Dealing with the youth of today is a big a challenge for parents or guardians. This generation of kids seems to be facing much more than past generations. No other generation ever had a future that looked so out of whack, that had so many problems it had to deal with.
This generation of youth is also more deeply into trouble than past ones. There have always been gangs in our society, but never to this degree of violence and terror and never involving so many of the young.
This generation is involved more in the drug problems than past ones. Drugs are killing more young people today than ever before. The school systems are facing this problem more than ever. Drugs have been in our schools for a long time, but never to the degree that exist now.
This generation is more violent and deadly than in the past. We read about this violence each day in our local papers. We hear about it on the news. The children of this generation are killing each other more than ever before and they're killing adults too. Then to top it all off, they are committing suicide at a record pace.
Why is it like this? What has happened to the youth of this generation, which has set it so far apart from the rest?
This generation is like no other. Each generation that comes along stands out. Each is different in its own way. Yet no generation lived at a time like the world is today. No generation faced a future where the overall picture of society looked so bleak.
The present generation that runs this world is in very bad shape and the future looks even worse in most areas. Maybe that's why this generation of youth is going through so many changes and seems to be having so many problems.
The ones who are supposed to be teaching them and raising them are going through troubles. Is there something that can be done that will reach this group of youngsters? Is there anything that can be done before a whole generation is destroyed?
Many organizations and groups exist to help the young; people are giving their time and making great efforts in reaching them. Yet there is only one way to reach them - Communication. If it's done from the heart, if great effort is put into it, the end result will be a lot better for the child. Not just talking to your child, but relating to your child.
Many parents truly don't know what their child likes or dislikes. That in itself affects their personal relationship with the child and affects how the child deals with others around them.
Through conversation, through communication, adults must teach the young, right from wrong. Then if you one day things must go beyond speaking, to some form of punishment (including spanking), the child will understand the punishment. The child may not like the punishment, but the child will understand why they are being punished. Many young are punished by their parents and don't understand why.
We adults must remember, the young, at a stage of growing and learning. Everyone is always growing, yet for a child everything is newer. Communication is a key that can solve many problems in this newness of life, it gives you and your child a direction. From this, children learn they have somewhere to go when their heart is down or confused. Without communication, there are no doors, to be opened.
Many young people are in gangs, because the gang actually becomes their family - someone they can turn to for advise or just to talk. They can't get that where it's most needed - at home - so they go out and find it someplace else.
The problems facing this generation of children can't be solved overnight. Yet communication can help them get on a path that will make their personal lives better. Communication, also let's the children know, that someone is interested in them and that they are loved and noticed.
It is said that the future of the world is in the hands of the children. If the future is based on how this generation of children is getting along now, the future will be worse than the present.
Let all adults approach the young as a child, but deal with them as a person; remember, be their parent first, not a friend. The foundation for this generation of children is established through what they learn today. Let communication be a key part, in establishing their future and the future of the world.
