We may have a lot of opinions about the youth of today, but it is not necessary that all those opinions are appropriate and 100 percent accurate. We should not forget that we Indians have a habit of not taking change very positively, we often doubt the harbingers before they come up and show us what they’re worth, we often say we don’t want change because we feel it will cost us a lot in terms of happiness, change in the situation and non-availability of a comfort zone. So, the reason why the youth seems so against the society could be because the youth perceives the society to be against them. They haven’t heard a positive feedback in forever, they are often looked down upon as the generation who wants to do away with the culture of the country and they are also blamed for the bad happening in the country.
To make sure the youth and the society are on the same page, both need to make certain adjustments. It is always a two-sided thing. It is give and take, you can’t expect one to function without the cooperation from the other. Hence, if we expect to instill certain social values in the youth, here is what we need to do-
1. Show them that we both are on the same side – I can’t even recall when this whole society vs. the youth battle started. It is as pointless as it could be because the society comprises of the youth and the youth is very much a part of the society. They were never really two different things. We need to tell them that we should work together rather than against each other.
2. Stop looking down upon one another – The youth needs to find meaning in what the people of the country are doing, they are reasonable people who haven’t lost their minds, yet. If they believe so firmly in something, there has to be a reason behind it. It could be a sensible, emotional or a psychological belief, but judging somebody before knowing their story is totally out of order and if we need to grow closer to society and understand what governs their actions.
3. Preconceived notions – The older people need to stop thinking that the youth doesn’t regard their own culture and religion. The youth today is as cultured as any other youth at any other point, they are just not ready to prove it to anybody. Also, sometimes their actions are misunderstood and thus, they believe that instead of getting a bad name without doing anything wrong, it is better to do wrong and then get a bad name.
4. Talking about it – This will actually be of some help because sitting the youth down and explaining what is expected of them will make the youth believe that the other generations have not given up on them. The youth has always worked on pre-tested ideas and they do away with whatever doesn’t suit them. So, explaining the meaning and the necessity of certain social values might actually be of help.
5. Unity – if the youth and the rest of the society start working together in unity, then they will absorb each other and start understanding the social values that they follow and eventually start following the same culture and the values. The youth is not obstinate, if they find something good they will adopt it.
We need to realize that making the youth follow the cultural norms or making them accept the social norms is not a difficult task. The difficulty lies in accepting them with their difference in opinions. We need to stop showing the youth and the rest of the society as two different entities, they both are very much a part of each other and accepting one another is the only way to help each other.
