Essentially, "young
people" fall into the period of life from the beginning of puberty to the
attainment of adulthood. This period is usually concomitant with problems as
they "struggle" to fit themselves into society. The word "problem" doesn't
necessarily imply that youth is assumed to be a period in which storm and
stress predominate; it can be a period marked by good health and high
achievement. Nevertheless difficult decisions and adjustments face young
people in today's society. In this article, therefore I would attempt to
identify some of the fundamental problems faced by young people today and
possible solutions to these problems.
Perhaps the most fundamental problem faced by young people today is
unemployment. Because of the universal downturn in the economy coupled with
technology whereby particular jobs and skills are made obsolete, many youth
today are experiencing problems in obtaining jobs. Young people today have
certain needs and aspirations. Consequently, the treat of unemployment means
financial worries, frustration and discouragement. How do the youth today
respond to this?
Given that many youths may not be sufficiently mature to cope with such
problems, they go in the undesirable direction of delinquency, drugs,
vandalism, stealing, etc. Moreover, they compensate for their feelings by
striking out against society, revolting against adult authority. These
problems are invariably compounded by peer pressure whereby young people are
forced either consciously or unconsciously to become involved in those
antisocial activities by people of their own age group. What can be done to
solve the problem of unemployment and its ills?
One method which can be adopted to curb the problems which arise out of
unemployment among youths, involves the providing of relief or protection from
the financial hardships of unemployment. For instance, a compulsory
unemployment insurance system could be adopted in which workers and their
employers contribute to a fund out of which payments are made to those young
people who are eligible for work, but cannot find work. Incidently this method
is currently being used in the United States of America, Britain and other
countries.
Other methods which can be adopted include measures aimed at creating
conditions that reduces the level of unemployment. These would include: (a)
programmes for retraining, in order to give would be employed young people new
skills that are in demand; (b) subsidies and other incentives to encourage
workers to move out of areas of labour surplus into areas in which labour is
in short supply.
Also, young people should strive for high education in order that they
would be qualified for the very skilled labour force required by
industrialized and "semi-industrialized" countries.
Another problem facing young people today is the tension which exist
between parents and children. It is usually common for strained relationships
to develop between parents and young people. In their eagerness to achieve
adult status, young people may or rather usually resent any restrictions
placed upon them. Often times young people may not be willing to admit that
they have doubts and fears about taking on adult responsibilities and freedom.
They invariably believe that their parents are overanxious and overprotective.
This usually creates tension between parents and young people. To correct this
problem, psychologist emphasize the significance of psychological weaning.
This is the process of outgrowing family domination and working towards the
time when the young person establishes his or her own home. Similarly, parents
should exercise control over young people, but with sympathy and
understanding.
An area of immense concern, and which poses a problem for young people and
their parents is sex and dating. Some parents today are prepared to give their
children some latitude as far as dating and sex are concerned. In contrast,
some parents are very overprotective, restricting their children from going
out with the opposite sex, thus, many young people today are debarred from
learning the valuable experience of adjusting to other persons. They also show
deficiency in the development of social poise, which might not be available
otherwise and this deprives them of their privilege. Therefore, parents,
school, and the church can and should do more to promote wholesome
relationships.
Teenage pregnancies and venereal disease are also common problems facing
the young person or teenager. This can severely disrupt her education.
Moreover, being pregnant at such an early age can also have deleterious
effects on one's health. Perhaps what is most important is the risk of
"catching" the deadly disease AIDS. Many young persons today have contacted
AIDS and are suffering the consequences, being terminally ill.
What can be done to address these problems? First, many of the sexually
related problems of young people can be lessened if young people were given
sufficient and suitable instruction well in advance of the time when sex is an
immediate concern for them. Some surveys have shown that the primary source of
information most children, regarding sex, is their peers, not from their
parents. Secondly, the postponement of sex prior to marriage can go a long way
to reduce the incidence of AIDS. And thirdly, the church can reinforce the
Christian teaching of monogamy.
On the question of Church, it has been found that many of our young people
today attend church, while an equal or greater amount do not attend church.
There is a tendency for the latter set, to become involved in antisocial
activities such as drugs, gambling, stealing and vandalism. For those young
people who attend churches, many of them have serious reservations about the
church as a whole. Many of them question the significance of the church in
view of what is happening in our society today, in terms of drugs,
unemployment, frustration, and crime. Maybe the church needs to diversify its
programmes in order to effectively accommodate the "Modern youths" and by
extension to curb their fears and frustration.
Having looked at most of the fundamental problem areas for young people and
solutions to these problems, I would hope that, or rather it is my desire that
this article would serve as a vehicle for helping young people today to
appreciate and understand some of the problems which confront them and how
they can attempt to address them.
Additionally, it is my fervent hope that those in authority would work in
conjunction with young people to help them to alleviate the aforementioned
problems. We must remember that the young people are the leaders of tomorrow;
consequently, it is incumbent on the adults to set the pace (as it were) for
an uninterrupted transition.