Is our future bright?

As teenagers we are interested in the direction the British youth are taking, writes Priyanka Raizada in our regular column From the Varsity.

Looking back at our teenage years, I wonder whether we were all about binge drinking, drunkenness, alcohol related problems and drug use, as are today's teenagers according to a research study. Although we are not a century apart from them, the youth in Britain have outperformed not only us but also their counterparts in Europe with an especially striking rise in binge drinking and drug abuse.

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The study claimed that Britain has the highest pregnancy rate in Europe and the highest number of abortions. The incidence of sexually transmitted diseases has gone up to a record 705,954 last year. As if this wasn't enough, Britain also has the worst record on drug abuse including the use of cocaine and ecstasy. No wonder, while having such an increase in all forms of "high living" there is a noticeable decline in excellence at all education levels. So is all this leading to a moral and intellectual disintegration among Britain's youth? Although we are here from India for our studies but are naturally interested in the direction the British youth are taking, for we are in a way part of the teenage generation. And now as we all say live in a global village.

We did not have much sex education in our schools. We did not have much awareness about drugs, yet these things existed but the number of indulging in them was still low. So where is it all going wrong here? The immediate reasons are quite obvious. The stress here is on sexual education, although there is not much teaching involved. Instead it seems designed to encourage sex and put into their mind the unknown. Can you blame them to foray into the unknown?
Morning after pills are now available on the counter, abortion can be performed on girls less than 16 years of age without their parents knowing, and we thought the legal age for having sex was 16.

There is so much talk about drugs as well. We talk about being against drugs yet what in reality is happening. We seem to be endlessly lobbying for a war on the law on drugs. Authorities here have gone on endlessly to make cannabis legal. Who can be surprised that its use has accordingly gone up. Instead of telling them that drugs should not be taken, we tell them that its illegal because of the law.

Behind all of this, the single most dangerous reason is the false theory of equality. Instead of supporting and encouraging married family life, we have adopted family lifestyles as of equal values. No wonder today's children are confused and increasingly in distress. Only a few days ago it was revealed that 41.1 per cent of children last year were born outside wedlock. The children brought up by single parents tend to be unruly, suffer ill-health and tend to take drugs. No wonder when they get into teens, they go wild.

So, is the future being handed over to a lost generation? We from outside the country feel equally concerned as we have learnt so much here and consider ourselves to be a part of the young generation here.

(The writer is a student of LPC course at College of Law, London)