Culture and Education
Education and culture are also key components for the Youth edition. Not only does the education/culture aspect apply to athletes and participants, but also youth around the world and inhabitants of the host city and surrounding regions. To this end a Culture and Education Program (CEP) will be featured at each Games. The first CEP at the 2010 Singapore Games featured events that fostered cooperation amongst athletes of different nations. It had classes on topics ranging from health and fitness to the environment and career planning. Local students from Singapore made booths at the World Culture Village that represented each of the 205 participating National Olympic Committee. The Chat with Champions sessions were the most popular portion of the program. Participants were invited to hear inspirational talks given by former and current Olympic athletes.
Emphasis on exchange goes beyond the CEP. Another unique feature of the Youth Olympic Games are mixed-gender and mixed-national teams. Triathlon relays, fencing, table tennis, archery and mixed swimming relays are a few of the sports in which athletes from different nations and mixed genders can compete together. YOG organizers are also using social media such as Facebook, Flikr, and Twitter as key platforms for engaging young athletes before, during, and after each celebration of the Games. Multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multi-age requirements are the targets of the program, which stress the themes of "Learning to know, learning to be, learning to do, and learning to live together".
Read more about this topic: Youth Olympic Games
Famous quotes containing the words culture and/or education:
“Our culture still holds mothers almost exclusively responsible when things go wrong with the kids. Sensing this ultimate accountability, women are understandably reluctant to give up control or veto power. If the finger of blame was eventually going to point in your direction, wouldn’t you be?”
—Ron Taffel (20th century)
“If the education and studies of children were suited to their inclinations and capacities, many would be made useful members of society that otherwise would make no figure in it.”
—Samuel Richardson (1689–1761)