Premium Essay

Challenges Facing the Youth in Today’s Society

In:

Submitted By Shayej
Words 1525
Pages 7
Challenges Facing the Youth in Today’s Society

Most of the problems facing today’s youth are not restricted to any one ethnic or religious group, but affect young people generally. Most discussions on youth have focussed on issues such as drug abuse, crime, violence, sexuality and poverty. In addition to these, today’s youth are afflicted by new challenges.
These include:
An Identity Crisis: Who am I?
Lack of self confidence and low self esteem: I am worthless
A sense of hopelessness: Where am I going?
Confusion and ambiguity concerning moral issues: What is right and wrong?
The negative impact of the electronic media: Entertainment ?
Competitiveness in education: the uneven playing field: Excellence by whom? Not Me.

Muslim Youth
The Quran and life of the Prophet give numerous examples of outstanding youth.
Islam praised the efforts of the youth in reviving religion through calling to the worship of God and fighting against disbelief as a form of backwardness and corruption.

Indeed the image of Abraham peace be upon him in the Quran is one of extreme inspiration, enlightenment and uniqueness. It is the image of a young man rebelling against his people’s decadent traditions, a young man defying the dominant values of his society even in the form of a tyrant king who claims divinity.

His son Ismail inherited these qualities of sincerity in worshipping Allah and sacrifice of everything for His sake, as clear in the story of the sacrifice when his father consulted him upon seeing in his dream that he is to sacrifice him, and he answered with determination and certainty to obey Allah’s command “Oh my father, do as you are commanded, you will find me, if Allah so wills of the steadfast”.

Again, facing the despotism of Pharoah, those who dared to declare their faith were a group of youth who defied Pharoah and joined Moses “And none believed in

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Martha Stewart

...peer influence in today’s youth is prevalent and powerful. Youth in this day and age are struggling to find a place where they belong, or fit in with society. Teens especially and weakened by peer pressure as they strive to maintain a relationship with their friends. “In groupthink, the members sense pressure to maintain unanimity, which discourages critical and independent thinking.” (Lotz, 230) “The types of peer pressure range from direct, confrontational pressure, to more subtle pressures to look, dress and act like everyone else.” (Life123.com) Negative peer pressure can persuade a teenager or child to do things they normally wouldn’t do such as, shoplift, drink alcohol, drugs, smoke cigarettes, cheat at school, vandalize property, bully other students, skip school and participate in racist and discriminatory behavior. When it seems like everyone else is doing something-dressing a certain way or acting a certain way-teens feel a tremendous pressure to go along with the crowd and be like everyone else. Most teenagers don't want to stand out as being different. Everyone wants to fit in. Peers can be a positive influence, too. Positive peer pressure can make a teen feel like he should join a sport or a youth organization because a group he admires is doing it. Fifteen years ago when I was a teen peer pressure was an issue, as it continues to be today. But, today’s youth face more challenges when it comes to being involved in peer pressure. Kids today are facing online bulling...

Words: 759 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Bullying

...The Effects Bullying Has On Teenagers Among the many challenges facing teenagers in today’s society, the most general and most feared is bullying, and the consequences, it has on teenagers. “Nearly 30 % of teens in the United States (or over 5.7) million are estimated at being involved in bullying, a target of bullying, or both.” (JAMA) Bullying brings with it an astronomical amount of negative effects, some of which can stay with the victim long after the bullying has stopped. These effects are self-esteem, mental health, and a reduction in grades. According to Dombeck, “Bullying is an attempt to install fear and self-loathing. Being the repetitive target of bullying damages a teenager’s ability to view themselves as a desirable, capable, and efficient individual.” (Dombeck, MP-10) When living teenage years having exceptional self-esteem it, is very significant, to demonstrate how much they love and appreciate themselves. Victims have demonstrated that bullied daily they might be deprived of their self-esteem, and begin dissatisfaction for themselves because they have this weakness. With no self-esteem, they seem to gravitate to be controlling and bossy with others because of the frustration they feel toward the bully. They become very hard on themselves. According to a teenager “I am ugly, no one likes me, I can not make friends.” A separate effect is changes in mental health. The Victims sleep habits are plausible, and they stay up late, so the end up getting...

Words: 629 - Pages: 3

Premium Essay

Childhood Obesity

...health, what usually is discussed is cancer or heart disease. Not many people really think about one of the biggest issues out there that is really not taken very seriously and that is obesity. In America there are hundreds of thousands of children that are overweight. Obesity is a disease, a disease associated with many other health issues, including congestive heart problems, diabetes among other physical and mental complications associated with this disease. We will discuss throughout this paper how one of the classical theories would help resolve the problems that are associated with the dangers of childhood obesity, then discuss the perspective of society and how it relates to relativism in today's world. There are many arguments about how childhood obesity starts, who's to blame for allowing this to happen and societies ethical and moral obligation associated with fixing the problem. Who or what is to blame for the increasing levels of childhood obesity? Some believe it is the parents themselves; others accuse the food industry and government. One fact cannot go unchallenged and that is the longer this disease is allowed to grow and is not brought under CHILDHOOD OBESITY 3 control, the higher the percentage of childhood obesity will increase and the effects and diseases will become an even...

Words: 1692 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

The Role of Globalization of Social Construction of Youth Culture

...Social Construction of Youth Culture Introduction The purpose of this paper is to address the role in which globalization plays in the social construction of youth cultures. The phenomenal impact of communication technology on youth culture has generated a continuous debate since the 1970’s (Andrew, 2003, p. 1). The emergence of youth culture was a result of consumer market, which created diverse styles for young people worldwide (Grixti, 2008). Since the introduction of globalization, there has been a dramatic change in youth culture causing a greater shift within societies. As globalization rapidly changes, the world becomes more complex place for young people (Bourn, 2008). Therefore, a significant number of youth globally are having difficulties identifying themselves and finding their sense of belonging in this world (Bourn, 2008). Sociologist has provided strong evidence that globalization on youth culture has not only contributed positively to society but also have negative impact on the current global youth (Kahn & Kellner, 2002). To outline the aforementioned statement, the scope of this essay will confine on youth culture and the influential paradigm that contour youth cultural globally. The theoretical perspective such as post-modernism will be explored to provide a depth understanding of cultural studies. Altogether, this discussion examines the impact of globalization on communication technology and music and fashion industry of youth culture by observing...

Words: 2823 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

China and India Trends Towards Western-Style Consumption

...over the past couple decades has been dramatic not just in the U.S., but in several other countries as well. There are many forces that directly affect marketing strategies. Such forces are called micro and macro environmental forces. The economy is now being dominated by a youth-oriented market. The products and services that today's youth focuses on, varies greatly from past generations. With such technological advances that have been made, it's no wonder that the times have changed. The generation of today focuses on speed, convenience, and quality. Marketers of today understand that in order to attract the youth consumer market, they must offer them products and services that interest them. Such products and services should focus on technology, music, fashion, and other influential factors that are important to today's youth. The western style of consumption consists of increased sensitivity to economic class, meaning more money is being spent. For example, many young people today worry about having the newest smart phone or the most luxurious car. Image is everything. And because today's marketing strategies focus on advertising in ways that youth are familiar with, they make it easy to attract youth consumers. The China consumers tend to put emphasis on value...

Words: 2144 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Obedience and Conformity

...What are Social Problems (a) Generally, a problem is a social condition that has negative consequences for individuals, our social world, or our physical world. If there were only positive consequences, there would be no problem. A social problem such as unemployment, alcoholism, or drug abuse may negatively impact a person’s life and health, along with the well-being of that person’s family and friends. Problems can threaten our social institutions, for example, the family (spousal abuse), education (the rising cost of college tuition), or the economy (unemployment and underemployment). Our physical and social worlds can be threatened by problems related to urbanization and the environment. It has to be noted that social problems need to seeing as interconnectedness of the problematic issues under study. Social problems should not be viewed as a separate issue to be solved independently from others. We need more than one theoretical approach in studying social problems. The study of social problems develops an appreciation for the complexity of social problems and why divergent perspectives are required in order to analyze so many different issues. You may not just look at Child defilement or unemployment as a single social problem because at some stage they tend to have linkages for a certain trait to continue escalating Second, a social problem has objective and subjective realities. A social condition does not have to be personally experienced by every individual...

Words: 2779 - Pages: 12

Free Essay

The Alarming Rise of Teen Anxiey

...teens of 20, 30, 40 years ago. In fact, rates of anxiety and depression among young adults were far lower even during the Great Depression, during WWII, the Cold War, and the 60’s and 70’s than they are for teens today (Bass, 2015). The results are almost startling and alarming. Some statistics find that five to eight times as many high school and college students meet the criteria for anxiety disorders today, than the students of 50 years ago (Bass, 2015). When testing college students today eighty five percent of them fell above the mental illness score than the students of the 1930’s and 1940’s (Bass, 2015). “Many of us are worried that the number of young people today experiencing mental health problems is on the increase. As a society, we need to be...

Words: 1928 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

Dystopia

...Youth in Dystopia (DRAFT) Christopher Lewis Chapman University May 21, 2014 Vadeboncoeur (2005) criticizes the age-old question: “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and explains that youth are always defined as being in the process of becoming an adult. But what happens if this question is no long applicable or even necessary? Dystopian novels remove this illusion of choice. In each of the novels I will address, all teenagers attend or participate in a ceremony whereby they transition from young adult to adult. The first series I will address is Scott Westerfield’s Uglies series, where youth undergo plastic surgery as their rite of passage. Maturation and growing up require endure body modifications to create same-ness and the perfectly pretty white race. Second, I will analyze Ally Condie’s Matched series, where social order to determined by sorters who decide vocation and spouses. All teenagers attend a ceremony where a person’s perfect match is determined by a computer program. Lastly, I will use Veronica Roth’s Divergent series to explore how the world is constructed by personality type. Youth choose to participate in factions that are determined by a psychological examination that detects a youth’s instinctual predilections when facing their fears. As readers begin to figure out the rules to this new society, they are challenged to make comparisons to their own world. We are forced to wonder whether or not, as educators, we reinforce stereotypical...

Words: 3808 - Pages: 16

Free Essay

Indian Youth

...Youth signifies and represents ideal-ism and hope. Every generation of young persons charts out its own course to realize its dreams and aspirations in life. Meanwhile it is the perpetual responsibility of the elders to assist the youths in growing up and in becoming familiar with the eternal human values. Further, they need acquaintance with different facets of human quest that has led to generation, creation, dissemination and evolution of knowledge resulting in better understanding of the forces of nature, the world around us, and the way civilizations evolve and march ahead. They must prepare themselves to chalk out their new goals of life they wish to pursue and the contributions they intend to make to society. The youths are to be taught to paint the vast canvas of life with ideas and activities that could help them visualize the future they are to create for themselves and their fellow men. They need to strive to know what is real and what is unreal. They could also be guided to appreciate that the search for truth is the ultimate goal that one realizes only after understanding the transitory nature of all that is constantly changing around every moment. An acquaintance with the history and heritage of India could give them a feeling of continuity and motivate them to assume responsibility to take the lineage ahead. Above all, cultural moorings and scriptures may motivate and instil in them a sense of possession of the sublime, goodness and beauty, which they...

Words: 2919 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Literature

...cases, the causes and effects of poverty interact, so that what makes people poor also creates conditions that keep them poor.  | Saying goes, “Give a man fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.” - this should be the guiding principle of our political leadership on how to solve the problem on poverty but People itself should also help themselves. | Ending poverty is a daunting challenge.  However, since it was made by human rules and institutions, new ones can unmake it. People itself should applied what they have learned in school so that they will be able to have a good and more opportunities.  Forgive international debt unconditionally and stop other predatory tactics. End the use of economic power as a means by which the wealthy control the poor. | 2. Education is what we say the key to our success. And According to Rizal, The Youth is the hope of our future. But, so many youth for today who are not educated enough and far to reach their hopes. Education is rare for the success because our country is facing so many trials when it comes to education. Many schools were lock of classrooms. Lock of skilledfull teachers. Lock of books to be read by the students. Some school were too expensive that’s why many cannot afford. | The responsible for this problem is Government and then it should address to the Department of Education for the response. | The main aim of education should be to enable the learners to develop a mind which is...

Words: 1388 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Appedix C

...University of Phoenix Material Appendix C Part I Define the following terms: |Term |Definition | |Discrimination |The unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things, esp. on the| | |grounds of race, age, or sex. | |Institutional discrimination |Unfair prejudice against individuals as a result of the way an organization works or | | |delivers services. | |Political correctness |The avoidance of forms of expression or action that are perceived to exclude, marginalize, | | |or insult certain groups of people. | Part II Write a 150- to 250-word response to each of the following questions: • How is discrimination different from prejudice and stereotyping? When stereotyping something a person has a specific impression of a group of people in which a person believes that all members of a group share a common trait or traits. Discrimination is an act or instance of discriminating. It’s a treatment or consideration of, or making...

Words: 680 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Methodism

...In what significant ways has this tradition changed over time? Explore whether it has been faithful to its founding traditions or not. What major challenges does it face for the future? How might the history of its own tradition (founders, theology, movements) help clarify the way forward as it meets the challenges it faces? THE METHODIST CHURCH The Methodist tradition today has changed in its fundamental views because of controversial challenges, such as: evolutanary theory, racial issues, homesexuality, and interpretation of scriptures. The Methodist Church was chartered in 1784 by John Wesley in the United States. John Wesley created the Methodist church when he saw the need to provide his followers with structure after the Anglican Church abandoned its American believers. Since then, the Methodist church has changed its traditions to enhance its fitness in the modern society. The Church has encountered various challenges, which have both helped and hindered clarifying the way forward. John, his brother Charles, and several other students at oxford formed a group which was based on three pillars which enhanced the formation of Methodist church. These pillars include; devotion in their studies, prayers, and helping the underprivileged; these formed the pillars of Methodist church. However, the Methodism started facing challenges due to varied view from the people which at last led to its formation as a separate church (Southey 1925, 67). Three branches of American Methodism...

Words: 1923 - Pages: 8

Free Essay

International Relations

...The Attitude of Youth Populations toward Globalization What exactly are the youth views on globalization? First let’s start by defining globalization. Globalization refers to increasing global connectivity, integration and interdependence in the economic, social, technological, cultural, political, and ecological spheres. Globalization is an umbrella term and is perhaps best understood as a unitary process inclusive of many subprocesses that are increasingly binding people and the biosphere more tightly into one global system (Wikipedia, 2007). Next let’s verify the term youth. Youth is "The time of life when one is young; especially: a: the period between childhood and maturity b: the early period of existence, growth, or development" (Wikipedia, 2007). “Globalizing issues have effects on four major areas of international relations theory and practice. First, the interconnectedness of the plethora of subissues within health, environmental, and human rights issues affect international bargaining” (Mingst, 2004). These issues are talked about daily in the news. Often times when health issues are brought up it is related to youth whether it is HIV, STD’s, or just simple obesity. Often times these issues when viewed at by youth are things that do not affect them in actuality it affect them more so than adults. “Second, these globalizing issues themselves may be the source of conflict” (Mingst). With this being said it is evident why the world goes through epidemics...

Words: 3740 - Pages: 15

Free Essay

Censorship for Teenagers

...Censorship for Teenagers Kathryn Criswell Western Governors University I. Censorship for Teenagers a. Is censorship dangerous to the development of our children? Censorship is a concern for parents, schools, librarians, and school administrators. Public education is vital to the future of society. Students must be allowed to develop the spirit of independent intellectual thinking and be exposed to a variety of conflicting ideas, images and viewpoints, in return giving them the knowledge to make the best choices in life (Reichman, 2001). b. Should parents censor what books their children read? Research suggests that censorship can have a negative impact on teenagers because the topics teenagers are facing today are the very ones that parents are trying to shelter them from. c. Main points: i. Censorship limits teenager’s ability to understand societal issues. ii. Censorship limits the knowledge teenagers have to make up their own minds and discuss their thoughts and opinions openly. II. According to the American Library Association, the following books are the 10 most challenged books of 2011. The graph represents the reasons why they are challenged. 1. ttyl; ttfn; l8r, g8r (series), by Lauren Myracle 2. The Color of Earth (series), by Kim Dong Hwa 3. The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins 4. My Mom’s Having a Baby! A Kid’s Month-by-Month Guide to Pregnancy, by Dori Hillestad...

Words: 1601 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

Policing Developements and Operation Trends

...Criminal Justice Trend Evaluation Terry Milton CJA/394 June 25, 2012 James Beeks Criminal Justice Trend Evaluation To keep up with the criminal problems in society, functions and components of the criminal justice system has to evolve in order to be able to detect and keep up with growing trends in society. New laws need to be created to help keep up with the evolution and its new trends. In this paper the evaluation of past, present, and future trends that connect to societies and the components of the criminal justice system will be discussed. It will also assess the recent and future contemporary issues that affect the criminal justice system. The purpose of this paper is to show that the criminal justice system has a major role in an ever changing society. Recent and future trends have always and will always affect the criminal justice system. New trends in technology, law, terrorism, gender and diversity will always effect the functions of the criminal justice system. Technology in the 21st century is one of the legal issues that have caused controversy. New technology devices such as hand geometry biometrics and the use of retina and iris devices have the ability to gain information not only on people’s health but also their medical history as well. When it concerns the criminal justice system, many of these new technology devices are being used to detect drugs and concealed weapons that are sneaked into prison facilities. They help prevent illegal activities...

Words: 1723 - Pages: 7