Today’s Youth​—A Global Portrait

POPULAR stereotypes portray teenagers as drug-crazed rebels, empty-headed, self-centered and lazy, who have little on their minds but clothing, TV, and sex. For the majority, however, this negative view of youth appears to be far removed from reality.

A survey reported in Psychology Today found that ‘nearly three quarters of those surveyed appeared to be well-adjusted. They were generally happy, self-controlled, caring toward others, concerned with the repercussions of their actions.’ Far from being alienated from their parents, most youths were found to “hold very positive attitudes toward their families.”

Other surveys reveal that many of the hopes, aspirations, and fears of today’s youths likewise reflect sane, sober thinking. In 1985 the Unesco Courier asked youths in 41 lands: “What is the problem of most concern to all young people today?” They received such thoughtful answers as “problems of war and peace” (50 percent), “unemployment and work” (30 percent), and “the future” (10 percent).

Even when the focus shifts to personal ambitions, youths again take a surprisingly pragmatic approach. After polling “a nationally representative group of young [U.S.] men and women ages fourteen to twenty-one,” Seventeen magazine told its young readers: “More than anything else, you want to get married and have a family. The second thing you want is a job or a career. You aim to make money. You are worried about money, too, and education. But more than 60 percent of you don’t believe the problems of the world are too great for your generation to make things better.”

By and large, then, youths the world over want the very same things their elders seek: happiness, security, close families. They are concerned about the world they live in and sincerely want to improve it. Nevertheless, there is a dark side to this portrait.

Sad and Self-Destructive Youths

The aforementioned study made this grim discovery: “One-quarter of the adolescents tested said they are frequently sad and lonely and feel empty emotionally, as well as overwhelmed by life’s problems. A few even admitted suicidal thoughts and leanings.” In some lands youths go beyond mere thinking. The suicide rate among older teenagers in the United States virtually doubled in the last 20 years!a

Another cause of great concern is the worldwide increase in teenage use of drugs, such as marijuana, heroin, cocaine, and crack, a form of cocaine. One 14-year-old girl in the United States said about marijuana smoking: “It’s not even the ‘in’ thing anymore. It’s just part of everybody’s life almost.”

Neither have developing lands escaped this problem. The sight of youths smoking coca paste and similar substances is common in many such lands. UN Secretary-General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar thus said that the problem of illicit trafficking in and abuse of drugs “presents as destructive a threat to present and coming generations as the plagues which swept many parts of the world in earlier ages.”

The use of legal drugs, such as alcohol and tobacco, among youths also has many experts​—and parents—​worried. Reports the UN Chronicle: “Over the past 30 to 40 years, according to WHO [World Health Organization], increasing percentages of children and adolescents have begun to drink alcohol; the quantities and frequency of consumption have increased; and the age at which drinking begins has declined.”

Granted, only a minority of young people are depressed or engaging in self-destructive behavior. Worldwide, however, it still amounts to many millions who have severe problems. As we will next see, young people today are being exposed to stresses and pressures that are unique to the times we are living in.

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