UNDERSTANDING THE YOUTH OF TODAY

EDNA A. FELIX

Contrary to how easy it may seem, understanding the youth is a very complex and complicated thing to do. This is because they can’t be generalized as one category. You may get to know one person who’s in his youth and say that you understand him but that doesn’t mean that you understand every other young person there is out there.

Young people nowadays have different personalities and different ways of thinking. Two people might like and dislike the same thing but that doesn’t mean that they can’t have different beliefs, thoughts, or opinions on different matters.

One example might be about the youth being accepting. A lot of the young people of today are more open and accepting to the controversies that weren’t as welcomed before like accepting the LGBTQ community, accepting people with tattoos, and accepting people of all shapes, size, and color.

For the past few years, the number of organizations supporting these communities have risen and most of these organizations are lead/ founded by young people.

Going back to my point though, I’ve mentioned that not everyone who’s in his youth is the same. Even though a lot of the people nowadays are open minded and accepting, there are still a portion of their population who are not. One thing that will prove this is the bullying, discrimination, and racism that still happens around us, in schools, in the internet, in malls, and a lot more places.

So to really understand the youth of today, you have to know how to listen to them and really empathize with them, the things that they are going through, their concerns and worries.

— oOo—

The author is Head Teacher III at San Jose Elementary School, Magalang South District, Division Of Pampanga