Is our attitude towards youth, fair?

Most elders (say above 45) look towards young people with "coloured glasses".  Many of our pet theories about what is wrong (note the negative connotation) with these youngsters can be traced to this attitude that we harbour against the young ones.  I can't fathom what happens to us as soon as we step into this side of adulthood. We start being critical of the beliefs and behaviour of the young - fully forgetting that we ourselves, not so long ago, resented this trait in our elders.  I am sure that if we bring about a change in our attitude, the younger generation will cease to appear as a bunch of rebels - as it presently does to most of us.  Let us examine some of these typical mind-sets that we adults possess:

 1)  Youth as a Problem versus Youth as an ASSET.   Biologically, younger people are stronger and this sometimes builds up a psychological resentment amongst the elders.  With rapid progress that science and technology has made, elders sometimes become "obsolete" in their own homes (remember how efficiently your children handle the computer or video games and how sheepish you feel when you can't do it). The oldies react by "downsizing" the young ones just because they can't stomach getting "overshadowed". So, don't rush to the conclusion of youth being a problem.  Try to make use of their superior strength and smartness so that they are an asset to you.  This change in attitude will do wonders for both. 

2)               Youth as UPSTARTS and breakers of traditions versus youth as harbingers of change. Nothing is permanent except change.  The dynamism and energy that the young ones possess make them try out  various alternatives to a given problem (in a short time) and we sometimes interpret this as disrespect for the traditional approach adopted by us.  No risks - no gains, they say.  Many path-breaking discoveries have come about only because somebody decided to try something new.  We all agree that without change, our society will wither.  Why not think of the young ones as harbingers of change instead of berating them as upstarts?  Try this change in attitude--it will do wonders for both. 

3)                  Youth as morally corrupt versus recognition of the fact that moral standards could have changed. If you read history and literature written down the ages, you will realize that every generation has condemned its youth as morally corrupt.  At this rate, the youth of today should be corrupt beyond all limits.  But if you look at this from a different angle, you will realize that every succeeding generation has had slightly looser definition of moral standards of behaviour.  With the onset of AIDS, this trend seems destined for a reversal.  Soon, each succeeding generation will be more prudish. The “pendulum” of social norms would have then come back a full circle.  Someone has said in a lighter vein that parents are not so concerned with why norms of moral behaviour changed but about why this happened so late? 

4)                  Youth as selfish versus youth as responsive to only problems concerning themselves. A large percentage of adults feel that the young ones are selfish and show interest only if something concerns them.  Being selfish is not a vice though being excessively so is not a virtue either.  We must realize that a young mind lives in the immediate "present" and is more concerned with what's happening "here and now", as against "there and then".  It is natural that it gets involved with its own problems rather than those of others.  Later in life it realizes that solving others' problems leads to a greater satisfaction.  Surely we can't blame the youth for immaturity -after all they are young.

5)                  Youth as disrespectful versus youth as more knowledgeable. All generations have complained about the young ones being disobedient and disrespectful towards their elders.  It is difficult to digest that  the younger mind is better informed and would not want to respect those elders who clearly appear less knowledgeable.  Before accepting this theory, I would request all of us to truthfully assess whether in a given situation, we indeed are being confronted by a better informed mind.  If it is so - let's not blame the whole generation.  Respect is earned and cannot be demanded.

            So my dear fellow - oldies! Let's resolve to stop looking through these coloured glasses and re-examine our pet attitudes and biases before forming an opinion about the young.  Remember, the younger we are, the more we want to change this world; the older we get, the more we want to change the young.  Let's remain perennially "young" in our thoughts.

        I came across these unbelievable videos shared by Arvind Virmani, my IIM batchmate. They are symptomatic of the power of youth that we are talking about though frankly there is no age bar when it comes to befriending lions.  E N J O Y...