“Young people are sparks of fire” is not a hadith
Question

There is a hadith which says that young people are sparks of fire; either they pave the way or they burn it. I hope you can explain how sound this hadith is.
Praise be to Allah.We have not come across this hadith with this text, or even something close in meaning. It is strange that this hadith is narrated on some English-language Islamic websites and attributed to “al-Tirmidhi.” We do not know who is meant by that: is it Abu ‘Isa al-Tirmidhi, the author of al-Sunan (d. 279 AH), or al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi (d. 320 AH), the author of Nawadir al-Usul? Whatever the case, we did not find this hadith in either of their books. What is required of the Muslim is to verify a report before narrating it, and it is not permissible for him to attribute hadiths to the Prophet (blessings and peace of Allah be upon him) before checking whether they are authentic.
As for the impact that youth have on the life of communities, it is great and important, because they are the foundation and basis on which the community is built, and they are the main players in different aspects of life, the ones who lead society to progress or regress. We ask Allah to guide the Muslim youth to be torches of light, guidance, success and prosperity.
And Allah knows best.