth accumulation with happiness being more important as a value driver.  The reasons stated were because this cohort placed low value on collaboration, innovation and leadership and they were risk adverse.

This is not good from my perspective.  If ever we needed a value shift in our culture it is now and this is needed in areas like collaboration, innovation and leadership.  The other side of the value coin for students was interesting too.   They reported a high importance on compassion, integrity and optimism and they believed that they would not change their values much between now and 2020.  They look forward to spending time with friends and family, getting more education, living a healthy lifestyle with a career and living in a safe and secure environment.

The top value drivers for the Reboot Influentials were around what they wanted policy makers and politicians to use when making decisions so they do not compare directly with the context of the student values. Rebooters want a government that had integrity, that was honest, accountable and transparent with a strong sense of environmental stewardship.  Next priorities were applied wisdom, a focus on well being and equity along with fiscal responsibility and respect for diversity.

If you share these values you should join Reboot Alberta  and become part of a citizen's movement Pressing for Change to a more progressive political culture in Alberta.  Block off November 5-7 for the next gathering of progressive thinking Albertans and help frame a progressive provincial political agenda and figure out what actions we need to take to make it happen.