speech on today's youth is wiser than their forefathers

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Why our forefathers were much happier than us

WE LIVE LONGER THAN OUR FOREFATHERS; BUT WE SUFFER MORE FROM A THOUSAND ARTIFICIAL ANXIETIES AND CARE’S THEY FATIGUED ONLY THE MUSCLES , WE EXHAUST THE FINER STRENGTH OF THE NERVES- EDWARD GEORGE

Turning the annals of history back to ancient times, a modern man feels overwhelmed to see the challenging lives of human beings a few generations earlier. Our predecessors used to live in caves, consume uncooked food, travel thousands of miles on foot. They couldn’t get clothing to cover their bodies, and they didn’t care about finding shelter to cover their heads. Their quality of living was no different than that of beasts. Yet they were satisfied.

Scientific advancement has equipped us with many luxuries that were unprecedented throughout the days of our forefathers. A modern man pleasures himself in numerous ways. We have overcome the elements of nature, we have tamed the atom, we have reached the moon, we have conquered space, and yet we are not complete, content or fulfilled.

At the expense of moral and ethical principles, we have acquired physiological convenience. We dream of comforts of our own, not of others. We’re so engrossed in the capital snare. We are wasteful, lazy, depressed, angry and susceptible to all manner of indulgences. We have so many expectations that dissatisfaction and despair fill life. We have no recreation, no rest, no harmony and no joy

Humanity today  arrogant, hypocritical, deceptive, disingenuous and irritated today. ⠀

A dividing line should be drawn between warmth, convenience, ease, and true happiness. With the so-called marvellous gifts of scientific life, no doubt, it has become very comfortable; the universe has just about transformed into a supposed utopia, but satisfaction is a state of consciousness. It does not lie in the warmth and ease of items. All these so-called amenities and miracles of life have made our lives artificial, hollow and devoid of true happiness.

Our forefathers unquestionably had no other accommodations and facilities. In the field of sanitation, they have had numerous deadly illnesses, epidemics and negligence. There have been little higher education and vocational training in schools, colleges, institutions of higher education, but at the same time, they have not suffered from the many ills and evils of contemporary civilization. They were transparent, frank, compassionate, concerned, pitying, polite and sensitive. They had their soul and in all their actions and thought were they  always motivated by ethical, spiritual and human ideologies. They had their inner harmony, pleasure and actualization. In the domain of materialism and possession, a modern man lives.

Our inner and true selves are starving and hardened. The human ideals like love, empathy, emotion, fellowship, kindness etc. have increasingly been marginalised in this world of scientific advancement. Man is becoming increasingly egoistic and too money-minded.What is the use of possession of the universe the spirit is abandoned? King Midas’ curse has come down on the human race. The exploitation of knowledge has turned our future into a bitter one. our existence is dehumanised and disillusioned.

Everything that has been stated so far actively demonstrates that our ancestors were much happier than ourselves.

they really enjoyed in the past than we do now

it is really a fact that our forefathers were happier than us. in the times of our forefathers life was so simple. science was not so advanced and con...

they really enjoyed in the past

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@ A Voice From The Youth

My name is Anaisa Arora, I have taken part in many national and international competitions. I have a passion for debating and writing . i have a wish for a voice of a youth to share thier opinions as well , after all we are the generation that is going to take on the world now.....

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Youthspeak: The audacity of youth

Today, india's youth are more informed than ever before. their hopes for the future include self-reliance, a more positive media culture, less crime, more inclusivity and free speech.

With an average age of 29, India is currently home to a fifth of the world’s youth population. The United Nations Population Fund predicts that this ‘youth bulge’—often referred to as India’s demographic dividend—will last till about 2025, with India continuing to have one of the youngest populations in the world till 2030.

In the coming decade, more young people than ever before will join the country’s work force. Young people today are highly informed, aware of both domestic and international issues and increasingly technologically savvy. They are also highly mobile: according to a recent study by the Institute for Governance, Policies and Politics in Delhi, around 86 per cent of those aged 18-25 access the internet and social media through mobile phones. This constant exposure to different views, trends and news has resulted in adolescents and young adults with high aspirations for themselves and India.

The one thing that unites young Indians’ dreams for the country is an overwhelming belief in India’s potential

Whether it is pollution, the continuing lack of gender equality or the shortage of jobs, young people today are clear-sighted about the problems facing our country and aren’t afraid to name them. Take 16-year-old Shyla Upadhyay, a student at Delhi’s Vasant Valley School, who points out that while India is a country with many triumphs, its shortcomings can only be addressed through unity and respect for differences. Similarly, 17-year-old Riddhiman Ganguly, a student of Kolkata’s St Claret School, has a strong vision for the future: “[An India] where the marble floors of the shrines are sacred, [but] so is all the land, water and air. I yearn for an India where the bovines are [seen as] divine and so are all other flora and fauna. I wish to see an India where the elite are respected, but so are the [destitute homeless].”

The varied nature of young dreams today is striking. “Children don’t live isolated from what is going on in the country, or indeed the world anymore. Today, their knowledge base today is diverse and their goals can include just about anything,” says Sunita George, principal of Bombay Scottish High School in Mumbai. Indeed, there are few topics left untouched by young people when it comes to expectations from India—self-reliance, quality education, a more positive media culture, less crime, sensitivity towards the marginalised, free speech, even a peaceful night’s rest. The one thing that does unite their dreams for India is an overwhelming belief in the potential of the country. “My idea of India’s future reflects the India of the past. One in which the country’s genuine potential, its resources and people are recognised, valued and appreciated,” says 21-year-old Kashish Mathur, a student of Amity Law School, Noida.

There also exists a belief that the India of tomorrow will be defined and improved by the youth of today. The growing participation of young people in addressing the country’s problems can be seen in the sheer numbers that came out in support during the recent farmers’ protests and the protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. Vibhor Jain, a 19-year-old studying at IIT Delhi says that while democratically elected politicians may have forgotten the plight of our country, “the youth hasn’t and will not forget India”. And 16-year-old Radhika Bharadwaj, a student of Seth Anandram Jaipuria School in Ghaziabad adds, “The capable youth of India are coming to the rescue.” It isn’t just economic value that India’s young demographic wishes to create but also cultural, social, environmental and political worth.

'Padhega India tabhi toh badhega America’ . Actor Anupam Kher had put up this post on Instagram. It captured the reality of the Indian youth—many famous personalities, like Satya Nadella, Sundar Pichai and Shantanu Narayen, have an Indian background. The data collected by Leverage Edu in 2021 shows that 94 per cent of Indian students choose to study abroad if they get the chance. This urge of Indian students to move away from their home to another country must have some significant reason behind it. Most students are chasing two things—exposure and experience. Most universities and schools in India still follow the process of rote learning of facts. There is a need for an education system that focuses on exposure rather than rote learning.

The youth, on the other hand, also have the responsibility to stay and help their own country grow rather than any other nation because ‘Padhega India tabhi toh badhega India’.

Chahak Malhotra | Fashion Media Communication, School of Contemporary Media, Pearl Academy, Delhi

I believe in what stand-up comedian Vir Das said—‘I live in two Indias’. The first one where the population explosion has a ripple effect in terms of unemployment, access to basic housing, sanitation and food, and the other where the population has the power to be a productive resource with established business acumen.

But don’t worry. The capable youth of India is coming to the rescue. I can envision content farmers, resilient students and transparent leaders in a gender-sensitised environment uniting to make an incredible India. Why am I so certain? Because we are being nurtured wonderfully by schools. Thanks, especially, to the New Education Policy.

So, rest assured, India is going to be in good hands.

Radhika Bharadwaj | Class 11 student, Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Vasundhara, Ghaziabad

The India of my dreams is that of a common citizen of this country, who wants to wake up after a peaceful sleep, with no worries about their job security or family’s safety, who wants to breathe clean air, walk down clean streets with fewer beggars. Who wants to sleep without worrying about the safety of their daughter returning late, without worrying about corruption. Who wants to be surrounded by countrymen who truly follow their dreams rather than blindly following society, grow companies at home that have a huge impact on employment and the world. Who is willing to get their hands dirty, cleaning boundaries made to divide people and erase the gap between decision-makers and the common people. My dream India isn’t just my dream, but also the dream of the million Indians living in slums, buildings and bungalows.

Prachi Kashyap | BTech Computer Science Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar

[The India we want]: A new India and, ironically, the oldest India,

One with safety to walk,

One with safety to talk,

One where voices are heard,

One where stereotypes are unheard;

Maybe the 50-year-old suited journalists have forgotten India,

And perhaps the democratically chosen politicians have forgotten India,

But the youth hasn’t and will not forget India.

From climate strikes, to giving voice to the voiceless, to marching on streets to know the truth, to going through the internet to garner support for the needy, to asking the right questions, to just knowing their rights and enforcing them, there is a change, and there will be one.

Visible? Yes,

Audible? Yes,

Fast? Probably not,

But comprehensive? Damn straight.

Vibhor Jain | BTech, Textile Technology, IIT Delhi

What is my dream India like? Well, it’s not like I’ve been given a menu card of choices to pick from. Ah, a more tolerant India. What would you like with that? A side of inclusivity? Maybe a dash of free speech and fundamental rights? Well, here you go, we offer everything in our Constitution.

But whether they offer you a dash of this and a side of that, never forget to take everything with a pinch of salt. The India I’ve grown up in has constantly said the future is in our hands, yet our hands are tied behind our backs. When we’re crossing milestones, it applauds us, but suddenly, mysteriously, we’re “crossing limits”, and it becomes orange-faced, spluttering with rage. (Why, I thought only a certain former US president had exclusive rights to that reaction.)

The India I dream of is one without contradictions, where what is on paper is in practice. The India I dream of lets me fly without watching over my shoulder. Where people don’t laugh at sexist, homophobic jokes and look the other way at the mention of accountability. Above all, it is a home, which lets me dream of a future without fear.

Rupsa Dasgupta | Physics Major, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai

India is a country of abundance—of cultures, languages and love. I grew up in an India that exudes brilliance, that excuses mistakes and that exercises pride in humility. But growing up I realised, ‘your India’ and ‘my India’ are different. There is a different India whose importance transcends that of my privileged India. There is an India full of pain, that doesn’t let you be you, where your worth is realised every five years. It is an India of hardship. And then there is an idea of a new India where bigotry rules over humanity, where majoritarianism is pampered and the marginalised are further isolated.

At the same time, there’s an India of hope where communities are stronger than predatory leaders. There is an India built on ties that go beyond caste, creed or religion, a nation that has an unflinching spirit and tenacity. This is the India we’ll proudly call truly incredible.

Shashwat Raut | Arts graduate, St Xavier’s College, Mumbai

Schitt’s Creek was a show that really opened my eyes to the way the LGBTQ community should be perceived. In India, we have made slow progress towards accepting the community. In the name of acceptance, the lives and struggles of those who identify as ‘queer’ are mocked as entertainment. As we shifted online during the pandemic, it became easy for people to open up about their struggles. Articles and videos, even things like putting one’s preferred pronoun on public platforms, helped create safe spaces. There have been shows that have tried to eradicate the idea of homophobia. This is the kind of future I hope for—where we completely eradicate homophobia and queerphobia. While this is still a utopian dream, which would require years of learning and unlearning, we can start by being aware of and sensitive to the community and by providing platforms to queer people across all fields.

Prishita Kulkarni | Architecture, School of Environment & Architecture, Mumbai

We need a country where we address topics like sexuality or the issues of marginalised communities with sensitivity; where the issues of caste biases will be addressed with care because everyone will be friends who fight, argue but connect. We need to bargain and negotiate and not reduce anything to a binary. A nuanced country adapting to the contemporary times and borrowing from history will indeed shape India into a sustainable nation.

Eesha Pethe | Architecture, University of Mumbai

Young Indians have high aspirations. They are empowered to demand change as access to the Internet and technology improves. The Internet and smartphones have reduced the information gap between urban and rural Indians. Both public and private sectors must collaborate to adapt business strategies and product/ service offerings for consumers. In the coming decade, India will offer a plethora of commercial options. If investment in education, healthcare, research and development and infrastructure expands in sync with current growth, the changes in the consumer’s income and predilection for consumption will provide several possibilities.

Manan Jindal | BTech Computer Science and Engineering, NIIT University, Manesar

India, a country known for its beauty and diversity, still surprises me when it labels its backward beliefs as “India’s culture”. India still judges women on their choice of attire. The notion of a ‘perfect Indian woman’ is rooted in a pre-Independence point of view. An unmarried woman is deemed ‘unsuccessful’, no matter how much she has achieved in her career. And a woman who gets married is expected to give up everything to focus on “raising a family”. In India we are more focused on telling women how they should behave rather than guiding them towards their dreams. We call ourselves a ‘modern country’, but that applies only to men. Here, we love victim blaming and shaming and coming up with solutions to prevent crimes rather than punishing the criminals. India, a country with so much potential, is being held back by its own beliefs. We can grow as a superpower in the future, but only if our mindset grows too.

Sukanya | BCom, BHS College, Bengaluru

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had famously said, ‘A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old to the new—when an age ends, and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed, finds utterance’. The virus played this role. Maybe some things become historic with time, like Covid-19, which has become nothing less than a historic disaster—a time when the whole world was locked inside homes. However, when a few doors are closed, new ones are automatically opened. The lockdown resulted in world digitisation in just a few months. The pandemic accelerated the digitisation of the economy, and digital infrastructure is the bedrock of this change.

Everything went online—from education and business to even parties—bringing with it the potential for our nation to grow. The fast-emerging business in cloud storage, artificial intelligence, cyber security and many more technologies proves this. The next several years will determine India’s ability to boost employment and reclaim its status as one of the world’s fastest growing big economies. When the world thinks ‘digital’, it should think ‘India’.

Aashna Jain | MBA, Amity Business School, Amity University, Noida

My vision for the India of tomorrow is a land without violence and terror, where the youth are not compelled to take up a life of crime because of poverty. I dream of a country with safe borders so that our soldiers don’t have to sacrifice their lives and stay away from their families on festivals.

I visualise a country which is safe for women so that parents don’t have to pull their daughters back from achieving their dreams. Today, women match men in all professions but parents worry about their daughters being out till late. If we have a swift and stringent system of justice, crimes against women will reduce.

I want an India where every child can go to school, irrespective of poverty and geography. A country where everyone is valued and people aren’t judged by their profession or social and economic status.

Gayatri Reddy | Nursing, Nath Pai College of Nursing, Kudal, Maharashtra

For the most part of my life, I was a starry-eyed young girl who strongly believed that ‘India is the best’ and that it is progressing towards being a global superpower. While that is partly true, my education in development studies has given me a new outlook, a rather cynical one. So, I went from being blindly optimistic to openly pessimistic. And now I have a problem with everything. Or so I like to joke.

India is a land of diversity, culture, resources and has the potential to achieve greatness, but suffers setbacks in politics, policy implementation and mindsets. Nevertheless, I see a future for India where development is intersectional, depoliticised, constant, and, let’s not forget, sustainable! One with a population above subsistence levels leading dignified lives. An India that is like a romantic partner: flexible, understanding and open to change.

Aditi Apparaju | MA, Development Studies, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex, UK

I dream of an India where every child goes to school.

A dream where every person has a job,

A dream where the crime rates have dropped to zero,

A dream where there is love among all Indians,

A dream where people reside in nurturing abodes, not slums,

A dream with no beggars on the streets,

A dream where India is the most powerful nation in the world,

A dream where people don’t quit India but instead ‘Make in India’.

A dream where people are not hungry for power but hungry to work for the people of India,

A dream where India is safe for women and children,

A dream where India is the most beautiful country,

A dream where we don’t fight for territories,

A dream where every Indian shouts at the top of their voice, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’.

Mayank Kumar | BTech Computer Science Engineering KIIT University, Bhubaneswar

My country is one of the most diverse in the world, filled with a variety of cultures, traditions, and more than 19,500 spoken languages. This diversity has enriched me with new perspectives and opinions. India has shown me that one can have their ups but also their downs, just like eating golgappa at a street vendor’s stall and then coming home to eat baingan ka bharta for dinner. Just like travelling from the top of the country to the bottom, experiencing the snow and the mountains and then the sun and the beaches. My country is a small world in itself.

I believe that as a result of this diversity, India is a slow yet fast-developing country in different ways. The way that people are evolving and inculcating western culture is rapid but at the same time keeping in mind age-old traditions and following them has helped them maintain a balance. Overall, I believe India will become one of the most famous, balanced and welcoming countries in the future, inviting people from all over the world.

Hannah Raj Babutta | Class 12, Neerja Modi School, Jaipur

My vision of India is for it to be regarded as a highly developed country rather than a developing one. We are among the top seven countries in terms of GDP, our poverty rates have been falling and our achievements are being globally recognised. However, we still lack the confidence to see ourselves as a developed nation. Here’s why: people here are obsessed with foreign goods; everyone wants foreign technology, even foreign shirts. We have heard it often, that self-respect comes from self-reliance. I want to live in an India that is self-reliant.

The media in India is so negative—only the deaths, terrorism, crimes and scams make headlines, while all the breaking news, achievements and strengths are buried among other news. We are a great nation and the people of India need to be aware of their successes. I want to live in an India where people wake up and recognise India’s strengths instead of reading negative headlines.

My vision is to see India as a developed, self-reliant and self-assured nation.

Dhiren Reddy | Management Studies, Symbiosis Centre for Management Studies, Pune

I dream of an India where every student has access to quality education. The kind of education that ensures children look beyond shallow boundaries among fellow beings and follow ethical paths. India’s funding should incline towards R&D, manufacturing and technology to enable the youth to innovate at par with technically advanced countries. Similarly, I dream that the deserving get a chance to lead and are not left behind due to reservation or evil corrupt forces. I visualise India winning medals at the Olympics and not just cricket world cups. Someday, I wish to make everyone aware of their environmental responsibilities by reducing our carbon footprint. But, alas, my dream can be a reality only when my countrymen push themselves to think and act rationally, without differentiating on meaningless boundaries.

Sudeshna Dutta | BTech Electronics, KIIT, Bhubaneswar

India’s strength is its rich history and how it stops at nothing to create more;

India’s strength is its diversity, which is both cultural and geographical;

India’s strength is its defence forces that can shake its enemy to the core;

India’s strength is how it endures hardships like none other and despite everything stands tall knowing that its people are always ready to catch her if she ever falls;

India’s strength is its youth who are willing to fight for what is right, stopping at nothing to create a space where every life matters;

India’s strength is the beautiful minds that it houses that will stop at nothing to make their motherland proud.

My view of India and its future is one where we bring all these strengths together and prosper together as a nation and continue to create history.

Mihika Mukherjee | BA LLB (Hons), BML Munjal University, Haryana

Friends, Indians, countrymen, lend me your ears,

Yes, you too, the one in the ‘I love NYC’ shirt.

India needs your voices to be heard,

To prove its mettle, its very worth.

The saffron, white and green lace outer space,

Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan and maybe Brahaspatiyaan too.

But astronauts won’t be the only ones wearing space helmets.

India, the land of unity in diversity,

With different languages and cultures.

There’s diversity even in the animals we fight for,

Cows, pigs or buffaloes? It’s a whole lot of fun.

This is an India with many triumphs,

But we can’t mend shortcomings while making a fuss.

So, let’s come together,

And make this our India—the story of us.

Shyla Upadhyay | Vasant Valley School, Delhi

In many respects, my idea of India’s future reflects the India of the past. One in which the country’s genuine potential, its resources and people are recognised, valued and appreciated. An India that is at the forefront of environmental, cultural and archaeological conservation on a global scale. An India that appreciates its diversity’s aesthetic beauty and where progress and expansion do not compete with nature, rather complement it. An India where there is a deliberate and well-thought out attempt to narrow financial disparities and unproductive goals. My most fervent wish is for an India where every child is safeguarded and where every woman reaches her full potential in the company of a supportive community.

Kashish Mathur | BA LLB (Hons), Amity Law School, Noida

My dream of India; such a fantastic idea to ruminate on. It is necessary too, for the young are to soon run this nation, making it infinitely important to dream of what we shall construct. As one of that generation, I too visualise my India, where the marble floor of shrines are sacred, and so is all the land, water and air. I yearn for an India where the bovine are divine and so are all other flora and fauna. I wish to see the India where the elite are respected, but so are the ragged vagrants.

How about an India where there are massive fights, but only in blockbuster ‘Bolly flicks?’ Not to mention an India that is divided, but only on who will win the IPL. Funnily enough, the India I want is already here, a few pieces of the beautiful puzzle are all that’s missing.

Riddhiman Ganguly | St Claret School, Kolkata

India has a population of nearly 1.5 billion. With that comes an equal number of perspectives. There are ‘uncles’ in parks who have an opinion on everything without really knowing the ground realities. Their opinions are stated to make themselves sound cool, a little like what we did back in school. The need of the hour is to create an environment where those who are usually left unheard also get an ear, and even the less popular opinions are given a hearing—something that seems to be missing lately in the way we communicate with each other. An India of the future should be more aware, more open-minded and more considerate of the underprivileged. The ‘uncles’ need to get their act together.

Srijan Sharma | Aspiring law student, Raipur, Chhattisgarh

India is a land of diversity which makes the country a land of limitless potential. The strength of India lies in the celebration and nurturing of these diversities. It opens windows of multiple opportunities. I want my India to recognise and encourage every voice with a new seed of thought instead of getting divided between the Right and the Left. In my vision of India, there is no place for majoritarian oppression or minority appeasement. When a billion minds unite to learn and draw strength from each other instead of highlighting these differences, no power on earth will be able to stop India from achieving its rightful place in the universe.

Hirak Patowary | MA History, Cotton University, Guwahati

I dream of an India where equal opportunities for all citizens exist in an environment of communal harmony. My India should have adequate employment opportunities for the youth. Quality education should be accessible and affordable to all. This will ensure that the best human resources of India don’t migrate to developed countries. I aspire for an upward growth curve for India’s economy propelled by sustainable development for future generations. I expect a nation with diligent enforcement of law and order. And finally, with rising pollution, I demand the right to breathe clean air for every Indian. For all these to happen, we need better socio-economic infrastructure and policy implementation.

Shubham Gupta | BCom (Hons), Hansraj College, Delhi

We see India divided on matters of religion, caste or politics, but I also see India divided when it comes to food—vegetarians and non-vegetarians. The idea of sustainable eating takes away from the fact that food is politics out here. Contrary to popular belief, meat is an affordable staple for communities and it sustains their livelihood. So, when your friend tells you about a trending internet diet for its sustainability, it’s important to know that eating meat is as ethical as anything else. We have had our tryst with some myths about our country—that we’re a land of elephants and snake charmers, that all Indians are poor, etc. Now, here’s a myth that’s much bigger—that India is a vegetarian country! Acceptance of diversity, including food, is my view of India and its future.

Reynaa Azmathulla | International Studies and Journalism, FLAME University, Pune

I host a travel show along with my brother called Zip Zap Zoom. This gives me the opportunity to travel. Almost all of the Northeast has said no to plastic. I came across villages where trees were worshipped and the greenery was in full bloom. I think if what is in one part of my country is adopted by the whole nation, India will be a paradise on Earth. I believe travel should be an integral part of our education system because travelling is the best teacher. And if our generation learns to respect nature, we will create our own beautiful world— that future that we would want for India.

Manya Varma | C.P. Goenka International School, Mumbai

India as a country has always fascinated the outside world. I hope India in the future continues to do so, and for good reasons. I hope India is able to acknowledge, appreciate and celebrate the diverse and unique cultures present here, something that has been lacking for a few years now. I hope in the future, India is full of educated people, people who won’t give in to the rhetoric of religion. Last but not the least, I sincerely hope India is able to recognise the sheer volume of corruption which takes place in the largest democracy of the world. If that doesn’t happen, my dream of India will never come true.

Pumdee Gamlin | BA English (Hons), Hansraj College, Delhi

I would like to see a more inclusive India, which is safe and offers dignity to every individual. It is important to see which areas can be immediately improved. For example, women’s safety—how often do we hear those in power talking about this issue? It took India five years to sentence to death people who were 100 per cent culprits of a heinous crime like rape. With stricter laws and better implementation, this can change drastically.

The safety of non-binary or transgender groups is another issue. The social acceptance of these groups still seems a far-fetched idea, despite us living in a county where the majority of the population worships the gender fluid Lord Shiva.

Preyrana Mishra | Computer Science Engineering, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar

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Understanding and implementing the Children and Youth program: What President Nelson has said about today’s youth

By Sydney Walker

PROVO, Utah — As President Russell M. Nelson concluded his worldwide devotional for youth in June 2018, he told his young audience, “You have the capacity to be smarter and wiser and have more impact on the world than any previous generation.”

President Nelson didn’t say today’s youth are smarter and wiser or will have more impact; he said they have the capacity to do so, Young Women General President Bonnie H. Cordon pointed out. 

“And this is where you come in,” she told BYU Education Week attendees gathered in the Marriott Center on Tuesday, Aug. 17. “How do we increase the capacity of our youth to be able to be smarter and wiser and have more impact? How do we strengthen their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? …

“When their cause is the cause of Christ, they really will be the Lord’s battalion that our prophet has invited them to be part of.”

President Cordon and Young Men General President Steven J. Lund led the first of four sessions on “Understanding and Implementing the Children and Youth Program ” in a class titled “Noble Youth Called of God.” Other members of the Young Men and Young Women general presidencies will speak in subsequent classes Aug. 18-20. 

Read more: How the Children and Youth program supports the rising generation in accomplishing the work of salvation and exaltation

Youth are taking an active role in preparing for the Savior’s return, President Lund said. President Nelson doesn’t talk about youth as “future leaders” of the Church. “He says you are prepared today to step up and take your rightful place in the kingdom and to be leaders, to lead out.”

President Lund and President Cordon reviewed the new Aaronic Priesthood quorum theme and revised Young Women theme , both of which testify of the capacity and divine nature of youth. They invited the audience to memorize these themes and do so with a youth.

The general youth leaders then introduced a video clip from President Nelson that was shared during pilot For the Strength of Youth (FSY) conferences this summer. In the clip, President Nelson reminded youth of who they really are as sons and daughters of God, preserved for this time. 

“Using a baseball analogy, we are in the last half of the ninth inning,” President Nelson declared. “Our Heavenly Father and His Son chose you to be on Their team when the game is on the line. This means They know you, They trust you and will help you fulfill your personal mission on this earth.”

He invited youth to follow the example of young Joseph Smith and pray to know if they are really one of God’s elect and noble spirits, with a special part to play in the gathering of Israel. 

“If you will ask sincerely, with great humility, I promise you that the Lord will let you know through the whisperings of His Spirit. The answers may not come quickly, but they will come. And when you know who you really are, you will have the courage to enlist in the Lord’s battalion to help gather Israel for the rest of your life,” President Nelson said. 

President Cordon and President Lund added their testimonies to President Nelson’s message, emphasizing that the Lord has confidence in His youth and they succeed when given opportunities to lead in quorum and class presidencies. 

Read more: 6 reasons why President Lund and other Church leaders have faith in the Children and Youth program

“I hope that we are courageous enough not to inadvertently release them by taking over their call,” President Cordon said. “So many times as leaders, we know we can do it faster, cheaper, cuter … but I think what the Lord is asking is please, allow them to be part of the work.”

President Lund added: “We say to you that if this is a marked generation, this is a generation that was sent for a time such as this, well then, so is yours. And so are you, sent here, to nurture and prepare these great young people.”

The class series “Understanding and Implementing the Children and Youth program” continues tomorrow, Aug. 18, with Sister Michelle D. Craig , first counselor in the Young Women general presidency, and Brother Ahmad S. Corbitt, first counselor in the Young Men general presidency. They will speak on “Accomplishing the Work of Salvation and Exaltation.” 

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9 Reasons Why Kids Today Are Smarter Than We Could Ever Be!

The other day my friend's kid rebuked me for driving a diesel car. "It's the reason we have global warming", he said. The kid is 2 and a half years old! Yes look around! Kids today are wiser, smarter and more informed than what we were at their age! By a long distance! So how has that come about? Here are 9 possible reasons.

1. They’ve Got A Search Engine!

Kids today are more independent when it comes to learning new things. They just log on to a search engine instead of bugging their moms and dads for answers to questions their parents may not even know.

2. Their Reality Is Augmented!

Kids learn things better when its audio and visual. We mugged the names of the 7 north east states for our exams but still don’t quite remember it. Our kids will have a better chance of remembering when they see a fun video of North East tourism or an augmented reality application.

3. They Are Gamifying Learning

Imagine your kid solving maths riddles while competing in real time with some kid in the US for a possible PS4 as a prize! Makes it more fun right?

4. Their Books Are On The Cloud!

When we were kids, we had to depend on the books our parents bought us or the school/public library. Imagine getting access to 1000X more books at the same cost of getting a library membership. Yes the internet and e books is making that possible for today’s kids. Plus they are learning the important lesson of conserving trees.

5. We Had 1 Teacher For 40 Kids. They Have A Personal Tutor And It’s Not Even Human!

Technology is customising teaching methods for every kid’s needs! – Google’s vice-president of research Alfred Spector once said “that research shows that even average students can reach the top 2% of a class if they have a personal tutor that can adapt their teaching methods to the student’s style of thinking and learning. If it were the case that technology could become custom tutors, then it’s possible to imagine enormous improvements in educational attainment”. Well that’s already happening with online programs such as Memrise and Cerego.

6. Language Is Not A Barrier

Kids today are learning new languages through apps such as Duo-lingo so imagine a 10 year old discussing an art assignment in French with a kid living in Paris.

7. Their Group Projects Are Global!

Kids today crowd source solutions of problems they have no answer to. The varied perspectives lead to holistic learning and of course teach the art of collaboration.

8. They Have Access To All The Important People In Their Lives

Thanks to Skype, kids today are closer to their role models than we ever were, even while living continents apart.

9. There Is No Cut-off Time For Learning

Schools shut at 2. Libraries shut at 6. But as long as you have a personal computer, an internet connection and electricity the learning can continue any time of the day or night, weekday or weekend! But of course all this depends on having an Intel powered PC at home.  With their blazing fast speed, extraordinary battery life and extreme performance, Intel-powered PCs are the best friends of students who want to learn more things in less time. S o this academic session make sure you get your kid one before s/he goes #backtoschool

cardphoto credit: lis

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Have Teens Become Wiser Than Adults?

Examining the effects of the digital revolution on wisdom..

Posted September 25, 2019

If we define wisdom as having judgment, discretion, and pragmatism, it’s time to rethink how it is acquired and translated into action on a day-to-day basis. In a world that’s constantly and rapidly changing and hyper-digitized, is it possible that adults (especially older adults) can’t cognitively integrate social and technical mutations fast enough? If so, advantage: teens.

While some of the landscape remains the same between generations, as the ground shifts beneath us, we need to recalibrate our cautionary compasses to offset generational bias and resistance to new technology. As Marshall McLuhan profoundly warned a half-century ago in his book, The Medium is the Massage , “All media are extensions of some human faculty—psychic or physical.”

We usually think of wisdom as an accrued benefit of experience over the lifespan, but this assumes that what we learn is always going to be relevant and that once we’ve learned it, we never lose it. Some research casts doubt on these assumptions, strongly suggesting that wisdom may be more closely correlated with the quality of experiences, not mere quantity, and that it’s not separate from other cognitive and psychological influences.

It’s obvious that at least a small number of adolescents would be wiser than some adults, but is this ratio changing? The picture becomes even cloudier if wisdom is intermittent and domain-specific as some suggest. It may wax and wane or be limited to certain areas. For example, a person could be wise about how to care for themselves physically, but not emotionally. One can be financially wise but relationship foolish or vice versa.

Many parents bemoan the digital revolution, citing the damage it does to youth. According to the Pew Research Center, 65 percent believe their children spend too much time in front of screens. They feel compelled to limit “ screen time ” as if somehow we could magically revert to the analog age. Yet some of us realize that these technological advances are not going away, and we had better embrace them and focus on teaching youth how to use them to better ends. To separate teens from their devices is like telling them to go naked into the streets. Soon, we could have digital devices embedded in our clothes, so it’s time to groom ourselves for a virtual world.

We had the same raging debate about how television should be used when it arrived, and we still do. Hopefully, for every bit of harm any kind of screen hypnosis inflicts, some good occurs to offset it. A former college student of mine told me that having a television saved and enhanced his life. He lived in an impoverished, dangerous neighborhood, and it gave him something to do since he was essentially housebound. It was his window to a better world, and he credits TV for allowing him to even dream about a college education . Today he is a high school principal and a sought-after youth mentor and speaker.

Some adult guides fret over youth not developing social skills or healthy relationships if they don’t have enough face-to-face social time, but relationship quality depends more on the type of interaction than offline hours together. For example, relationships with friends and our children often become more positive over time, while relationships with spouses or partners tend to be consistent, or more negative over time. If adults are presumed to be so well-qualified to give relationship advice, then why do so many marriages end in divorce ? The odds for second marriages are even worse. If wisdom has anything to do with learning from our mistakes, then it looks like we need to make a lot of them before we get it. Why then, would we want to try to prevent youth from making mistakes? Perhaps, the sooner the better!

Maybe, by allowing them to feel their unique hunger level for human contact, they may learn to value it more and seek it out on their own, thereby acquiring the necessary skills. Sometimes we try so hard to keep them safe, and ensure them a better future, we don’t let them live or learn for themselves. So-called “helicopter” parents may be more concerned about their own guilt if something goes wrong, than their emerging adults’ need to learn how to turn wrongs into rights.

Recently, we have seen teens with transformational experiences exhibit great wisdom in the political and cultural realms. Highly visible examples of youth becoming influential thought leaders and mobilizing forces in society abound. At 16 years old, Greta Thunberg has inspired millions of environmental advocates, and the students from Parkland have energized the conversation about gun regulation. And there’s Malala . Other teens around the world are stepping up to meet today’s challenges.

These are cases of accelerated wisdom. Further, these exemplary teens reflect deep wisdom because they are combining passion with purposefulness, and they are remarkably systematic in their approaches. In this digital age, other youth can vicariously connect to these leaders’ sense of urgency and join the movements. Perhaps, at times, what older people claim as wisdom is just a way to maintain the status quo or cover their anxieties–a confirmation-bias security blanket.

I attended a forum on suicide prevention this week and one of the panelists was a high school senior. When asked what teens need from adults more than anything she replied, “To be listened to and taken seriously and to not be judged.” Way too often adults and teens come off as dismissive of each other because, like most people much of the time, they are fixated on their own perspectives. In the information age, youth have access to much more information than they previously did, and they can contribute more to meaningful dialog.

To the extent that technology contributes to the generational divide, we could call it the “TechGen Effect” (technological/generational) and, if we could design a study to measure this technological influence on wisdom, I hypothesize that the results might look something like this:

Besides just affecting points of view, these generational biases may influence the level of conflict that youth and adults experience as they consider outcomes of a teen ’s decisions. This applies to both high tech and low tech. About a year ago, I met with a 16-year-old boy and his mother because they were arguing about whether he should wear a helmet when skateboarding. The mom wanted him to wear it all the time and he didn’t want to ever be seen in one. She was worried about physical consequences and he was concerned about social cost. When asked what makes the most sense, they were eventually able to agree that he was the better judge of the dangers, but the nature of skating is to try increasingly difficult tricks, so a helmet was a good idea when trying something new or inherently dangerous. He committed to wearing it when he perceived a certain level of danger. It wasn’t long before he was wearing it routinely. I benefited too. I might have existed my whole life without knowing the difference between an “ollie” and a “nollie. ”

At the risk of sounding way more interested in skateboarding than I am, I offer another skater anecdote. One of my neighbors was complaining about his son’s obsession with skating and his concern that the boy’s school performance was suffering. I subsequently moved out of the neighborhood and didn’t see the dad until years later. When I inquired about his son, he told me that he was a pro skater and was getting major endorsements and making lots of money doing what he loved.

In the past, we have widely accepted the idea that youth are more egocentric than adults. We need a new paradigm for this. We need to consider to what extent youth inclinations (even risk-taking behaviors) can sometimes be viewed as mindful deliberations with positive intent, not just impulses seeking immediate gratification. Case in point—sometimes, a teen’s desire to associate with others who may be “bad influences” occurs from a desire to help them rather than imitate them. A good kid in a bad crowd may do more overall good than she would as a bad kid in a good crowd.

In other words, the way teens adapt socially may be wise considering the reality of their daily challenges. Would you shoplift like the bully ordered you to, or take the beating? Getting caught shoplifting might be the better risk in some situations. This ‘’bad decision” would occur, not from a lack of wisdom, but from a deficit in bully management skills. Sometimes we choose to “live to fight [or flee] another day.”

Ultimately, I think adults needs to develop more of what I call “context sensitivity” and create space for teens to do the same. Only through intentional communication and mutual respect can we close the generation gap and open the door for deeper understanding. The “wisdom of the ages” should become “the wisdom of all ages.” This is especially vital in the digital era, and we should heed the words of McLuhan who also said, “Our Age of Anxiety is, in great part, the result of trying to do today's job with yesterday's tools and yesterday's concepts.”

I will now give my answer to the original question posed by this post, “Have teens become wiser than adults?”

Answer: Probably not, at least not yet.

Tom Bissonette , MSW, LMSW, is Founder/Director of YoungAndWiser, Inc., a Psychotherapist, and a Developmental and Prevention Educator.

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Are Today’s Teenagers Smarter and Better Than We Think?

By Tara Parker-Pope

• March 30, 2018

Today’s teenagers have been raised on cellphones and social media. Should we worry about them or just get out of their way?

A recent wave of student protests around the country has provided a close-up view of Generation Z in action, and many adults have been surprised. While there has been much hand-wringing about this cohort, also called iGen or the Post-Millennials, the stereotype of a disengaged, entitled and social-media-addicted generation doesn’t match the poised, media-savvy and inclusive young people leading the protests and gracing magazine covers.

There’s 18-year-old Emma González, whose shaved head, impassioned speeches and torn jeans have made her the iconic face of the #NeverAgain movement, which developed after the 17 shooting deaths in February at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla. Naomi Wadler, just 11, became an overnight sensation after confidently telling a national television audience she represented “African-American girls whose stories don’t make the front page of every national newspaper.” David Hogg, a high school senior at Stoneman Douglas, has weathered numerous personal attacks with the disciplined calm of a seasoned politician.

Sure, these kids could be outliers. But plenty of adolescent researchers believe they are not.

“I think we must contemplate that technology is having the exact opposite effect than we perceived,” said Julie Lythcott-Haims, the former dean of freshmen at Stanford University and author of “How to Raise an Adult.” “We see the negatives of not going outside, can’t look people in the eye, don’t have to go through the effort of making a phone call. There are ways we see the deficiencies that social media has offered, but there are obviously tremendous upsides and positives as well.”

“I am fascinated by the phenomenon we are seeing in front of us, and I don’t think it’s unique to these six or seven kids who have been the face of the Parkland adolescent cohort,” says Lisa Damour, an adolescent psychologist and author of “Untangled: Guiding Teenage Girls Through the Seven Transitions Into Adulthood.”

“They are so direct in their messaging. They are so clear. They seem unflappable.”

Dr. Damour, who has spent her career talking and listening to teenagers, said she believes the Parkland teens are showing the world the potential of their peer group. “Those of us who live with teenagers and are around them can see something that is different about this generation,” she said.

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Are You Smarter Than Your Grandfather? Probably Not.

Senility isn’t the answer; IQ scores are increasing with each generation. In a new book, political scientist James Flynn explains why

Megan Gambino

Senior Editor

In the mid-1980s, James Flynn made a groundbreaking discovery in human intelligence. The political scientist at the University of Otago in New Zealand found that over the last century, in every nation in the developing world where intelligence-test results are on record, IQ test scores had significantly risen from one generation to the next.

“Psychologists faced a paradox: either the people of today were far brighter than their parents or, at least in some circumstances, IQ tests were not good measures of intelligence,” writes Flynn.  

Now, in a new book, Are We Getting Smarter? Rising IQ in the Twenty-First Century , Flynn unpacks his original finding, explaining the causes for this widespread increase in IQ scores, and reveals some new ones, regarding teenagers’ vocabularies and the mental decline of the extremely bright in old age. Ultimately, Flynn concludes that human beings are not smarter—just more modern.

Malcolm Gladwell explains why the “Flynn effect,” as the trend is now called, is so surprising. “If we work in the opposite direction, the typical teenager of today, with an IQ of 100, would have grandparents with average IQs of 82—seemingly below the threshold necessary to graduate from high school,” he wrote in a New Yorker article in 2007. “And, if we go back even farther, the Flynn effect puts the average IQs of the schoolchildren of 1900 at around 70, which is to suggest, bizarrely, that a century ago the United States was populated largely by people who today would be considered mentally retarded.”

In the last half-century, what have the IQ gains been in America?

The overall gain is about 3 points every 10 years, which would be 9 points in a generation. That is highly significant.

Now, on these tests [two that Flynn looks at are the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, or WISC, and the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, or WAIS], the gains vary by subtest. For example, there is a subtest called “similarities,” which asks questions like, what do dogs and rabbits have in common? Or what do truth and beauty have in common? On this subtest, the gains over those 50 years have been quite extraordinary, something like 25 points. The arithmetic subtest essentially tests arithmetical reasoning, and on that, the gains have been extremely small.

How do these gains compare to those in other nations?

If you look at the Wechsler gains abroad, they are pretty close to U.S. gains. There was a period of high historic gains in Scandinavia; these seem to have tailed off as the century waned. I thought that might be true of other countries as well. Maybe the engine that powers IQ gains was running out of fuel? But the latest data from South Korea, America, Germany and Britain show the gains still humming along at that same rate into the 21st century.

So, what has caused IQ scores to increase from one generation to another?

The ultimate cause is the Industrial Revolution. It affects our society in innumerable ways. The intermediate causes are things like smaller family size. If you have a better ratio of adults to children in the home, than an adult vocabulary predominates rather than a child vocabulary. Family size fell in the last century throughout the Western world. Formal schooling is terribly important; it helps you think in the way that IQ testers like. In 1910, schools were focused on kids memorizing things about the real world. Today, they are entirely about relationships. There is also the fact that so many more of us are pursuing cognitively demanding professions. Compared to even 1950, the number of people who are doing technical, managerial or professional jobs has risen enormously. The fact that our leisure has switched away from merely recovery from work towards cognitively taxing pleasures, like playing video games, has also been important.

What goes on in the person’s mind in the test room that allows them to do better on the test? One of the fundamental things is the switch from “utilitarian spectacles” to “scientific spectacles.” The fact that we wear scientific spectacles doesn’t mean that we actually know a lot about science. What I mean is, in 1900 in America, if you asked a child, what do dogs and rabbits have in common, they would say, “Well, you use dogs to hunt rabbits.” This is not the answer that the IQ tests want. They want you to classify. Today, a child would be likely to say, “They are both animals.” They picked up the habit of classification and use the vocabulary of science. They classify the world as a prerequisite to understanding it.

Do IQ gains mean we are more intelligent than our ancestors?

What is important is how our minds differ from those of people 100 years ago, not whether we label it “smarter” or “more intelligent.” I prefer to say our brains are more modern.

Our brains at autopsy are probably different. We have discovered that the brain is like a muscle. A weightlifter has very different muscles than a swimmer. Similarly, we exercise different portions of our brains in a way our ancestors didn’t. They might have had better memories than we do, so they would have a larger hippocampus [a part of the brain that forms, processes and stores memory]. But, we would have exercised certain areas in the prefrontal lobes more than they did. So, those things would be enlarged.

The other important factor is we have learned to use logic to attack the hypothetical. We have an ability to deal with a much wider range of problems than our ancestors would. For example, if you were a businessperson, you would be much more inventive. You would be more imaginative. We are better at executive functions, or at making business decisions. We are also better at moral reasoning.

In your research, you have found that there is a growing gap between the vocabularies of adults and their children. How big is this gap?

You look between 1953 and 2006 on the adult Wechsler IQ test, and its vocabulary subtest, and the gains have been 17.4 points. The gains for schoolchildren during a similar period have been only 4 points. That is a spreading difference of 13 IQ points. That’s huge.

What gives?

In 1950, something like 12 percent of Americans had experienced at least some tertiary, or post-high school, education; today it is up to 52 percent. More people go into cognitively and verbally demanding professions, like law, school teaching, counseling, psychology and journalism. This has had an effect on adult vocabulary.

The IQ gains of our children have been much more muted. You might say, well, the children haven’t been to university. But children are socialized by the adults that speak around them every day. The question is why are parents less capable of socializing their children into their own vocabulary than they were 50 years ago? I can only imagine that some cultural barrier has built up that insulates the speech of children from the speech of adults.

Could teenage subculture be this barrier?

The word “teenager” didn’t exist in 1950. I was a teenager in 1950, and like everyone else, I wanted to become an adult as quick as possible to get access to money, sex, privacy and a car. Today, teenagers have all of those things without becoming adults. They have enormous purchasing power, and they have developed their own subculture, which is often antagonistic towards their parents. They often have their own speech patterns from texting and slang. I suspect that at least for teenagers a cultural barrier has developed between parent and child. What has happened with younger children, I am still investigating.

In 1950, teenagers could not only understand their parents, but they could also mimic their speech. Today, teenagers can still understand their parents. Their passive vocabularies are good enough. But when it comes to the words they actively use, they are much less capable of adult speak. That is also true of what they would write on an essay.

You have also discovered a trend that you call the “bright tax.” What is this?

The wisdom always was that the brighter you were, the less your mental abilities declined in old age. I found that was an oversimplification. It is true of verbal intelligence. The brighter you are, the more you get a bonus for verbal skills. I call that a “bright bonus.” Your vocabulary declines at a much less steep rate in old age than an ordinary or below average person. But to my amazement I found that for analytic abilities it was just the reverse. There is a “bright tax.” The brighter you are, the quicker after the age of 65 you have a downward curve for your analytic abilities. For a bright person, you go downhill faster than an average person.

This raises an interesting question. Is it something to do with the aging brain, or does it have to do with environment? It could be that a good analytic brain is like a high performance sports car; it just requires more maintenance, and in old age, the body can’t give it. That would be a physiological explanation; the bright brain requires sustenance from the body, which as the body ages is no longer forthcoming. The environmental explanation would be that we use our analytic abilities mainly at work. That means that if a bright person is in a cognitively demanding profession, they are like an athlete; they build up a big exercise advantage over the average person, who has a humdrum job. Then, retirement would be a leveler. That is, if you give up work at 65, you are like an athlete who is retired from competition. You no longer have that exercise advantage of your analytic abilities that work affords. We don’t really know which of these things is true. It could be that they are both true to some degree.

I think this is a great fear for many retirees. What can someone do to stave off this decline?

Retire from your job, but read great literature. Read about the history of science. Try and keep up your problem solving skills. Every bit of evidence shows that the more you use your brain, the fitter it will stay.

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) found that in countries like Sweden and Switzerland, where people did not retire early, the loss of working memory by the age of 65 was only half as great as in France, where people did retire early.

What do you predict will happen to IQ scores going forward?

One of the most interesting predictions is what will happen to the developing world. If they industrialize, in theory, they should have the explosive IQ gains in the coming century that we had in the last century.

In my book, I study six developing nations. Kenya is undergoing explosive IQ gains. Brazil and Turkey are undergoing quite profound gains. Nations like Saudi Arabia and the Sudan are not, but the Sudanese keep having civil wars and the Saudis are really just living off of oil revenue. They are not industrializing in any real sense. Dominica is the sixth case. There, they are making IQ gains, but their infrastructure is wiped out about every 10 years by hurricanes, earthquakes and tsunamis. I predict that Brazil, Turkey and Kenya will industrialize over the next century and begin to rival the Western world for IQ.

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Megan Gambino | | READ MORE

Megan Gambino is a senior web editor for Smithsonian magazine.

Today's Youth Is Wiser And Smarter

Old, bald heads, forgetful of their sins, will perish and the young will take over the world. Though never prophesied before, that is becoming more and more a truism in this ever-expanding, a consumerized global village we call our world.

In the public sphere, predominantly in areas of culture and sports and in the private sphere including the domestic sector of family and private peer groups, we come across increasingly self-assertive and confident youngsters. Teenage, ready to catch the sun. Self-conscious of their rights, outspoken enough to claim them and ‘breaking’ social and cultural taboos about love, sex, friendship, and many other sensitive issues. This is a sea change from the picture of the earlier generation where the young with dream-laden heads were too timid, too confused and reluctant to stake a claim or make any change in the society. They merely obeyed and did what they were told to do and never questioned anything.

If you look at the cultural scenario, more and more teenagers are forming rock groups, music video shows, and televised debates. Teenagers sensations are creating ripples in the sporting arena. Endowed with the voting rights, youngsters are openly critical of the political juggernaut of the country, though none of them can think of relinquishing the rights to the franchise. Activism if is, undoubtedly; our young generation can only be described adequately and accurately by words like dynamic, mobile and fast. They think with a rational mind and are open towards issues that the older generation still feels uncomfortable to address.

So it is here, that a note of caution, a shade of disappointment creeps in. Groomed on the vulgar values of a decadent western culture, our youngsters have immersed themselves in a hailstorm of masks, superficial glitz and hype. They are more of a show than substance. They live in a world where social media and glamour are everything. Traditional values are put aside and everything is done to suit the western standards of living. In a world of Reebok, cake, Nike and premium whiskey, a quiet erosion of moral and spiritual values has afflicted and early crippled the teenagers.

Where everything is lit and sparkling, the inner case of our society seems empty and dark. In a world where “things fall apart and center cannot hold”, our younger generation uses their sense of judgment and slow down, pause and look deeply and closely not only inwards to themselves put to their own vulnerable culture.

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