Youth Looks Ahead

Dear friends

The year 2011 has been a busy year for me. I did many things unplanned. I was not regular in updating the blog—Newsy Take. I don’t want to go this year dry so I am updating a story written by me on the change youngsters seek in our society. This year I started writing a column Net Connect on happening in the virtual world.  I will update a few of them. I am assertive that you will find the articles interesting and informative.

This following article has been published in Yuva Sambad.

This New Year—when everyone is busy making New Year resolutions and planning to live their life anew—we tried to find out what youngsters think on issues concerning them and what changes they want in the education system, in their city and in the attitudes of people around them. Are we listening to what they want?

We tried—in this news report—to find out what irks them and what solutions they can offer to correct the system.

We also spoke to a few children in primary classes to know what they want in their dream school. Ideas flooded in from children all over Bhubaneswar. Some wanted to replace bells with music, a few demanded colourful classrooms, some asked for pin-up idea boards in each and every classroom, some came up with the idea to provide digital recorders to students so that if they go to the toilet, when they come back they can catch up on what they have missed and so on. 

A report by Abhishek Pandey on their dreams, aspirations and their new ways of living their academic, social and personal lives.

Every child aims high in life. Following the well-trod paths, many want to be doctors; some students want to go for engineering or for the civil services. Many a time their parents force them to choose careers they think are good and sometimes students do not want to risk choosing a non-traditional career option.

But nowadays the situation is changing and there is no dearth of students who dare to think out of the box and do things differently. They are setting trends for others to follow. Vikas Mohapatra is one of them.

Vikas, an MBA student, says, “I love travelling and clicking photographs. Unlike other parents, my father never forced me to become an engineer, a doctor or an IAS (Indian Administrative Service) officer. I wanted to become a photographer and my father always encouraged me. He is liberal and believes that everyone has his or her own forte.” Vikas says, “This year, I want other parents to take a cue from my father and allow their children to follow their heart because I believe if your heart is not in your profession you cannot excel.”

Sonali Priyadarshini, an undergraduate, wants something else. Sonali said that she is fed up with eve-teasers. “Girls face eve-teasing and molestation. I want Odisha Police to deploy adequate personnel near colleges and coaching institutions to put a stop to such instances,” she adds.

“Girls should also take some preventive steps such as carrying a pepper spray and pop-up knives for self-defence. They should join self-defence training classes too,” she suggests. “I regularly go to karate classes and no boy can dare tease me, she says.

Jitendra Moharana, a student of Masters in Social Work (MSW), is aiming to do his bit for society this year. “Chewing tobacco and smoking cigarettes are injurious to health. Though there are laws against smoking at public places many people flout the rules with apparent impunity.  I have seen students smoking inside college premises and near schools or colleges. Professors and disciplinary bodies in school should take cognisance of these important issues and must take action. Shopkeepers cannot sell cigarettes and tobacco near schools or colleges as it is against the law,” Moharana says. This year, he wants to run a special awareness campaign in all colleges and schools across Bhubaneswar.

Youngsters live their life with a true sense of belonging with their friends in schools and the neighbourhood and even in the virtual world. However, many of them believe that elders have lost the sense of belonging. Raman Agarwal, a 17-year-old student, says, “People fight with each other in society on trivial matters. I suggest that elders should learn a few lessons in social behaviour from children who forget their fights with their neighbours or school friends the next day.”

He said that people today do not have time for their friends and family and sometimes even do not talk to their family for days because of the hectic lifestyle they follow. At home, they spend time seeing television or browsing Internet. Parents should spend quality time with their children.

These youngsters seek a change in the behavioural pattern of people in the virtual world too. “I am fed up with seeing boneheaded sentences as updates and tweets in the virtual world. Internet has grown up and we should too. People update useless status—sometimes about their personal affairs and many a time they intrude into others’ lives. It is high time everyone should learn online etiquette. People should not update anything that they do not want their parents or boss to read. One should also avoid texting while in office or in a group,” suggests Radhika Chaterjee, a management trainee.

There are other students who want to bring about a change in the educational system and make it interactive. “Every student should be given an opportunity to express their ideas. I suggest every school should have a mechanism by which students can convey their ideas to the school management and teachers; be it pin-up idea boards in every classroom or through student parliament or any kind of open forum. Their ideas should be taken into consideration,” suggests Jyotirupa Mohanty, a student of class XII.

Niranjan Sahoo, a student of class IV, wants drastic changes in the way schools function. He wants that there should be no compulsory subjects and there should be more periods for sports and co-curricular activities. He wants colourful classrooms and looks for bells to be replaced with music. Students can be given digital recorders so that they do not miss important lessons while they are not in the class room. He said that these are the possible and easiest ways of making learning interesting and fun.

Other children of his age group in government schools want that the government should build infrastructure in their schools to provide facilities as good as those available in private schools. A student from a government school on condition of anonymity said, “We do not have football or basket ball grounds in our school. There are many students who can perform better than their counterparts in private schools provided that they are given proper training and facilities.” He urged that this New Year the government must come up with some schemes for providing similar facilities to government school students.

Wishing You All a Happy New Year in Advance

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