SINGAPORE - A student lets the world know through Facebook that he is a 'ninja' by posting a picture of himself on the roof of his school's sheltered walkway
Meanwhile another group of youths take pictures of themselves throwing up gang signs and post them on Facebook.
Not to be outdone, another group believe it is cool to be pictured in a group while 'flipping the bird' (also known as the middle finger).
Another young man imitates a stunt from popular MTV series, Jackass, by setting his hand on fire and posting the video on Youtube.
A duo in Pasir Ris hone their fire starting skills in a basketball court.
From late March to April, these scenes were reported in Stomp by concerned readers.
Some of the contributors question if these youths realise that their actions in the pictures reflect to the upbringing that they have received from their parents.
One who identified himself as 'T' said, "When he (youths 'flipping the bird') went out with his friends, they took pictures pointing their middle fingers high up.
"I wonder why his friends never asked him to change his picture because it reflects badly on his parents' teaching."
Another condemned the actions of the boy on the sheltered walkway, "It really is a disgrace for this school to have such a student who is happily taking a picture on the school's rooftop shelter which is dangerous."
While another reflected on the act of setting one's own hand on fire as plain naivety. "It shows how foolish these young people are and also reflects how youngsters these days get influenced by the stunts performed on TV.
"This young man tried to burn his hand by pouring Zippo liquid on it and used a lighter to start a fire."
The reader known as Ming Chen also called for better parental supervision: "Parents, please control the shows that your kids watch.".
We take a look at the risky and silly behaviours that youths were up to in the past month.
abrahamr@sph.com.sg
Source:
Nowadays there have been various cases about youths 'indulging' in gangsterism. These cases include youths posting photos of themselves doing something 'cool', like standing on the roof a walkway or starting a fire. My opinion is that these youths which mostly involve students, are influenced by other bad people that they may know, example their seniors, relatives or close friends. Some youths want to act like a gangster, walking and talking just like a gangster, they would also throw vulgarities at or even bash up people who offended them. In this post, the youths in the pictures were pointing their middle fingers or their 'gang sign'; these can be actions of acting like a gangster. One major factor of these happenings may be the upbringing by the parents. I feel that parents nowadays should pay more attention to their child and make sure they do not get involved with such manner and thus prevent more cases such as these. :) (160 words)
ReplyDeleteI think that this clearly shows how youths are getting more and more out of control. Not only are they not afraid of doing things like those mentioned in the article publicly, they are also not ashamed of taking pictures and showing to everyone on facebook. I agree that some youths are influenced by some stunts on tv but I also believe that they are all influenced by their friends. This makes people question their upbringing and blame parents but I personally believe that it's the youths' choice to do what they want. Not only that, youths are attracted to the media nowadays which means the media has a huge influence on them. The media should be more aware of the impacts their shows have on youths and parents should control their children more. Parents should also be aware of who their children are befriending.
ReplyDelete(145 words)
Alan Chan:
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article, I felt utterly disappointed with the youths whom behave badly. These youths are the masters of the country’s future. How is the country able to count on them if such misdemeanors continue?
What are the reasons behind such behaviors?
The lack of parental control is one of the determining factors. Parents nowadays are busy with their work schedule and may have neglected their own children’s emotional and social needs.
The youths’ immaturity probably results in it. The youths thought it would be “cool” to imitate such dangerous stunts in order to gain the respect from their peers.
These actions would reflect badly on their upbringing and may tarnish the reputation of their school.
I feel that parents should try to spend quality time communicating with their child to gain a better understanding of them.
Schoolteachers should also educate the youths on the importance of self-discipline and encourage the students to approach the school staff if they are faced with any difficulties.
This article just briefly touched on the topic of youths behaving badly. I agree that nowadays, youths are getting bolder and it is not in a good way.
ReplyDeleteDue to the fast paced society we have, youths were often left in the care of the maids when they were young. Thus often, their upbringing is neglected. Parents not spending enough time with them causing their moral values to stray leading them to think that some of the stuff that they do are actually "cool".
I also feel that technology is a main case for this phenomenon. Youth nowadays are exposed to the world far too early. You can get almost any information from the internet and the youths now are all technologically equipped to access them.
At the end of the day, It all boils down to the parents,
as the twig is bent, so is the tree inclined. Parents should try to communicate more and try to impart the right values from young.
To me, these youths are just trying to get attention from others. This is nothing wrong; as a normal human being, we all hope that we can sometimes be the focus of people. What is wrong however is their action; the way these youths do to get people's attention. Besides the danger in their stunts, they are also sending a wrong message to people such that some might receive bad influence from them, especially secondary school students.
ReplyDeleteperhaps lack of parental control is not the main cause to this. As a young adults like us, our parents can hardly control our behaviors. Most of the times, parents can only tell us what is right and what is wrong. It is our maturity that determines whether to listen to their advice or not. Clearly, the maturity of these Youths do not match with their age.
I do not expect these immature youths to change over-night, but I do hope that they are able to realise their mistake and turn over a new leaf before getting themselves into serious troubles..