Teen Talk

Prof Javed Mughal
When I say ‘teenagers’, I mean those who are at the threshold of teenage i.e. under 19, seethed with tropical passion, over-vaulting ambitions but whimsical planning and program. I mean those who are mostly lost in the impractical dreams day in and day out. I mean those who want to catch the sun in flight without lifting up their finger; who desire to fly to the Mars on the wings of imagination; cut to the quick at minor issues; understand no more the intentions of their parents and their concerns; attribute the restrictions to the unwanted tortures.  Yes, this is the generation whom I welcome to the wonderful world of teen-hood. It is a world of extremes: emotions and moods, sizes and shapes, dreads and desires, dreams and aspirations. The years between twelve and nineteen represent one of the most exciting and trying spans of life. All are different and they all change every day. Pimples erupt on your faces, voice croaks and physical changes happen. These changes close the door to childhood. Dolls and toys give way to boyfriends and girlfriends. Childhood is behind you, forever locked away and there you stand on the threshold of adulthood, biting your nails as well as keeping your fingers crossed. It seems like the entire world is watching you. The situation at your home and school gradually begins to change during the early teens. At this age, you feel an overwhelming desire to be accepted by your elders and mates of opposite gender. You don’t want to be left behind as more daring peers try to break away. You want to be free from any authority and be on your own.
You are terrified of being unaccepted by friends and will do anything to get accepted. At this age, you think of freedom in terms of being free from your parents and school authorities. You long for the day when your parents will no longer tell you when to come home and where to go. At this time it is no wonder you begin exchanging exclamation points for question marks. As everything begins to change life of a young one, the question “Who am I?” becomes central. First, stay close to God. Truthfully, this is the wisest thing you could ever do, not only you are in your teens but also throughout your life. Take it from someone who has tried to have his or her own ways a million times, and has regretted it. Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come and the years approach when you will say, I find no pleasure in them. Don’t interpret this as having no fun in the days of your youth! Do have tons of fun but in the way that is accountable to God. For example, if your friends say to you some day, “Tell your mom we have an extra class and let’s go to the movies,” you are supposed to say “No,” primarily, because you are listened to by God. Religion, whatsoever it may be, is important to be practiced at this stage of life. Religion definitely plays a very important role in dislodging many evils and foibles from the heart and mind of a human being especially the youngsters now-a-days. All the nonsense that has gripped the modern system at present is the by-product of the growing non-adherence to the religions canons. The continuous relegation of religions to the background has culminated into the emergence of moral, ethical and spiritual anarchism. Now-a-days we are fully inclined towards science and have abdicated religion in its entirety. As a result we have snowballed into the mere mechanical devices having all the shapes and sizes of a human being but with no heart pulsating inside and mind working properly. Science is very important, rather indispensable but the place and significance of religion can not  be underestimated. Had a rapist been a religious man, he would not have raped; had a thief acted upon religious norms, he would not have stolen and had a killer ever dived into the sacred waters of religion, he would not have rendered the innocent children orphan and the wives widows. Therefore I impress upon all of you to follow the religion you like. All religions are based on pious objectives and motives. They are all the guide-books designed very judiciously with the noble intention to guide and direct the mankind.  Parental checks are very important for you at every tick of clock keeping in view the modern derailed society. Your parents have seen and experienced long back what you are yet to come across. So never ever perpetrate the blunder of misinterpreting the decisions and viewpoints of your parents about you. Yes, I believe that the parents may also be not right in approach all the times but then they need to be convinced and this job has to be done by you. If you fail in prevailing upon them, you must talk to the teachers who can be instrumental in sorting out your issue with them, regarding your aims and ambitions. They are always your well wishers and they always wish their young ones to be the best human beings in the world because their old-age is inextricably connected with your successful future and their dignity is subordinate to your dignified existence in the social set-up. Hence no parents want to be crest-fallen because of their children’s failures. They want you to grow in a healthy way and that is why they inflict certain checks on you because you are at a stage where there is no much distance between you and your deviation from the track. The flower blooms when it is covered with thorns and a stone becomes statue when it receives many hammer-strokes together and the child grows when he is limited by certain checks and balances. As a flower uncovered will be plucked away and wasted; a stone un-hammered will not invite the worship of the believers; a diamond will be stolen unless it is kept compacted in a small box, so a youngster lacking in experience of life will get ill-directed if left open to his choice at every tick of clock. The parents are also supposed to apply senses to the matters related to the career of their children and must not pitch-fork them into the situations which don’t match their meaningful preferences. You are at a very delicate stage of life where you need to be blessed with the clear path to the destination which is more possible with the support and patting of your teachers. A teacher is the agency which can mould your personality in a desirable direction and you must not keep anything in dark from them. Never say anything against those who guide you and chisel you up into a better human being. Respect your gurus as much as you can; strive a lot to extract as much benefit as you wish from your teachers; make the best use of time particularly which you have paid for in the educational institutions.
You must always keep in mind that your parents have sweated all the day and drained the comforts of sleep for they were all time worried and concerned about you. Hence don’t indulge into futile hallucinations which are likely to yield no fruit at all but will adversely impact your career instead. ‘Today’ is very precious for you and be serious and reserved. Choose your friends wisely. Friends have huge influence on you. You should be very careful while deciding with whom you should hang out. Try hard to have at least a few really good friends. Bad company corrupts good character. You don’t want that to happen to you. If you feel your unbelieving friends are influencing you negatively rather than you are influencing them positively, you know you need a new set of friends.

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