Recently, I was invited to a have session with teenagers, some
50 boys and girls at a sub-urban secondary school. I was actually requested to
give a motivational talk. Before the talk, I issued a questionnaire to measure the
emotional level of students in the school. Students were requested to fill in the
questionnaire - a list of 15 questions to be answered.
The talk was delivered and some salient points of facing
life as students were shared with the students. Some motivational quotes,
videos and illustrations were shared. I presume the students have supposed to
have realized their role as students and probably become more prepared to face
the challenges ahead.
The questionnaire was analyzed. Some shocking discovery was
revealed. Yes, some of the answers given by the students were indeed disturbing.
More than 60% of the students attended the session felt that their parents
exercise too much control over them. Similarly, the students also feel the
teachers control them very much in their school.
A small number also said they listen to their friends more than
their parents. A few even stated that they are disappointed in the teenage life.
The findings may not represent the entire view of all the
teenagers today. But, I believe the findings are an expression of the feelings
and emotions of our teenagers. The findings have some relevance today. What has
been discovered here is that parents and teachers are having difficulty in
handling the children, in particular teenagers. I strongly believe parents lack
parental skills and due that apply too much pressure on their teenage children.
As we know the teenagers during this time undergo a
turbulent stage. We need to understand them and nurture them to face the challenging
life. They need to be guided and brought to the straight path. Perhaps, we
should think of ways of accompanying them in their journey of the teenage life.
But a few questions linger in our mind now. Do we have enough
parenting and motivational programmes to guide our parents, especially to guide
our wayward teenagers? What is the society at large doing about the teenage
issues? What are the religious, political and social bodies doing to arrest the
issues faced by our teenagers. What are the schools doing about the problematic
teenagers?
I deeply believe the parents need to be equipped with
current knowledge and skills to handle their teenagers well. We are having too
many motivational programmes for students, but very few for the needy and
desperate parents.
The children are the future of our world. We cannot afford to
let them tread in wrong ways and thus
waste their teenagehood. Therefore, let parents and teachers make
effort in order that these
teenagers may be rightly trained and educated, and that each one of them may
attain perfection in the world of humanity.
