Phoebe Prince. Bullied by a group of teens relentlessly in school. She put a full stop - by committing suicide. The mother of one of the accused thinks bullying is normal and acceptable behavior.
In another case, group of students gang rape a 15-year old girl. More than 20 people watched for over two hours.
And just a couple of weeks ago, there was a flash mob of teenagers ransacking the streets of our neighboring state.
Bullying is a very much alive evil. It is not limited to one country, one state or by socio-economic conditions. It happens everywhere. It scars the person bullied for life. Some say that they never ever get over the horror. Teenage is a delicate phase where you want to belong, you want your friends to appreciate you, you wish strangers would notice the good qualities in you; you pray everyday that tomorrow when you wake up all the bad things in your life would simply disappear. Bullies make the whole process evolving so much worse.
In the second case, was it only the proportion of alcohol and dark alleys that changed the dynamics of the atmosphere from a friendly group of people, to a mad mob taking advantage of a helpless girl? Were only youth, booze, time, adolescence and some say even the girl only to be blamed for what happened? How does someone explain the fact that more than 20 people just kept looking on for two and half hours - neither condoning nor participating.. neither helping nor aggravating this unspeakable horror?
In the third case, it was supposed to be just a flash mob brought about by the fast and efficient networks of the internet - twitter, facebook and a long list of others. But what one monkey does another follows and there was a whole lot of violence there - they hit people, brought down stores, vandalised them, robbed them and did many appaling things.
I do not know if you have heard about these. But I do know, that you will be equally appalled at this gross recklessness. These are horrible things that happened in the country where I live. But numerous examples of such similar horrors can be found even in the country you live.
What the heck is wrong with our teenagers?
What is it that fuels such behaviour?
I am entirely aware of the adrenaline rush, the hormones, the 'I-own-the-world' or 'I-don't -care-about-the-world for no-one-cares-about-me' attitude.. but seriously, is there no limit? How is it fun to ransack someone's place, to loot their hard earned money?
I find these incidents very disturbing.
Why are they being misled?
Why do they think they can behave in any way they want and get away with it?
Why do they not feel responsible?
Why is this happening?
Although we notice that which is out there on the streets, in recent days I have heard so many versions of teenagers acting out - not outside, not in front of strangers but right there in their homes. They do not realise the emotional abuse they are inflicting upon their family. Sometimes, the family is also to be blamed, sometimes the parents can not just figure out how to deal with their kids. But often, the teens involved have a misconstrued idea about life - they are bent on taking their revenge because they believe they were denied something unnecessarily. (That is the most common stressor I have heard).
To all those teens I say this - one lousy college seat, one crappy gadget or one currency note - these are not the things that make up your life. You are in the process of self-discovery but you are old enough to realise right from wrong. It is not cool to bad mouth your family, it is not hip to be mean with people who love you or people you do not know anything about. And it sure is not fashion to use expletives every other word. You do not have to play along with every single thing that your 'friends' do, you have to learn to take your own stand.Your have been loved by your family; you have grown up safe and secure and privileged. Ask yourself this question - what is it that you want to do with your life? For, you have your whole life ahead of you.
9 comments:
do we need to blame the parents? troubled childhood is wat i think..
This is absolutely ridiculous! am feeling proud that u've raised the voice.
there is no need to search for the reasons..if all the parents take out few minutes wen their kids are at an younger and nurture them with moral stories and living examples of good and inspiring people. they shd motivate children at a very young age. values have to be taught systematically and carefully.
it's not just the role/ duty of parents alone... friends and teachers also play a very important role.
it's sad that always though positive forces inspire easily, negative forces are adapted easily. it's the minimum duty and courtesy of an individual to introspect their behaviors every now and then.
there is no end for this..but it is definitely possible bring the number of occurrences/ frequency of such disastrous situations if and only if parents and peers understand the importance of teaching values and morals to their kids at a really very young age onwards.
prevention is always better cure.
@hary - hey! How are you!
Do not think that only parents are to blame - but don't you think in this modern world where nameless countless terrors linger on the Internet, where nothing and no one issafe , is it not upto the parents to keep track of their kids and equip them with enough intelligence to distinguish right
From wrong. Talking of troubled childhood, trouble starts at home before anywhere else. That is what I wanted to say
@sans - hey dearie.. How's it going?
Yes. I agree with you on many counts. But it is not enough to imbibe or teach moral values, you have to lead by example. You have to maintain an open communication channel.
I am glad we still think alike:) miss you often
blaming wont help any one.
Its better if people cooperate with heart and mind among different age groups.
whole system is going crap..
There is no single reason or no single solution for this kind of behaviour. And it has a lot to do with social conditioning during the formative years. Also, looking at my current teenage life and friends, I also see a lot of people who get influenced by others very quickly. And these people have a greater chance of turning negative. Knowing your own good is the best lesson one can imbibe.
Wonderful post.
Cheers!
@Makk - true blaming alone won't help anyone. But if we first realise where the fault lies, it is easier to take remedial steps.
@Somak - rightly said! teenage is a very impressionable age and hence it is all the more important to be made aware of your choices.
thanks for dropping by all of you! feels good to be back and to exchange ideas with you.
Fault lies ni every single person, who is not raising voice.
In victim
In criminal(offender)
In Mute Spectator
and every single person has gone through the ordeal some time or other and had not raised voice so every single person is faulty.
@makk true. But that does not solve the problem. It should be a collective effort where everyone realizes what they did wrong and makes amends. It is nice to see such passion makk.
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