A Welcome Feature Article on ‘Teenagers’ & their ‘Problems’

A Case for Pupil-Friendly Schools & Colleges

The New Indian Express | Today’s Editorial

6th November 2023

#newspaperinlearning #youngadultfiction #yaf #adolescentliterature #youngadultliterature #yal

This article by Prof. K. Srinath Reddy, is a timely reminder and an eye-opener for those of us dealing with teenagers, be it in schools or in colleges.

Prof. Srinath delves into a host of issues that affect teenagers and that need to be addressed in highly empathetic ways.

Every day media reports of teen suicides, young people dying in road accidents, drowning, or falling from heights while taking selfies, are serious losses to society, which loses potentially productive human resources and creative talents.

Teen Tragedies: A Combo of Many Factors

Teen tragedies result from a combination of many factors, including –

personal attributes of young people,

the biology of brain development at different stages of life, and importantly,

the social environment in which people are leading their lives.

Shy, Sensitive Introverted Teens

Shy, sensitive and introverted individuals are more likely to suffer emotional hurt, succumb to depression and develop suicidal ideations. Those with physical or mental disabilities are also often ostracised or mercilessly taunted.

Importance of Peer Acceptance among Young People

Children who are bullied, harassed, or ridiculed can be driven to suicide due to loss of self-esteem. Acceptance by peers always matters to young people, but rejection and bullying have risen to a whole different level on social media.

Digitally Hyperconnected but Emotionally Disconnected

When youngsters are digitally hyperconnected but emotionally disconnected, the will to live can be quickly shattered by feelings of isolation.

The Pressure Cooker of Parental Expectations: Creates Stress

The pressure cooker of parental expectations often creates huge stress, and failure to meet these expectations becomes the trigger for self-harm in the absence of patient hearing, emotional support and unconditional love.

Stories of Suicides in Coaching Centres

The storyline of suicides in coaching centres is of an entrapped young person who desperately wants to escape from an oppressive, insulting and unforgiving environment and pleads with parents, only to be told to carry on for the sake of a career.

The Child who Feels ‘Abandoned’ Seeks ‘Escape’ through Suicide

How deaf can parents be when the plaintive pleas of their emotionally wounded children do not reach their hearts? The child who feels abandoned seeks escape through suicide.

Inhuman Coaching Centres: Treating Students like ‘Machines’

Those running coaching centres often shelve their humanity when they treat students like machines to be tuned en masse, without recognising individual traits and capabilities. Students are made to race on speeding scholastic treadmills.

Exam Shocks

They are prodded with repeated exam shocks till they cross the point of physical and emotional exhaustion.

No Space for Compassionate Counselling

There is no space for compassionate counselling. Even in conventional schools, there is little attention to individual needs and capabilities of students because the teacher prefers to be an impersonal instructor rather than a guiding guru.

Time to Close Down Commercially Configured Coaching Torture Chambers

Is it not time to close commercially configured coaching torture chambers and remodel our schools and colleges to become pupil-friendly?

Social Variables that Influence the Mental Health of Young Minds

Parental income and education, gender, caste, religion, regional and linguistic identities are among the many social variables which also influence the mental health of young minds.

Family Discord and Domestic Violence: Influence Children to Devalue Life

Family discord and domestic violence contribute to children devaluing life. As hate and conflict grow in society, unemployment rates rise, global economic instability blurs the vision of a secure future, climate change scorches the planet, and polarised politics prevents timely solutions to pressing societal problems, despondent young people fear they will pay for follies that are not of their making. Losing hope leads to loss of interest in life.

The Immature Adolescent ‘Mind’ and Rash Behaviours

Apart from suicides, young lives are also lost due to rash behaviours which lead to fatal accidents. The adolescent mind is often described as ‘immature’. It is in fact a developing brain with rapid tuning and pruning of neuronal synapses to process new information and shed old information.

Increased Vulnerability & ‘Hot Cognition’

Adolescent brains lack the inhibitory influence that prevents impulsive actions. There is increased vulnerability, manifesting in the phenomenon of ‘hot cognition’. This makes adolescents and young adults prone to emotional disorders and risky behaviours.

‘Disruptive Innovation’

As I wrote in the Journal of Adolescent Health in 2013, this is perhaps an evolutionary requirement for human progress. Exploration, innovation and enterprise require risk-taking to achieve progress by challenging and changing the status quo. Tech entrepreneurs over the last half century have exemplified this spirit of ‘disruptive innovation’.

Inadequate Recognition of ‘Risks’ & Craving for ‘Pleasure’

There is a downside too. While rewards are highly prized, often as instant gratification, risks are discounted. Hence, a spate of speeding and ‘selfie’ deaths. Inadequate recognition of risks and craving for ‘pleasure’ rewards make them vulnerable to the enticements of tobacco, alcohol and drugs.

Young brains have a high level of neuroplasticity, which enables them to absorb, assimilate and apply new information. They learn new languages faster and are more adept at adopting new digital technologies than their parents.

Helping them Make ‘Reasoned Decisions’ About their Future

Parents need to enable children to gain self-confidence as they grow, promote recognition of self-worth, and help them make reasoned decisions about their future, whether related to education, employment, friends or life partners.

Teachers Should never Injure the Self-Esteem of a Student

Preferences of elders should never be thrust on young persons as diktats. Open discussions on perspectives and possibilities are preferable. Teachers should never injure the self-esteem of a student. They must extend their hands to help, not to inflict corporal punishment.

‘Peer Support Groups’ Should be Created in Schools and Colleges

Peer support groups, which can help in counselling, should be created in schools and colleges. Physical activity reduces stress, while team sports, cultural activities and group work foster social bonding. Recognising the vulnerabilities of young people, society must create safe spaces around them.

List of Don’ts

Strict enforcement of laws and regulations on alcohol, tobacco and drugs is essential. Social media must be regulated to prevent bullying and harassment. Hate speech must be curbed. Opportunities for education, skill development and gainful employment must be enhanced, with attention to equity. Traffic safety must be promoted. Domestic and street violence must be curbed. Commercial interests which lure young persons into dangerous addictions must be strictly regulated.

Summing up -

Even as we give young people the space to grow, explore and gain experience to make correct decisions, we must ensure that they do so in a safe environment. Even as the tigress lets her cubs explore open spaces, she keeps a watch out for predators. So must we,

says Prof. Srinath Reddy.

An invaluable, must-read article for all of us - teachers and parents, to reorient our approach to our teenagers both on the home front and on the academic front as well.

PS: You may want to read a special interview done by this blogger with the Student Counsellor of our College, Mrs. Jemima, on our past post HERE.