Youth

What’s the next word that comes to your mind when you hear that word?
Fun?
Yeah youth is all about ‘fun’; or is it?

If you asked the youth of today to define fun, may be they’ll say fun is to wear a ring around the belly button, eyebrow or tongue. They may say fun is to smoke and drink around, playing pool, or cruising around the city in elaborate automobiles, tattoos, money, music, movies or friends to hang out with. They might claim that tinted hair or funky and wacky looking outfits are ‘cool’ or ‘fun’. They might even go to the extent of saying assembling a pc, reading or cyber surfing is also a part of fun.

Whatever they say, youth is not the same for all. Youth has meant different things to different people at different times, societies, cultures and other divisions. If you asked the youth of the 60s and 70s what they thought fun was they’d probably say that bell-bottom trousers, or side-burns, cinemas or even fishing was fun. The youth of most parts of the western half of the world prepare themselves to leave home and live an independent life by the age of 13 or 14 whereas the other - if I am allowed to say ‘better’ half of the world - have mothers standing at the door of the homes if their 20 year old sons were late after an evening out. In the days of the old we have also seen people at the birth of youth preparing themselves for war and greater causes that the youth of today cant even bring close to their dreams. Culture influences youth… no doubt! What else does?

The best part of one's life is youth. Hardly anybody can deny that. It is the time when one is healthy physically, mentally and spiritually. It is the only time when people feel the anxiety of taking the keys into their own hands and cruising around world exploring and discovering themselves and the environment, battling to understand, fountains of conflicting thoughts and ideas, captured by love and torn by disagreement and arguments. It is the only time when you have a lot that you can offer to the world. But really how much can youth offer?

How much of the virtually limitless energy, enthusiasm, bravery and courage is lost in worthless sport, idiotic computer games, challenge-less and other futile and vain time absorbers? How many of the million of sparkling youth sit back and watch and wonder around waiting for the aged or adults to take over. Unconstructive arguments about insignificant issues with parents and elders are the order of the day. It is gradually eating up the youth not allowing them to do as much as their potential permits them to. They are too taken up in the lighter issues of life and their youth is completely wasted and before they even have time to reconsider their doings and habits, youth is already gone - finished - leaving them to face the other responsibilities of life such as providing for the home. The ‘invisible hand’ of Adam smith is left to take over the greater aspects of life and society and no man in his good and conscious mind has contributed any fair share to the world except his mere existence and selfish motives.

Youth have a heavier and more significant role to play today as always. They are able to do a much greater deal than to sulk around over messed up love affairs or get the latest software games installed. The society needs them in much larger ways than they are even aware of. They have to be informed of their role and treated that way too. Overdevelopment of a nation also sometimes stands in the way of advancement and empowering of youth if you know what I mean. Parental domination in our part of the world also inhibits the growth of the capabilities of youth today. Even elders need to be educated and informed that the greater part to be paid to the world is expected of the youth. Elders should be playing the role of facilitators and guides rather than teachers and forceful drivers. Children need to be geared to engineer their way through. I’m not by any means saying here that children and youth should not allowed to be what they are and have their fun engaging themselves in vain and unproductive activity rather the point I’m trying to make is that the youth have capacity to do much more on their own without being steered to. They are the ones that lead the path to a greater cause in the existence of mankind and they must by all means given the opportunity, freedom and facility to do it. All we need to do is to recognise their true potential and ignite the fire within them because if we do that their payment to the success of mankind will be unimaginable.