“Not only do we not have the right answers, but above all we have the wrong questions: we waste a lot of time looking for answers to questions that are no longer the right ones. Young people do not yet have the answers, but they do have the questions. I would like every word that I do not say to be replaced by the word of a young person” Alessandro Baricco (La Repubblica, 15 May 2026).
I saw, heard, and really liked this message from one of the most successful contemporary Italian writers, and one of my favorites, in the profile of this prestigious Italian newspaper.
I've said it before, it's a special liberation and fulfillment when you realize that you share the same opinion with other people, especially those you value the most.
Well, I am convinced that there is something wrong with many adults (read 60 year olds, as Baricco, who is himself 68, refers to).
In this time where everything moves so fast, many of them are refusing to understand that what is happening has a language, rhythm, form, and content that is simply completely different from theirs.
And if it were just rejection, maybe I would just feel sorry for them. But in our country, in academic, media, artistic environments... (add others yourself) the problem that we all notice, if we put a little thought into it, is that this generation does not accept alternatives, stubborn that only they know, only they can, they use a good part of their energy to hinder, insult and sometimes even forcefully oppose young people, the opportunities they may have, the talent they want to express, the skills they want to develop.
.....
I started this note last week...somewhere at the beginning of the week, so that I would have it ready for the long weekend, where preparations for the National Children's Song Festival, I thought...would take up my time and maybe it would be better to have the week's writing ready.
But...it was precisely with this perverse logic that, on Tuesday of last week, "a war" began that really didn't let me do many of the planned tasks.
I absolutely do not want to give attention, let alone voice, to the noisy stories that we manage to produce.
Otherwise, I would be telling you a true story, which conclusively confirms my conviction (and Baricco's, modestly aside).
Instead, I'm talking to you today about the young people you can easily recognize in the photo accompanying this article. I'm listing them by age, from the youngest, 15, to the oldest, 26. Noeli, Hea, Eden, Hana, Klajsa, Arseldi, Jursi, Abeli, Jeta, Blerti, and Editi.
This is the 11 with whom we took to the "field" in this edition of the Festival. We adults gave them the opportunity and the trust, and the advice whenever they needed it. They gave us their energy, adrenaline and responsibility, and endless laughter.
The 11 young volunteers of this edition often have questions. At first glance, you might think that some of them might be naive, but in fact they are always right. They have the energy that the scene needs, the desire to do the job well, they know what their peers want, they know how to serve them, and they communicate with the speed of technology, which they use at their fingertips.
They speak their own language full of jokes and memes and fly from one corner to another, communicating in the air.
They may have never turned on the TV to RTSH, they may not know the names of the traditional artists participating in the festival, they may confuse the name with the figure of the jury members... but this does not prevent them from loving the Festival with all their heart, and even from protecting it much more than some adults who want to make even this children's scene part of their bargain.
So without waving the flags of someone who says what they think is right, today before you I want to say with conviction that I think, say and do the same thing. And I will always do it, to try to understand young people, to give them opportunities, to support and advise them, and above all to understand when it is time to say enough, and to leave the baton to them. I would really like there to be many more people who think like me.
Ps as we were getting ready for the 64th edition of the Festival, the youth protest had not yet started. From the color palette of the visual identity that the Festival has, the volunteers chose this year themselves to have the t-shirts pink. Some things are simply brought about by chance, it is good to trust that too.
