Youth unemployment can lead to marginalization, exclusion, frustration, low self-esteem and, sometimes, to acts that create burdens on society. There are an estimated 66 million unemployed young people in the world today; at least 50 of the countries for which data are available have youth unemployment rates of more than 15 per cent. Following are some major stumbling blocks in the bright future of our youths.

Stressers in the Youth

1. Increasing pressures for better performance in schools and colleges.

2. Unemployment and Under Employment and Employability.

3. High Expectations of Parents.

4. No Elder for Shelter.

5. High Expectations of Society.

6. Value and Role Conflicts.

7. High Level of Aspiration.

8. Today’s Life Style.

9. Traditional Pressure of Dowry.

10. Horror Killing in the Name of Honour Killing.

11. Education Disparity due to Poverty.

1. Increasing pressures for better performance in schools and colleges.

In youth there is always extreme pressure to perform. Just getting first division is not enough today. Yardstick for students have changed now. As and when a student is admitted in class nursery performance pressure starts, and parents start making higher demands for hard work and study hard for good marks and good ranks. A student who is getting good marks is judged by parents as good and sincere children and how much knowledgeable he or she is, does not matter too much. In a single family there are bifurcations, children getting good marks are ‘good children’ and children getting less marks are ‘bad children’. So called bad children in families are treated badly, they are continuously humiliated, this pressure to perform creates stress.

2. Unemployment and Under Employment and Employability.

Unemployment in all sections in India is increasing, particularly in the higher educated groups. A high percentage of our youth, after graduation and after post graduation are unemployed or under employed i.e., working below their capacity and skills. Not only they are unemployed, some of our graduates are unemployable. Her Excellency our president Pratibha Devisingh Patil, while delivering the Convocation address at the Maharaja Ganga Singh University, said that, “In India the problem is more of employability, than of unemployment, which means that the skills that people have are not appropriate for securing employment.” This situation of dilemma when they have degrees and diplomas in their hand, they have MBA, MCA and possessing other degrees, even though they are unemployed, give rise to stress and distress in their minds. Even, after spending their precious time energy and money some of our graduates are unemployable. This situation puts them in stress. According to Pasupathy (2011) what is done effortlessly by a fifth grader in the U.K. needed a commerce graduate in India. This will be the condition of our pass outs if quality is not given due consideration. The market requires skilled manpower. But institutions could not produce not even one third of manpower acceptable to the market. As a result a large chunk returned to the unemployed army and remained unemployed. (Palanithurai, 2011)

3. High Expectations of Parents.

Unmet parental expectation such as failure to achieve a goal, poor grades are also responsible for the stress in the youth of today. Parents want their children to become doctors, engineers, not less than that. This creates problem for the child if he or she is not interested in fields chosen by their parents. Children are under constant pressure as soon as they get admitted to the school. As the competition has increased so much, with 98% marks easily coming in boards every year, it looks like sky is the limit. Also, not to forget the increasing cut-offs of admissions in our reputed colleges. The 100 percent cut-off marks introduced by a Delhi college for admission is indicative of the competitive nature of our education system today, which is also responsible for the stress in the youths. They are uncertain about their future.

4. No Elder for Shelter.

Earlier we used to live in the family system where, our elders were there for our rescue. They were there for seeking suggestions and advices. But now, our joint families have been replaced by Nuclear families. Only two or three members are there in a family and no elder is there for shelter. Therefore, the youth of today is under more pressure as compared to their parents.

5. High Expectations of Society.

Besides, high expectations of parents, youth also carry the load of high expectations of society on their shoulders. Only Successful persons are regarded in the society. Those who are not very much successful are humiliated directly or indirectly. Right from the beginning youths have some sort of pressure in their minds. When they fail in some exam they commit suicide because of the fear that how they will face the society. These high expectations of society can be the cause of their death due to frustration and depression.

6. Value and Role Conflicts.

Youth, today is confused about his / her values and his /her role in the society. There is a change from rural to urban living. In such a society, where the youth came from various strata of the society, with diverse cultures, religions, economic status, language and life styles, the youth experience difficulty in adaptation to the changing roles and value systems. This results in alienation, withdrawal, interpersonal relationship difficulties, depression and even suicidal behaviours. (Sahni, 2005).According to Aggarwal (1993), “A value stands for ideals men live for. Values are part and parcel of the philosophy, of a nation and that of its; educational system. They are the guiding principles of life which are conducive to all round development”.

7. High Level of Aspiration.

Level of performance is defined as “the standard a person expects to reach in a particular performance” by cronbach. This is more precisely defined by Frank as, “the level of future performance in a familiar task which an individual, knowing his level of past performance in that task, explicitly undertakes to reach.”(Ansari, 2009) The High Level of Aspiration which generally students set for themselves is also responsible for the problem of stress and depression. According to Subramanian (2008), “Teachers should take steps to identify the talent in pupils and direct them to a course of study that suits them. Then youngsters will have enjoyment in education.”

8. Today’s Life Style.

Today’s life style among youth is responsible for their miserable condition. Materialistic approach is also responsible for many problems among the youth of today. The schedule of today’s youths is so busy that there is hardly any time for leisure and fun. Always they are busy in their mobiles and other electronic gadgets, they are lost in their digital world and not interested in the people around them. What is amazing is the extensive use of the mobile/cell phone all over the world. A report suggests that 1,000 new users are being added every minute globally. We have an impressive growth rate. In India, it is claimed that about 4 million subscribers jump on the mobile users’ bandwagon every month. For some users, there is no life without a mobile phone. They take it wherever they go. (Murthy, 2011) Excessive use of mobile phone is responsible for the waste of their precious time, energy and money, and sometimes life due to accidents. We hear of people dying while talking on the mobile and crossing the busy road or railway track. There is a problem of radiation also. This unnecessary long use of mobile phone is one of the major causes for stress among youth.

9. Traditional Pressure of Dowry.

Dowry abuse, extorting money from the bride’s family through a dowry, led to passage of the 1961 Dowry Prohibition Act. Although the practice of giving dowry is now prohibited by law, it still exists secretly among people of all religions, castes and regions in our country. Deaths just because of dowry are a very common practice and in the case of dowry deaths, the perpetrators of that heinous crime claim that they have not been given enough material rewards for accepting the girl into the family. There is a lot of harassment and continuous humiliation from the in-laws and it has been observed that due this torture the wife commits suicide rather than being killed by the in-laws. Because of this many young girls feel that they are an economic burden on their parents, and sometimes due to this reason they commit suicide.

10. Horror Killing in the Name of Honour Killing.

Honour killing is defined as a death that is awarded to a woman of the family for marrying against the parent’s wishes, having extramarital and premarital relationships, marrying within the same gotra or outside one’s caste. Honour killing is different from the dowry deaths. (Bidani, 2010) Sociologists believe that the reason why honour killings continue to take place is because of the continued rigidity of the caste system. Hence the fear of losing their caste status through which people gain many benefits makes them commit this heinous crime. The other reason why honour killings are taking place is because the mentality of people has not changed and they just cannot accept marriages outside their caste or religion.

11. Education Disparity due to Poverty.

Education is important. A good education in comparison of bad one will provide a child with an increased chance of taking advantage of opportunities to be successful in life. And face the life problems with ease. Unfortunately, some people have it better than other. This is not an issue of just one school, college, and university being better than another school, college, and university. Rather we are talking about poor children being denied a proper education because of one reason that is poverty. Illiteracy remains a major problem, even among the age group 15-35 years, and therefore literacy programs must be expanded rather than reduced, and given a different focus that is directed towards improving life skills and meeting felt needs, especially (but not only) among the youth. (Pitroda, 2006 -2009)

Suggestions:

1. Children in the families should not be regarded as ‘good’ or’ bad children’ on the basis of their performance in schools and colleges. Parents should accept their children irrespective of their performance. Acceptance and love should not be conditional and performance oriented.

2. Our centres of learning should produce employable youth. They should be according to the requirement of job-market. Our Universities and Colleges should assess the requirements of the job market in advance, and restructure their courses in a manner that will help their students enter the employment market and to be rightly skilled for jobs that are available or they must be employable.

3. Although, we can never deny this fact that parents are worried because they want their children to achieve the best. But, parents should not impose their decisions on children. They should be encouraged to pursue careers according to their interests, capabilities and aptitudes. They should not be forced to join any course in which their heart and mind are not involved, rather the field should be chosen on the basis of their aptitude and interest.

4. Proper Guidance and Counseling is needed for the youth of today. As family system today is single family system not joint family system. In joint families there were elders to support youth and to give suggestions whenever needed.

5. There is a need of attitudinal change on the part of society. Ones efforts should be recognized in the society not the results. For example, only IITians are not successful people in this society, other fields are also good; if anyone does not get admission into an IIT, or Medical College despite of his or best efforts or if any student is not able to pass any exams. Committing suicide is not the solution. The world does not come to an end. Be open to alternatives. If you are hardworking student you can do well in your life. Remember the words of Winston Churchill who said, “Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”

6. Youth should be properly guided in adaptation to the changing roles and value systems. Youth should be encouraged to develop feeling of pride in our country, irrespective of any problem.

7. Too High and Too Low Level of Aspiration is responsible for many problems today’s youth. Therefore, the Level of aspiration should neither be too high nor too low. The fighting spirit, the zeal and enthusiasm is very important to become successful in life.

8. Like any other technological device this mobile phone also has its merits and demerits. It should not be used unnecessarily. Many researchers have suggested that it is high on liability and low on utility.

9. The families should accept the girls whole heartedly without any condition. Girls should be educated on priority basis. It is a fact that education empowers girls by making them financially independent. Education also makes them emotionally sound. There is a need for awareness in the society regarding the evils of dowry. Society should follow the golden principle “Dulhan hi Dahez Hai” This will reduce the stress in the minds of girls, who often consider themselves an economic burden on their parents.

10. Whatsoever the reason is, any type of killing is bad. There cannot be any logic in killing someone. If we cannot give life to any one, we have no right to take the life of any one.

11. Policies of the government should be such that each and every individual irrespective of his/her economic status or any sort of disparity one can get education.

CONCLUSION:

Today nobody is stress free. Each and every individual is affected by stress and reacts to it in different ways. Our youth is no exception. In fact, the period of youth is the most vulnerable to stress and distress. Among our youths issues of huge pressures for better performance in schools and colleges, unemployment and under employment and employability, High expectations of parents, society, high aspiration level, interpersonal Conflicts and today’s over busy life style can lead to marginalisation, exclusion, frustration, low self-esteem among our youth. Stress created by these issues is a major stumbling block in the bright future of our youths. Therefore, there is a need to change the way of living of our youths and our perceptions and our attitude towards the youth.

REFERENCES:

1. Aggarwal, J.C. (1993). Theory and principles of Education-philosophical and sociological basis of education, (8^th Ed), New Delhi, Vikas publishing House, pp.384-385.

2. Ansari, A.M.I. (2009). A Study of the Relationship Between the Level of Aspiration and The Academic Achievement of Secondary Level Urdu Medium Students of AMU City High School, Unpublished Dissertation,AMU,Aligarh,p.2.

3. Bidani, S. (2010). Honour Killing in India: An In-depth Study, Retrieved from http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2010/07/honour-killing-in-india-an-in-depth study/ on 29/12/11.

4. Murthy, B.B.N. (2011). The Use, Misuse…and Abuse of the Mobile Phone, Open Page, The Hindu,December,25,2011,p.8.

5. Palanithurai, G. (2011). Where we lead in Higher Education in India, University News, Vol.49 (39) September 26-October 02, 2011, New Delhi, AIU, pp.30-35.

6. Pasupathy, M. (2011). How Employable are Our Graduates? Open Page, the Hindu, November 13, 2011.p.9.

7. Patil, P.D. (2011). Employability Creation is Crucial for Universities, University News, Vol.49 (51) December 19-25, 2011, New Delhi, AIU, pp.17-18.

8. Pitroda, S. (2006 -2009). National Knowledge Commission-Report to the Nation, Government of India. New Delhi, p.43.

9. Rajendran, M.M. (2012). Globalisation and Knowledge Management: Strides to be made. University News, Vol.49 (52) December 26, 2011-01 January, 2012, New Delhi, AIU, pp.18-22.

10. Sahni, A. (2005). Stresses and Distresses in the Youth, Health Administrator, Vol. XVII, (1), pp.75-77.

11. Walker, J. (2005). Teens in Distress Series Adolescent Stress and Depression, http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/youthdevelopment/da3083.html on 29/12/11.

12. World Youth Report (2003). Report of the Secretary-General. United Nations Economic and SocialCouncil.http://daccessddsny.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n02/741/76/pdf/n0274176.pdf?openelement, on 29/12/11.

Received on 16.01.2012

Revised on 22.02.2012

Accepted on 10.03.2012