Parents today face many challenges in raising good children, in particular children from the age of 12 to 15. This age group is perhaps the most vulnerable age group in our society now.
This group can neither be classified as children nor teenager. They represent a distinct age group with special needs as they are somewhat in between childhood and youth when many changes are occurring within them. At this crucial period of life, they face tumultuous physical and emotional change.
They display characteristics that are unique or particular to this age. Probably, we can refer them as junior youths.
These junior youths are a specific age group faced with a lot of challenges in life. Generally, they are always considered as problematic, unresponsive and self-consumed.
It is at this age that they are often mislead and end up in wrong company and thus become derailed in life. Even the school-going children at this age manifest peculiar and strange behaviours which parents will admit too.
If these young people are left to own whims and fancies, surely they will be lost in life. It will too difficult to bring them the normal facet of life once they reach 15 or 16 as they have strayed too far.
But the question is what are we doing to them? Can all parties concerned do something or render a helping hand to these dismayed youths?
The schools surely cannot handle them effectively. Nowadays teachers are bogged down with too much task that they can’t find time to realign this troubled young people.
Parents too face a lot of challenges in guiding them. Sometimes, these young people are just left alone as they cannot be handled by own parents.
Despite painted negative by the world, the junior youths are actually otherwise. These junior youths are actually eager and curious to learn about the universe. They tend to explore a lot of new things at this age. They have the desire to contribute to the construction of a better world.
But, sadly their acts are sometimes misunderstood and considered as bad by parents and society at large. But, our challenge is to bring care and concern to these youths.
I believe creative attention must be devoted to involve them in programs of activity that will engage their interests, mould their capacities for service, and involve them in social action.
The programmes planned for them should assist them to recognize the moral issues underlying everyday decisions and identify the moral implications of speech and action. The programmes need to empower them to channel their energies towards both strengthening their own character and to serving their community.
I understand that there are communities, social bodies, religious bodies, and NGO’s making efforts to assist these youths. Notably, the Bahá’i community is spearheading programmes called The Junior Youth Spiritual Programme, a global initiative at endowing this group with ability to recognize the spiritual significance of their actions and word.
The aim of this programme is to assist junior youth to take ownership for their spiritual and intellectual development, to develop a strong sense of purpose and the volition needed to make good decisions, and to engage in meaningful social action in their communities.
Their programmes adopt a participatory mode of learning where the facilitator and participants learn from each other.
Report indicate that these programmes are well-received by junior youths in many parts of the country. We hope more concerted efforts are taken to help this special group of people. We can’t afford to lose this special group of young people, precious ones who are going to be leaders of tomorrow.
