In search of better guidance

Dec 13, 2013 Editorial

A frequent complaint in Guyana today is that the nation’s youths seem to be in crisis, and generally exhibit disturbing behaviour and attitudes. This problem is usually caused by poor parenting and a general lack of guidance.
In a recent editorial, we highlighted troubling cases of youth intolerance and delinquency. Although youths contribute significantly to slipping standards in Guyana, they are often unjustly blamed for the slide.
Many persons who blame today’s youths, say those of past generations faced similar circumstances and pressures and handled them better, emerging as upstanding citizens. They tend to overlook the fact that the current generation faces modern-day problems unique to this era, which youths of bygone ages did not have to wrestle with.
In the first place, the family structure, in which many youths find themselves today, is distinctly different from what it was in past generations. Guyana’s economic decline and shifting social trends have put overwhelming pressure on the traditional nuclear family, making it weaker and more vulnerable. Also, the negative conditioning influences of the communication and entertainment media are increasing exponentially.
The current age has brought with it more divorce, more migration and more women entering the workforce than ever before. This has resulted in extremely low parenting standards in many households. Parents are often distracted or tired out by problems related to their jobs or finances. Some have entirely abdicated their role as parents; others have embraced extremely permissive standards of parenting.
With parents spending significantly less time with children, and with the general quality of parenting in steep decline, the amount of poorly supervised or unsupervised youths has increased dramatically. With too much slack time on their hands, many of these highly impressionable youths are vulnerable to unwholesome influences on the streets or in their homes via the media. Left to their own devices from a very young age, it is not surprising that many turn to vice and violence.
A Soviet Belarusian psychologist in the early 20th century opined that the way children learn is by internalizing the activities, habits, vocabulary and ideas of the members of the community in which they grow up. Schools are communities where children from diverse cultures learn together. It was pointed out that teachers must help students to become active and goal oriented by building on their natural desire to explore, to understand new things and to master them.
Teachers are indeed important, but parents and/or guardians are generally seen as the primary and earliest role models, and the conduct of those for whom they are responsible is most influenced by this. Charity, in essence, begins at home.
It is because of serious deficiencies in parenting that an unacceptable number of Guyanese youths appear to be lazy, undisciplined, unmannerly and unlearned. That is why today’s youths seem far more inclined to indulge in vices like alcohol and drug abuse, crime, violence and promiscuous sex, than their counterparts of yesteryear. That is why Guyana is in danger of being overrun by a culture of lawlessness, and wayward youths are main contributors.
With such serious consequences, the nation must squarely face the phenomenon of poor parenting. To turn this trend around, concerned Guyanese must agitate for effective development of parenting skills. This requires a course of action with pro-active intervention by all stakeholders: government, non-governmental organizations, social workers, community groups and others.
It will be a long haul, but it is vital that Guyanese go back to sound parenting techniques in the interest of our youths. Just as people get the governments they deserve, parents get the children they deserve, and nations get the youths they deserve. The increasingly negative behaviour and attitudes of Guyana’s youths, is a monster in the making; we must deal with it before it gets too big to handle. There is a silent cry for better guidance.

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