Mohammad Usama Aamir
People assume that youth face no problems in life but in reality, they’re more vulnerable. They suffer from numerous issues and challenges including education, unemployment, and health problems. Some other minor problems include ambiguity, drugs addition, identity crisis, lack of self-confidence, a sense of hopelessness, and confusion. Youth makes up for the larger portion of the global population. As per estimation, the population of youth in Pakistan is around 55.7 million, which constitutes more than 30 percent of the whole population of the country. Multiple variations elaborate the term youth. Some organizations consider people from 15 to 24 years of age as youth (UN) others including the USAID youth policy report assume 10-29 years as a youth while according to Pakistani officials people from 15-19 years of age are considered as lying in the category of youth (National Youth Policy 2012). The first and most important problem they face is the lack of quality education. Unfortunately, quality and skillful education is a dream of the poor. This is a major inequity between the higher and lower classes. According to UNICEF reports, 22.8 million Pakistani children aged 5-16 are out of school (OOSC) which makes up 44 percent of the total population in this age group. The education which is given in most of our educational institutions is not qualitative. It doesn’t focus on the skills development of students. Unfortunately, many teenagers consider drug and alcohol experimentation as an essential part of growing up. Drugs are easily available to them in markets even in educational institutions. Pakistan’s illegal drug trade is believed to generate up to $2 billion a year. Due to this, a large portion of our youth is a drug addict. Mostly drug addiction starts with smoking experimentation. According to one survey, one out of every 10 college/university students is a drug addict, almost 50 percent of students of different educational institutions particularly elite schools/colleges in Islamabad and Lahore are addicted to drugs, and a majority of these students belong to elite class having no issue of affordability. Youth finds narcotics as the cheapest source to cope with their miseries. But they never realize that this will drag them to the brink of death. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) forms that more than 7.6 million people in Pakistan are drug addicts. Pakistani drugs & alcohol addicts are increasing at the rate of 40,000 per year making Pakistan one of the most affected countries in the world while the most disturbing fact is that the majority of heroin addicts are under the age of 24. The reason behind this curse might be peer pressure. If your social circle has two or three drug addicts, you’re at higher risk of becoming one of them. Likewise, a major portion of youth is suffering from mental disorders including depression and anxiety. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) reports, globally one in seven of 10-19-year-olds experiences mental disorders. It is estimated that 3.6 percent of 10-14 year-olds and 4.6 percent of 15-19 years-olds experience anxiety disorder. Besides depression is estimated to occur among 1.1 percent of adolescents aged 10-14 and 2.8 percent of 15-19-year-olds. Being distressed from their homes, adolescents turn to drugs to escape the harsh realities of life. A puff of cocaine can bring a state of euphoria, taking them to the stars and they love this feeling. Sometimes such mental disorders result in suicide incidents among youth. Peer pressure is also very common in young generation. It involves the influence of society and friends. For being liked and valued we do some acts which destroy ourselves internally. Love affairs among youth have destroyed many lives. It’s a most difficult phase of life when hormones spark human beings. Another, most important challenge they’re undergoing is the communication gap. It’s a barrier between them and their elders. They can’t express their feelings or desires to their elders mainly their parents due to multiple reasons. Those include a lack of self-confidence and the elder’s strict behavior towards them. It results in inappropriate sexual behavior in teenagers which includes sending or receiving nude photos, inappropriate or excessive pornography use, inappropriate masturbatory behavior, or highly sexualized behavior that may make a youth at risk for human trafficking. Furthermore, parents don’t give a damn shit to their interests and preferences. They force students to a particular subject and its disciplines like medicine or engineering. The monster of frustration is also eating up our youth slowly and gradually. Frustration is a very common disease among youth. They are pessimistic as they are unable to achieve their desired goals and aims in life. They lack consistency. Their confidence level is shattered. Poverty and overpopulation have also caused many problems for teenagers. Poor people lack the resources to pursue their field of interest. It’s a disease that is weakening our youth. Moreover, a large percentage of youth are suffering from unemployment. This is the government’s inability to utilize youth properly. The Pakistani institute of development economic (PIDE) says that over 31 percent of Pakistan’s youth are currently unemployed, 51 percent are females and 10 percent are males with many of them holding professional degrees. This high ratio of unemployment also results in mental disturbance among youth.In addition, religious and political extremism has become a contagious disease among youth. They lack tolerance for any other group having different ideas or opinions from theirs. Also, some political and religious people manipulate them for their interests. Ultimately they become scapegoats for them. Last but not least, the lack of career counseling among youth is also a very common issue. It has caused chaos among youth. They lack proper directions and domains. This is like you sit on a bus and ask the driver to drop you wherever s/he goes. Most young people are confused about what to do and what not to do. Our youth is ambiguous about its destination in life. It results in existentialism. They are not sure about their purpose in life. We must tackle these problems in various ways. We must empower our youth by solving their social and financial problems. Parents, Government, and society must play their roles in solving these problems. Parents must fill that communication gap. There is a dire need for friendship between parents and children. They need to check their children’s friend circle and daily school or college work. Also, they should understand the difference between the two generations. They need to understand the requirements of the younger generation. Also, they should teach children how to live happily not how to run after materialism. The government must take pragmatic steps to cope with all these challenges faced by our young generation. Because the younger generation is not a burden but an asset to the country. It must amend youth policies and find pathways to solve youth-related issues and design action plans to achieve youth development. It must provide youth with a good environment and opportunities for better living conditions. It must focus on skill-based teaching so that youth may become financially independent. The destiny of a nation is in the hands of youth. Pakistan adopted its National Youth Policy in 2009 but after the 18th amendment of the constitution, all provinces were given the right to make their youth policies instead of the central youth policy. But till now, not all the provinces have successfully adopted or implemented their youth policies. We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future. Our society should also play its role. It should provide a hygienic environment for teenagers to grow. It should promote a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. And peer pressure must be harmonized. There must be a balance between being yourself and fitting in with your group. Moreover, failures must not be discouraged but rather encouraged because if one gate closes, hundreds open. It must provide them with a playground for physical games. Because a healthy brain lies in a healthy body. Being young I also want to share my ideas and experiences with my young fellows that keep reading whatever fascinates them. Don’t waste your energies on useless activities like mobile games, social media, and some other stuff. Because today’s reader is tomorrow’s leader.
