The Young And Their World

The Young And Their World
Young people like to dress stylishly and look attractive. Some of them like to wear designer clothing but not all can afford it. They like being fit and sexy. Girls want to be slim and skinny and boys want to look fit and have buffed muscles – that’s why boys often go to the gym and girls are often on diets because they want to loose weight. The latest tendency is that girls also go to the gym, they follow motto: Strong is the new skinny.  They dye their hair and use a lot of cosmetics. They also like having their noses and ears pierced and tattooed to distinguish themselves from majority population.
Some young people are nowadays very cheeky, rude and impolite and they don’t care about others than themselves.  Some of them are lazy and egoistic.

Young people change while growing up physically, mentally and emotionally. Physically, during puberty their look changes dramatically. Boys grow facial hair and their shoulders widen, they gain more muscles. Their voice roughen. Boys also have problems with acne. Girls’ breasts enlarge and their hips widen.

Emotionally, their emotional life is much more intensive than before. They have their dreams and plans for future.  Love and friendship become the most important values. They like their friends and they like spending time with them. Young people like to be independent and respected - they know what they want from life. They don’t like criticism and they don’t like to be told what to do. They are less emotionally bound to their parents and prefer to be with their peers.

Mentally, their way of thinking go near the adults’, they start to think more complex the perceive reality from adults’ perspective. Young people have basic rights as all the people in the world. However, age limits might be different in each country. There are different age limits for driving a car, buying alcohol, cigarettes or working.  In Slovakia law allows youngsters over 15 to have a legal part-time job. Legal drinking is allowed by the age of 18. Driving car is allowed from the 17th year of age, but only under parental supervision. In the USA it is the age of 21 when they are responsible enough to drive cars alone and buy alcohol tobacco etc.

In Slovakia, with reaching the age of 14, they are legally responsible for their acts and can be punished for crimes.Young people have lot of opportunities. They are young and they can do everything what they want, because they don’t have barriers. They can easily work and study, can travel with discounts, recognize foreign land and obtain new experience. At this age, young people have to choose their field of study. They complete their secondary or university education and start their jobs. The choice of their school can be crucial decision in their life.

Young people nowadays establish their own families later in life than their parents did.  They want to work on their career first and get married later. Young families often can’t afford to buy their own flat. It is difficult for them to earn sufficient about of money because of lack of working experience just after they finish their schools. Situation on labour market in Slovakia also doesn’t contribute to their financial situation. They often travel to foreign countries to learn a foreign language, earn money and gain experience. Young families are different nowadays. In modern families spouses share duties, husbands help at home more than in the past.

Generation Gap is often discussed phenomenon.
Typical example is time of return of child from town in the evening. The child would actually stay with friends to midnight, but parent requires him to get home by half to ten. Here starts the misunderstanding. Child doesn’t see  a problem here, he/she  isn’t afraid to go home at night, and when he is, it’ll get some friends to see him out. Parents, however, see this from aspect of security of their own child. And, because parents worry about  their child more than child worries about himself. Greater problems develop when the parent doesn’t explain his requirements, and just give orders. Sometimes fear of parents is unreasonable.

Generations can be distinguished by the differences in their language use. The generation gap has created a parallel gap in language that can be difficult to communicate across. This issue is one visible throughout society, creating complications within day to day communication at home, in the work place, and within schools. As new generations seek to define themselves as something apart from the old, they adopt new lingo and slang, allowing a generation to create a sense of division from the previous one. This is a visible gap between generations we see every day. “Man's most important symbol is his language and through this language he defines his reality.
The old often assume that they know best for the simple reason that they have been around a little longer. They do not like when their values are questioned and want the young to respect them. But should the young people blindly accept the ideas and ideals of their elders? Is more age always a reason for respect? Aren’t the children sometimes ashamed of their parents’ behaviour? The comment which is repeated from generation to generation sounds: "The young are not what they were", and there is an urgent need to solve the "youth problem". But, again: Who and what has changed the young?

The friendship is one of the most important values in the lives of young people. Friends are used to getting together. They have the same or similar attitudes and views. They share their opinions, experience and feelings between each other and they help each other. However, they can influence each other in a bad way.  The opinions of their peers need not to be correct and one should not come under.

Teenagers face many challenges on their way through adolescence. They want to try as many things as possible. Smoking is one of the most widespread problems of young people. Teenage smoking is often caused by the peer pressure. One wants to fit in with their peers and doesn’t want to be off the group. The same comes with taking drugs and drinking alcohol.
School violence is another serious issue in the life of teenagers. Also called bullying. People may be bullied for no particular reason or because of the colour of their skin, wearing glasses or being different.

Parents should from the young age dedicate enough time to their children and teach them to distinguish good and bad, otherwise they may fail to recognize that the world in media and action movies is not applicable in reality. They copy behaviour from TV and commit crime on public objects and people, as a form of vandalism, graffiti or hooliganism. Yet, graffiti can be considered as an art as well.

Young people have different aims in life, but most of them want to be healthy, wealthy and relaxed. It is extremely hard to reach this status, so young people look for shortcuts in their life.

They are unsure of their future, ‘Will I be successful with my school leaving exams and university admission? Will there be enough job opportunities when I finish school ? Should I focus on my career or spend more time with my family ?’ These are the most common thing that youngsters are worried about.