Why do youths revolt against culture, values?
By Dr Saad Al-Harran

Youth today are spending most of their time outside their homes rather than inside. For them home has become a boring place to stay and doesn't serve their desire and instant gratification. Parents sadly have no time to spend with their children and communication no longer exists as both are living their own lives. AP

Youth today are under pressure both internally and externally. Internally, they have to excel in their studies in order to compete in a highly competitive environment while externally a few are aware about the age of competitiveness and why life is getting harder in a market where there is no job security any more. Those who drift away due to the influence of the global media, peer pressure and shopping malls culture are the most vulnerable people in the community. They have been taken away into a different path which is governed by pop music, sports cars, credit cards and instant desire to spend beyond their means.

Those groups of youth are those governments are worried about as well as their parents who are confused as to how to handle them. Why are they violent towards their brothers, sisters and peers as well as their own culture and values?

This article discusses the main issues that influence youth to revolt against culture and values.

Global Media

It plays as one of the most powerful social institutions in the modern consumer society. Internally, in our houses the global media gives us news and information and often we intend to believe it because we have no time to question what we listen and hear. We are busy in our daily lives and worried about the future. While externally the same global media has shaped our youth's minds and with the help of advertising it assists them with what to eat and where to go for fun and what to wear.

Regrettably, global media has today taken over the role of parents and caregivers without our consent because it has given youth instant happiness, fulfilling their desires and making them think that life is fun and full of leisure, that most of us as parents and caregivers have failed to provide. It has taken them to a different world governed by desire and has shown them how to be violent to their parents, neighbours and the environment. It has also showed them how to race up on the country's highways upsetting other drivers on the road while the parents are busy in their daily lives moving from one social gathering to another or coming home late from work knowing little of what is going on in the house.

Peer Pressure

Youth today are spending most of their time outside their homes rather than inside. For them home has become a boring place to stay and doesn't serve their desire and instant gratification. Parents also are busy because fathers and mothers are working hard to bring additional income for their children to make them feel happy and cheerful. But sadly they have no time to spend with their children and communication no longer exists as both are living their own lives. In such unhealthy environment youth prefer to go out and spend time with their peers in shopping malls.

Shopping malls give them more space to interact with their peers, instant food to eat and enjoy, leisure through cinemas, computer games and the opportunity to learn from other peers what are the new trends in fashion designs, sports cars, mobile phones and video cameras.

Lack of understanding of faith

Most of youth today know faith only as "rituals" not "as a way of life". This problem doesn't only confine to the youth but it applies to a wider section of society. They lack training and knowledge to translate rituals into actions and deeds in real life. For instance, Islam teaches us truthfulness in dealing with others without cheating and misleading of people even if they are of a different faith but the reality is different. The same is also true for trust as we are required to treat all transactions whether it is business or otherwise as a divine trust. Prophet Moses described trustworthiness as one of the traits critical for his future role (Quran 28:26). This noble concept of trust highlights the sense of responsibility towards all humans whether they are Muslims or non-Muslims.

Sincerity in performing duties to perfection requires individuals to work with sincerity, commitment and discourage manipulation and exploitation for personal gains. These are a few examples that need to be highlighted to youth so they can see faith is applicable and functional in real life.

Parents' confusion (Generation gap)

In the information age that governs our lives through global media, Internet and computer games, parents are getting confused and worried about what to do with their children and how to handle them in a liberal global environment. Sadly, the gap between them is widening and how to handle them is a big task that most of us as parents and caregivers are poor at. Some parents believe giving youth money to satisfy their needs will make them happy. While others feel that purchasing modern mobile phones with all the necessary accessories will make them cheerful. But regrettably, these kinds of strategies will not work because youth want their parents to spend quality time with them and understand their feelings and what they are passing through in their psychological and emotional development. Regrettably, most parents are not aware how to treat their children with respect and dignity and often treat them harshly that makes the situation bad.

Imitating celebrities

Youth try to imitate celebrities and create new subcultures within the mainstream cultures of the society. Undoubtedly, glossy magazines enforce these global trends that targets girls aged 12-19 with full of fashion, beauty tips, stories on dating, stars and celebrities all of which have far reaching impact on the minds of these youngsters.

These magazines have their own agenda and the main purpose of producing such materials is to destroy the traditional culture based on values and respect to parents, neighbours and replacing it with a global culture where violent is the norm.

These issues I have addressed briefly are complex, multidimensional (because it might involve different schemes to be designed) and global. There is no easy fix. However, those who care about your children and where they are heading to need to debate these critical issues before it is too late.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin
 

The writer is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Islamic Banking & Management (UBD) and can be contacted at saadsattar@fbeps.ubd.edu.bn