Emotional Level of our teenagers

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.

Junior Youths

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.