Editorial-A place for youth, right now

All recent and not-so-recent studies point in the same direction: Moroccan youth are absent from political decision-making circles.
The latest report by the association “Les Citoyens” presents a worrying yet unsurprising finding: more than 70% of surveyed young Moroccans say they do not trust institutions or their elected officials (see www.leconomiste.com, Monday, July 20, 2025).
Should we really be surprised? Between recycled promises, top-down projects launched from major cities, and consultations that lead nowhere, young people have long since stopped believing.
Today, they are dropping out, remaining silent, withdrawing. Withdrawal is the ultimate form of passive resistance.
At the root of this are several factors, including a lack of dialogue and the feeling of being perceived as targets to be «raised awareness» rather than as full-fledged actors. This observation is even more striking in rural areas, where access to engagement is hampered by geographic, social, and educational barriers. Citizenship education is often theoretical, poorly implemented, and lacking any real connection to local realities.
So what can be done? First, stop confusing awareness with patronizing them. Put a stop to the famous « delegations» that come to « listen to young people « if they are then left to check a box in a report… until the next one.
Likewise, we need to profoundly rethink civic education. Not just by stacking up theoretical notions, but by creating real laboratories for learning citizenship through action.
No reform, no vision will stand the course if it is built without the generation expected to carry it. It is no longer enough to keep repeating that youth are the future. We must give first them a place… right now.