“In [the] African society, a person is not considered fully adult until he or she has founded a family and got a permanent job. Thus it can happen that an educated person of 25 or 30 is still thought of as pre-adult because he or she has no work and still depends on his or her parents for a livelihood” (Roger Tessier, Young People in African Towns (Gaba Publications: Eldoret-Kenya, 1983), 5 ).
Still, the intractability of the problem of defining who is a youth continues in the sense that, “if we choose 15 as the point between childhood and adulthood, this does not correspond to reality: an 11 or 12-year-old arriving from his village and struggling to find work or simply to survive in mega-cities such as Lagos, Abidjan or Nairobi, is certainly no longer a child!” (Roger Tessier, Young People in African Towns (Gaba Publications: Eldoret-Kenya, 1983),5) Thus, the term “youth” has to be used in a very broad and flexible sense. In this very broad sense, this term refers to all those people aged between 12 and 30, or if we become more considerate, more flexible and still more realistic, we can say that “Youth” refers to those people whose age fall between 9 and 35 years, depending on their situations and the cultures of different peoples. In this case, we can say that the youthful state or the period of life of a human being between the childhood and adulthood lasts for a duration of about 18-26 years i.e from 9 to 35 years of age.
The term ‘youth’ can also refer to that period or state of being young, energetic, capable and being able to willingly volunteer to render service to others. In this case, apart from the age-factor, we can also define ‘youth” in terms of attitude or disposition, or more so, in terms of character:
Y-oung
O-rderly/O-bedient
U-nderstanding
T-olerant
H-umble/H-onest
The term ‘Youth’, instead of having a homogeneous meaning (i.e. being composed of people with the one and the same characteristic), it has a heterogeneous meaning (i.e. it is made up of many groups with their own characteristics). Such groups include: the students, the young workers, the young vagabonds (idle young people), the university/college students or students doing other tertiary courses, the junior youth (P.M.Cs), Altar Boys etc.
The term ‘youth’ can also refer to that state/period of being young, i.e. between childhood and adulthood. In this case, it is the transitional state of human life/development. One is no longer a child and yet not an adult. As such, it is an in-between period. Like traffic flowing down a one-way street, there is only one way for the youth to go. S/he must travel towards adulthood. Regressing to childhood will leave him/her unhappy and unfulfilled. Hence this period of youth marks the beginning of adulthood and the ending of childhood.
The journey to adulthood is long but, like any adventure, it is exciting. There is much to be discovered. But, more important, this discovery needs time, patience and a lot of prudence, for this period is intertwined with so many feelings, attitudes, emotions, and aspirations for identity, which are more or less like the following:
WHO AM I ?
“I am not a child
Even though sometimes
I behave like a child,
I demand like a child,
I get upset like a child,
People treat me like a child.
They say: you mustn’t do this or that.
You are not ready yet.
You shouldn’t pretend.
Sometimes I wish
They would just leave me alone.
I am not an adult
Even though I wish to be.
It is my direction, my goal
To be independent, to be free
To do things,
To be someone,
To live my life
As only I can live it.
I am a boy/girl
With the body of a man/woman
With feelings I don’t understand
With hopes unfulfilled.
Sometimes lonely and unsure.
Sometimes taking steps
For which I am not ready,
Suffering the pain of falling
And rising again.
Hungry for friendship,
Hungry for acceptance,
Longing to be told :<< well done,
You are worthwhile>>.
I am a learner
On life’s journey
Heading for a future unknown
Needing guidance to reach there.” ( Bennett Michael, PAUL’S DIARY (NAIROBI: ST. PAUL’S PUBLICATIUONS AFRICA, 1990), 44.)
Hence, with the realization of these feelings, a young person should be very cautious and very careful when engaging himself or herself with his or her every activity and behaviour. It is good for him/her to always apply the following formula: SEE + JUDGE ═ACTION. On top of this, a young person should always seek some guidance from resourceful people like the parents, priests, sisters, spiritual directors, counselors, teachers, friends and any other person who is helpful.
The youthful state is the most sensitive stage of human life. It is the time one discerns who s/he is going to be. The choice one makes at this very moment determines or affects the rest of his/her life. For instance, it is the time one should identify his/her career, as well as his/her vocation. It is the time one should establish his/her foundation on which s/he is going to build the rest of his/her life. Some mistakes committed at this time might affect the person in the future. For example, one might indulge himself/herself in bad sexual behaviours such as fornication, homosexuality, masturbation, lesbianism, pedophilia, etc, which might become his/her habits even as an adult. Also, one may befriend an unfaithful girl/boy, and end up marrying him/her- such a marriage is likely to end in misery. Still, during this time, one may involve himself/herself in the abuse of dangerous drugs such as cocaine, bhang, heroine, mandrax, miraa, petrol, glue sniffing, alcohol or even cigarettes. Young people should be aware of the harm that drugs can do. For instance, smoking is dangerous to one’s health. It can cause lung cancer. It also accelerates financial difficulties, for it is expensive to maintain. Drinking in excess can bring complications such as:
(a). In family-life -sexual abuse, wife-battering, suffering children, infidelity, broken marriages.
(b). at work - absenteeism, poor-quality work, hence retrenchment.
(c) On the road - drunken drivers cause death.
(d). personal health - deterioration.
(e). personal finances - poverty, money spent on drinking is denied to the family.
Petrol and glue sniffing – when pieces of cloth are soaked with petrol, a vapour is produced which is sniffed to produce a ‘high’ feeling. When glue is heated, it produces vapour, which is sniffed, hence producing the similar ‘high’ feeling. Smoking bhang also gives a ‘high’ feeling. Chewing miraa ‘uplifts’ bored minds. All these drugs are addictive and hence there is a connection between mild forms of drugs such as miraa, bhang petrol and glue, with the hard-drugs such as cocaine and heroine. Those who begin on mild drugs can easily progress to heroine, cocaine and related drugs. Such drugs ‘blow the mind’. They take the users into a different world. In this case, the life of the person is at stake, and can lead to bad behaviours, including the contraction of bad diseases such as AIDS, Lung cancer etc. Because they can easily create addiction, their effects upon the body are extremely dangerous. When the user is not able to get these, s/he can become terribly sick and depressed. S/he will beg, steal or borrow money in order to get a further supply. His/her health deteriorates. On top of this, these drugs can lead one to become mad, or useless in society, leading a hopeless and useless life, with no family, no home, no plan, no future, and no life!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hence, the young people, who are at the greatest risk of drug abuse, need to be very careful. If the drug pusher promises “miracles” by taking a drug, we should remember that his/her only desire is to get money by selling his/her product, or if it is a friend, s/he wants to ruin our lives. Miracles happen by the power of God and not by the greedy intentions of men.
In a nutshell, the most important thing to underline here is that the youthful state is a very delicate stage, such that whatever one does during that time might determine who s/he is going to be in the rest of his/her life. During such a moment, one can decide to build or destroy his/her future life. YOU YOUNG PEOPLE, OPEN UP YOUR EYES!
THE YOUTHFUL STATE IS LIKE…………………......................
The youthful state is like a contract. The contractor is the young person, while the owner of the worker to be done is life itself. The final result of the contraction is the aftermaths of the youth’s life. The contraction fee is the benefits the youth enjoys after being a responsible person in shaping his/her life. For the contraction to be successful, the contractor (youth) must work hard, and in turn s/he gets a good pay (happy life.)
The youthful state is like a log of wood. The sculptor or sculptress is the youth. When given the log of wood, s/he may decide to curve a stool, a statue, a cooking spoon, a mortar and pestle, etc. A young person can do the same with his/her life.
The youthful state is like eggs of a hen which are under incubation. The youth is the hen sitting on the eggs, while the outcome (chicks or rotten eggs) is the future of the youth. In the same way the hens which sit on eggs for incubation behave differently (i.e. some are committed, others not), so could there be difference in commitment and seriousness of the youths as far as the molding and shaping of their future life is concerned.
The youthful state is like a very slim and very slippery path on which the young person is walking along. There is a danger of the youth slipping over to either side. On one side, there is abundance of goods and fortunes; the other side is full of ‘bads’ and misfortunes. The efforts of the youth will determine where s/he will fall, for s/he must fall on either side.
The youthful state is like a bridge crossing from one side to the other. This period is so important that, in the same way a bridge connects two river banks, so does the latter connect childhood to adulthood.
Consider the following diagram. The arrows indicate the possible development and growth of a human person. The normal process follows the A-B-C-D-E route. A-B represents the childhood, B-C represents the youthful state, C-D represents the adulthood, while D-E represents the old age.
A D
B C E
The period between childhood and youth (A-B) is not very difficult for in most cases it is like one riding or driving down a slope. Any way, it has its own precautions for there is a temptation of over-speeding the vehicle or the bicycle. The danger here is that the breaks may fail, hence one getting an accident at point B. To avoid this, it is advisable for one to drive slowly with precautions, and applying breaks where necessary in order to negotiate the corners safely. This is very applicable to the human development.
The youthful state (B-C) is a time of an especially intensive discovery of a ‘self’ and “a choice of life”. It is a time for a growth which ought to progress “in wisdom, age and grace before God and people” [1] (Lk. 2:52)
In these years of youthfulness, a young person should grow in full stature, in wisdom (study and life experience), and in his faith. It is at this time that one should establish strong and foundational principles about his/her life -career, vocation and religion.
The diagram above represents the normal pattern in human development. All the steps are necessary for the full development of the human person. This however is not always the case. It can happen that during growth and development, one can jump some steps. For instance one can follow route A-D. This is very dangerous because it might cost him/her falling back to what s/he jumped. One might argue that route A-B-C-D is too long to be undergone. Hence, instead of using a car, of which is the most convenient for the journey, s/he may end up using a chopper (airplane), in order to jump some steps and reach at point D as soon as possible. In this case one follows route A-D. Unfortunately, at the middle of the journey, the fuel of the chopper may get exhausted while on flight. The airplane falls, meeting the sliding plane C-D, which makes it to slide and roll backwards. We may call this the mistaken step in life, or the mistaken identity. Consider the following diagram. It represents the mistaken step in life. Unfortunately, by the time one realizes that s/he has made this step, it is too late to reverse the situation. Therefore the most important thing is to remain vigilant - be as humble as dove, but as wise as the snake. A lot of prudence is required.
A B
C
The life of the human person is an unfinished project, which starts at conception and gets finished only at death. Death is the only determinant to the ending of that project. This means that every human being and more so with a young person, has a possibility of improving his/her life. This calls for a very careful discernment, perseverance, prudence, effort, responsibility and sacrifice. It is possible for one to fulfill his/her dreams.
THE YOUTH AND THE CHURCH
In the letter of 31st March 1985 to young men and women in the world, we read: “The church looks to the youth, indeed the church in a special way looks at herself in the youth, in all of you and in each of you. It has been so from the beginning, from the apostolic times. The words of St. John in his first letter can serve as special testimony: ‘I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the evil one…because you know the Father…because you are strong and the word of God abides in you (1Jn.2:13ff)… In our generation, at the end of the second millennium after Christ, the church also sees herself in the youth” (John Paul II, Vocation and Mission of the Lay Faithful Nairobi: St. Paul Communications Africa, 137.)
The young people should be active on behalf of the church as leading characters in evangelization and participants in the renewal of society. They should fight for values of justice, non violence and peace; their hearts should be disposed to fellowship, friendship and solidarity. They should be concerned with the good quality of life and the conservation of nature.
Sometimes young people are frustrated by anxiety, deceptions, anguishes and fears of the world as well as by the temptations that come with their state. In this case, they need not fear, but build up confidence and trust to the very special love displayed/shown by Christ towards the young man in the Gospel: “Jesus, looking upon him, he loved him” (Mk. 10:21). In this love, we see that Jesus Christ and his gospel as the only satisfying response to the most deep-seated aspirations of young people. This is illustrated in Christ’s forceful and exalted personal call to discipleship ‘come and follow me’ (Mk. 10:21) When Jesus out of his love calls the young people to leave everything and come and follow him, he wants them to share in his filial love for his Father, and also he wants them to participate in his mission for the salvation of humanity.
The young people are the source of richness and youthfulness for the church and for the society. The church looks to the young people with confidence and with love. There is a chain of relationships: the young people are the real youthfulness of the church; the church is the real youthfulness of the world. Consequently, the young people become the ‘hope of the church and of the world’. Hence the future of both the church and of the world lies on the exceptional potentiality of the young people. The young people therefore have a great challenge for the future of the church and of the civil world. This is a responsibility of every youth: the youth make an exceptional potential and a great hope for the future of humanity.
In order to have a good future of humanity, young people should prepare themselves in order to make the future better and bearable. They should do this by struggling to overcome the obstacles which are endangering their development - illiteracy, idleness, hunger, drugs etc. in this case the youth should assist each other by being evangelizers of their peers, an act of which they are best suited.
The youth should discover very early on the value of the gift of the self. This discovery should be based on the dignity of the human person which is founded on the fact that every person is created in the image and likeness of God and hence all people being equal before God. The discovery and the appreciation of the self is an essential means for the person to reach maturity. The youthful state should be lived with appreciation and graciousness, since it comes only once in lifetime. The following questions are very important: Do I appreciate myself? Do I see myself as valuable? Do I recognize my talents? Am I happy/proud: Of being alive? Of being a boy/girl? Of being healthy? Of being young? Of being created in the image and likeness of God? Of being able to relate and to socialize with others? Of being a youth!
The period of youth is mainly for the growth (physical, spiritual, moral and intellectual), and the choice (of career and vocation). In short, this period is simply for the establishment of the self. All the same, this time should be also for service. The young people have a duty to contribute for the welfare of humanity: - for one’s country and religion. Hence a young person should be helpful:
♥In the church:- as a witness, as a good Christian, as a prayerful person and as one committed to service in the church whenever and wherever there is need.
♥ At home:- being an obedient person, creating solidarity in the family, bringing the family together for prayers, assisting the family with daily chores, giving good example.
♥At School: - studying well, being obedient, performing any task of duty or service when needed or when asked.
♥To the country:- serve the nation(other people), being a good citizen, being a hard working person, obeying the employer, respecting the employee(s)’ rights, being faithful to the work one is doing, being kind and considerate to those one serves.
♥To the self: - being responsible and self-initiative for one’s life. The young person should remember that s/he is the architect of his/her life; s/he can either produce a masterpiece or a downfall of one’s life.
CONCLUSION
Good life needs good planning. “And in deed which of you here, intending to build a tower, would not first sit down and work out the cost to see if he had enough to complete it? Otherwise, if he laid the foundation and then found himself unable to finish the work, anyone who saw it would start making fun of him and saying, here is someone who started to build and was unable to finish. Or again, what king marching to war against another king would not first sit down and consider whether with ten thousand men he could stand up to the other who was advancing against him with twenty thousand? If not, then while the other king was still a long way off, he would send envoys to sue for peace.” (Lk. 14:28-32.) No one can plan to be what s/he wants to be when s/he is already what s/he wants to be! Always an earlier/prior planning is essential if not necessary. A young person should have a goal/vision/plan/ideal of what s/he wants to be. A young person should also be wise and prudent – be able to read the signs of the time. (Cf Lk 12: 54-59.)
A young person should not follow the multitudes – s/he should stand up and be counted – stand his/her ground!
Make your life, your future, yourself. The great men and women we know today were not born great. In fact it is no wonder that most of them were not considered as important people during their childhood and their youthful state, but they planned their lives well and decided to reach their goal – they managed to be what they wanted to be in life; for example, the great men and women in history, and also the Saints. In fact, the greatest example of this proper planning is of Jesus Christ. He knew very well what he was supposed to do at every particular phase of his life on earth – as a child, he lived hidden life in Nazareth, as a young person he prepared himself in the desert for the public ministry, as an adult he started his public ministry, choosing his apostles, teaching them the doctrine of the Father and choosing to culminate his mission by His death on the cross and through resurrection. Jesus is not only the greatest model but also the greatest challenge for every young person.
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