Anita Raina
A pimple on the face can have a farfetched impact than demonetization had on the entire economy of our nation. Ranbir Kapoor or Katrina Kaif can make your heart skip a beat and the anticipation to watch the first day first show of his/her latest flick on the 70mm screen can render you sleepless. You experience a terrible sense of discontentment in spite of scoring 90 percentile. A phase where your washroom becomes the most comfortable zone for you and the numerous knocks at the door only sound futile. There is a sense of ambiguity and self- doubt. An air of defiance brings out a rebellious streak in you and leads to a series of clashes with the people who matter the most. One feels thrown into a space of oblivion. There is turmoil of emotions engulfing you. That’s Adolescence.
Juvenile minds are enormously fragile and get easily drawn towards what appears mysterious and reclusive. Drug addiction and abuse is one the most horrifying and appalling realities of the present crop of adolescents. It has infected the length and breadth of our society like a parasite. Belts and stretches of families – rural or urban, downtrodden or elite, educated or uneducated are fighting their battles with powder, needles and grass every day. Nothing can be more excruciating and painful for parents to see their own flesh and blood falling prey to this vicious cycle of drug addiction. The journey from addiction to de-addiction can be the most difficult path to traverse and in some cases doesn’t even lead to a destination. The comfort of home is replaced by the nemesis of the rehabilitation centers. Drug addiction not only devastates families but has a considerable influence on the society as well.
It is astounding to find teenagers obsessed with the latest gadgets and gizmos and the most detrimental being the so called Smart phones. Most of the young boys and girls in the prime of their teens have completely surrendered themselves to technology to the extent that they have become slaves of technology. The obsession for networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and mobile Apps like WhatsApp, Viber and numerous others is fast becoming a medical condition and in some extreme cases, as surfaces frequently in the newspapers and main stream media, fatal too. There is a new wave which has gripped the new generation…The Selfie Mania. It is actually uncanny to see the pouts and the body language they display giving inkling that this perhaps may lead to a permanent modification in the evolution.
Another horrifying impact of internet is the availability of inappropriate content for the consumption of young minds. Pornographic videos are causing a severe dent and damage to the psyche of young minds. They want to explore this forbidden territory and as a result indulge in acts which have got multiple social stigmas attached to them.
In the journey called life, teenage is one of the most vulnerable yet desired chapters. An age where there is an abrupt perceptible metamorphosis in the physical as well as emotional attributes of an adolescent. Puberty in our society is coupled with a lot of taboos especially for a girl when her menstrual cycle begins. She is expected to evolve into a conscientious, cautious and compassionate young damsel and take control of her life. This is tough. She is made to feel conscious of her sexuality, her body and her surroundings. Sanitary pads are still wrapped in a newspaper and to ensure double anonymity, in a black poly cover before handing them over to the buyer to prevent her from getting mortified. All these aspects stack up and amplify the already existing gender inequality we experience in our society.
“Competition is tough”… This has become the most common phrase we hear every parent, every teacher and every student talk about. This has led to the commercialization of one of the most sacred and pious institutions …Education. Almost every multistoried building houses a coaching institution. The current trend is quite alarming. More than the students, parents have become ambitious about the careers of their children and in some cases they even attempt to live their unaccomplished dreams through their children. This leads to expectation setting- some realistic ones and others unrealistic. Straight out of the blackboard environment of school premises, they land up in the whiteboard culture of the coaching classes. Retired professor who form the bulk of the teaching force in these institutions intimidate these exhausted, worn out students by flaunting the number of success stories( Students selected in medical and engineering courses) they have to their credit. These coaching classes not only strain and stress an average student but are extremely heavy on the pocket as well. This in fact is becoming one of the most flourishing and fastest growing industries of our country. There is branding too and this leads to a stiff competition. IIT graduates are hired by the bigger brands who quit their lucrative IT careers because they are offered fat pay cheques surpassing the ones they get while working in the corporate industry. Only the affluent can afford these big brands as they have to shell out hefty sums to get their children enrolled in these classes, others have to settle for the lesser known names. This causes extreme peer pressure and a lot of people succumb to it miserably.
There are numerous challenges adolescents have to face before expanding their horizons. It is imperative for them to make mistakes and learn from them. This toughens them and prepares them to encounter the harsh realities life has to offer once they are out of the bubble in which they are constantly sheltered and guarded.
Parents play a vital role in these formative years of growth and evolution of their children. Partner them but be cautious and alert. It is extremely important to communicate with your children, try and inculcate the habit of daily dinner table conversations involving the entire family. Plan at least one meal a day together. Take family vacations at regular intervals and seek their choices and suggestions. Allow your teenage kids to voice their opinions, don’t suppress or ridicule them even if you disagree. Offer them responsibilities to shoulder. Don’t make things easily accessible to them. Let them earn their pocket money. Appreciate and encourage, reward and recognize. Create a conducive environment for your teenagers. Generate mutual respect for each other. The element of fear should never find its way in your rendezvous with your children. The endeavor should be to make your children better human beings, rest everything follows. Stand by them when things go wrong as they sometimes will because that’s the time when they need you the most. Spread love and let them know that you care. Love conquers all….
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