Sociologists See Youth As A Crisis In Conformity, Change, And Behavior…

Is Youth Really In A Crisis?

Here is how Psychologists, Educators, and Sociologists have presented their findings on youth:

Psychologists view the stage of youth as one of long personal crises and personal struggles with various influences and reactions. They regard youths as adolescents; a stage which brings worry, confusion, depression, agitation, and every other difficult term found in psychology dictionaries.

Educators believe that the crisis (assuming that we first subscribe to the belief that there is a crisis) is one of structure and development and that responsibility rests on the shoulders of the educational institutions- whose basic function is to lay the foundations of this structure and to develop the methods and forms of further learning.

Is Youth Really a Crisis?

I do not believe that it is.

If we agree that there is a problem or crisis, then it is not in the youth themselves, for they (the softest of heart) are very sensitive, good-

hearted, well-intentioned. They are ready to understand and compromise with the world around them. Youths are not a problem. Rather, the problem is to know how to get close to and work with them.

The youth boy or girl is neither intrinsically disobedient, perturbed by nature, or harsh. Rather, it is the environment and the milieu, be it in the house, school, street, or institution. One may not properly interact with the youth’s sharp sensibilities and instead treat him with hardness leading to harshness. One may err in dealing with someone who has just emerged from childhood into relative maturity. The youth may be looked upon as that same little child who remains a child. The words of the poet best speak of this false assumption for many who work in that field:

Leila remains a child in my eye,

Since yesterday, she has not grown but a finger’s width…

If this is the analogy, then you should not expect from those who work

with the youth, anything but to put more pressure and to impose more prohibitions unsheathing the sword of prohibition on things in which God never gave them authority, that people may look at them as an example.

I call on you, parents, teachers, nurturers, and those who would right the situation, to read the columns from newspapers and magazines which say “I want a solution,” “Problems and Solutions,” or “Guide me to the path.” You will see for yourselves that the larger problem lies in misunderstanding and bad interaction.

In conditions such as these, what happens?

The youth-boy and girl-falls back on the people closest to him, his peers. And here he undergoes insufficient or deficient experience, drawing imaginary solutions from films or serials; or else solutions from newspapers dealing with youths from a perspective which may, at the very least.

The youth may become withdrawn, confining himself behind the closed doors of his room, because the stifling atmosphere has caused him to be misunderstood and mistreated. Inside his closed room, he in- indulges in every mental and sexual fantasy-sometimes daydreaming of a time, when there will be better understanding and relations. Other times, his mood changes to one of resentment and anger, displaying withdrawal, hostility, or disgust by excessive reactions to things.

Why Do We Force Them Into a Negative Position?

Would it not be better for us to open our hearts to them, be warmer to them, to speak gently and be more openminded-to speak to them in a language that basically says:

We love you very much and we care about you, we do not want you to fall into great error or be taken unawares by error. Live your life in the spirit of your times. But he who wants to take a path, the contours of which he does not know, should take the time to ask: `Where is the road?’ If not, he will lose his way and stray far away from the road… We do not wish to dictate or impose on you … reflect on our advice, and our sincerest guidance … we are closer to you than anything else around you … your happiness is our happiness … and what makes you unhappy makes us unhappy … let us work together as friends.

This is the point through which mutual understanding is reached, the point where we can say “Let us work together as friends.” It is the coveted opportunity and the main thing that guides us to the solution of the problem in a way that is human, reflecting wisdom and good exhortation instead of cutting off dialogue in a dictatorial manner.

Understanding and mutual comprehension are what we must seek to deal with youth, and we must ask ourselves if at home we enjoy this state of affairs in terms of sincere and loving interaction. If we do, we shall live then happily, as will our children.

In our schools, assemblies, and institutions the prevailing methodology is one of a positive attitude toward students according to the following equations:

The younger generation is filled with hope, ambition, confidence, and dynamism.

If this is valid, then we must offer valuable and active trust. We do not agree with the equations:

youth=irresponsibility youth=distraction

youth=loss

youth=effeminacy

youth=risks everything offered (even if long outdated)

We are of the view that

youth=message

youth=receptivity to the time in analysis and perception

And that:

youth=construction, development

youth=hope, ambition

youth=living, dynamic reality

which can pull out the roots of blind imitation, corruption, and licentiousness to create a better situation than the one which a youth may find himself inheriting. He can realize his true position in terms of self-esteem, which is unimaginable without a better knowledge

Thank you for reading Shameem Anwar and for your valuable time.