Globalization has opened up economies, resulting in the amalgamation of cultures and people. Relationships have undergone radical changes and family life has been redefined. However, these changes have led to significant improvement and degradation alike and the resultant is a source of great concern. The new generation faces problems, that are almost entirely new to this planet. Coping with them is difficult but, imperative for the youth today.
1. Single Parent Households
It is not without reason that certain cultures equate the mother and father with God. They are the true ‘creators’ of a child in more than one sense. With the joint family system almost becoming extinct and the rates of divorce and premarital sex on the rise, single-parent households are fast becoming common scenarios. While this is often seen as a problem of reduced income, leading to reduced opportunities of education and skill-set development for the child, the damage is far more subtle and devastating. Adolescence is a very turbulent period and lack of proper love and guidance from a parent, who is struggling to make both ends meet, results in greater chances of the youth taking to bad habits, risky behavioral pattern and thwarted character development. The presence of siblings may compound the problem as well.
2. Drug/Alcohol Abuse
These days, youngsters indulge in ‘adult’ behavioral trend, without imbibing the responsibility that is expected of an adult. Drug and alcohol abuse are rampant with availability, that has increased due to better networking. The worst thing about drugs and alcohol is that they give amazing kick and aggravate addiction. Drugs motive the youth hungering for some ‘action’ and encourage the peddlers to find more ways to get these drugs into the market. Alcohol too, though not as severe as drugs, can cause permanent damage. Both the maladies result in dropouts, violent behavior, anti-social tendencies and poor grades.They are expensive and force the addicts to indulge in other crimes like robbery, theft and in some cases, even murder!
3. Growing up Too Fast
Fast growth is appreciated everywhere,but, there is wisdom in the ancient proverb, “Slow and steady wins the race.” Children are being increasingly exposed to the ‘adult’ world. Childhood and adolescence have almost lost their meanings. There are television programs and marketing campaigns, directed at the children and youth with sexual suggestions! There are also music, movies and dresses, intended to bring out the adult in a child. What is more ghastly is that when no such ‘adult’ exists in the child, efforts are being made to coerce untimely mental growth!
4. Violence in Schools
Gone are the days when violence in schools or colleges meant bullying or, a fist-fight at the worst. With knives, chains and even guns making their entries into the campuses, more than 250 children have been murdered in cold blood in schools and colleges in the last decade. Though these killings are chilling enough, implications are really scary in guise of depreciation of basic human values and scant respect for life. Carrying a gun is treated casually, while the values of love and tolerance are seen as signs of weakness. This change in outlook is what is highly alarming! Schools and colleges have been transformed into physical and psychological war zones.
5. Materialism
Mahatma Gandhi said, “There is enough in this world for everyone’s need, but, not for anyone’s greed.” Crass commercialism and craving consumerism have eaten into the very fabric of the society. With the media promoting materialism and nobody moving even a finger to inculcate restraint in the children, happiness is being wrongly equated with desire fulfillment, rather than contentment. The youth, therefore, have no idea that they they replace earning with yearning. Again, more than the financial implications, degradation of character is far more punitive. The ‘ceiling-on-desires’ program has become an absolute necessity today.
6. Obesity
The BMI (Body-mass-index) ratios and ideal-weight charts are being redefined in many parts of the world to give people a feeling of their well being! These days, children are ‘scaling’ new weights thanks to the abundance of junk food stuffs, which are touted and peddled as tasty delights. Computer games have replaced outdoor games and the television has replaced hobbies and recreational activities. Apart from its obvious physical repercussions of increased incidence of heart problems and high blood pressure, obesity also causes issues of low self-esteem, depression and other psychological problems too.
7. Education Disparity
The fact that the right to education has been made the fundamental right for every citizen in most of the countries speaks for the importance of education. While at the physical level, child labor is condemned and education is encouraged, the inherent disparity is embedded in our policies and mindsets too, inevitably leading to the continuous widening of the gulf between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. All said and done, unless one feels genuine love for one’s fellow beings and gives up selfishness, one can only sympathize and never empathize! The vicious cycle becomes visible, when people realize that selfishness is promoted by materialism and materialism is generated by selfishness.
8. Shifting Economy
Salaries are getting fatter of course, but, have you ever wondered how this is being made possible? A mound of sand implies a pit nearby. When the resources in the world are fixed and someone gets richer, it is obviously at the cost of someone else. Automation and outsourcing have led to increased efficiency and low cost of production, but this has also led to increased unemployment. These days, youth do not find jobs, despite using their multiple degrees as begging bowls!
9. Poverty
The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) declares that poverty is the greatest threat that a child could ever face. With more than 50 percent of the children being steeped into poverty, the youth will have to face considerable challenges ahead. Poverty means, reduced or no access to medical and educational facilities. Social and behavioral problems too arise and the parents have neither the strength nor the inclination to correct the youth. Again, we see that materialism, disparity in education and poverty are inter-linked.
10. Erosion of National Identity and Pride
We do not realize that just as organs are essential parts of a body, every individual is a part of the body called the society. This collective identity is lost and each youth is like a lone survivor on the island of callous humanity! How can we have unity and cohesiveness? How can we feel for our fellow-beings if we do not consider them as our comrades? How can we ever belong to a society, unless we inculcate the feeling of belonging? The youth have their tasks cut out!
