Naheed Hasan & Riffat Ahmed Siddiqui :
Let’s make a psychological attempt to understand why these children are doing what they are doing.
Fact: their age range is from teens to young adult;
What is the key psychosocial crisis / developmental task of this age group? According to Erikson – Identity – who am I and what is my role in the society/country/world?
Cognitively speaking, according to Piaget they have power of applying logic to any hypothetical abstract ideas. They are the king of logical thinking and wonder why the countries leader doesn’t call them to get the correct solution for all the problems in the society!
Idealism defines this age group not realism!
Educational system: can anyone deny the tremendous pressure these young children go through since kindergarten years. Can anyone deny the pressure kids go through attending coaching centers which are supposed to ease the pressure? Do we have ‘Khola Math’ to release our tension of our body and mind? NO we don’t!
Fact: the current Bangladesh has two extreme groups that today’s youth can choose from to belong to. Don’t forget us all have belonging needs, recognition needs!
One group is busy with spending money, partying, doing drugs, having sex, and often time exchanging each other’s partners willingly, and wearing flashy clothes!
The other group is following religious fundamentalism.
If you think about the traditional historical Bangladesh’s culture: the first one is not the one! Now religion is something that every family in Bangladesh practices to some extent. So every child is exposed to the core of our religion without much understanding of why the rules are there or reasoning behind it. Rote memorization, remember?
Can today’s youth experience frustration about the two extremes, can a youth want to do something about this? It needs reformation, it needs a fixing! Who is going to do it? Me (idealistic)! I will bring the change. We need immediate change and an awakening in this country.
All these kids need is someone to catch their frustration and build something from there – and they got them! We will bring reform, and most of the time reformation comes with sacrifice! Easy to brainwash these children using deception talks. These children are romanticizing reform! Don’t you see that?
Who can afford to romanticize like this? Rich kids who has everything, with no needs!
Let’s talk to our youths straight! Let’s reform but not through violence but awareness, education, step back everyone and breathe deeply, and do something about it. We are the protectors of our children – please let’s join and help them to conquer their dreams of reforming the system of current Bangladesh!
Don’t we know about Bandura’s powerful Social learning theory? Children see Children do! You lie, yell at your household helpers, deny your relatives of their rights, cheat, steal – they do the same! Help them!
Let’s find these devils that are taking advantage of this group of children. n
Let’s make a psychological attempt to understand why these children are doing what they are doing.
Fact: their age range is from teens to young adult;
What is the key psychosocial crisis / developmental task of this age group? According to Erikson – Identity – who am I and what is my role in the society/country/world?
Cognitively speaking, according to Piaget they have power of applying logic to any hypothetical abstract ideas. They are the king of logical thinking and wonder why the countries leader doesn’t call them to get the correct solution for all the problems in the society!
Idealism defines this age group not realism!
Educational system: can anyone deny the tremendous pressure these young children go through since kindergarten years. Can anyone deny the pressure kids go through attending coaching centers which are supposed to ease the pressure? Do we have ‘Khola Math’ to release our tension of our body and mind? NO we don’t!
Fact: the current Bangladesh has two extreme groups that today’s youth can choose from to belong to. Don’t forget us all have belonging needs, recognition needs!
One group is busy with spending money, partying, doing drugs, having sex, and often time exchanging each other’s partners willingly, and wearing flashy clothes!
The other group is following religious fundamentalism.
If you think about the traditional historical Bangladesh’s culture: the first one is not the one! Now religion is something that every family in Bangladesh practices to some extent. So every child is exposed to the core of our religion without much understanding of why the rules are there or reasoning behind it. Rote memorization, remember?
Can today’s youth experience frustration about the two extremes, can a youth want to do something about this? It needs reformation, it needs a fixing! Who is going to do it? Me (idealistic)! I will bring the change. We need immediate change and an awakening in this country.
All these kids need is someone to catch their frustration and build something from there – and they got them! We will bring reform, and most of the time reformation comes with sacrifice! Easy to brainwash these children using deception talks. These children are romanticizing reform! Don’t you see that?
Who can afford to romanticize like this? Rich kids who has everything, with no needs!
Let’s talk to our youths straight! Let’s reform but not through violence but awareness, education, step back everyone and breathe deeply, and do something about it. We are the protectors of our children – please let’s join and help them to conquer their dreams of reforming the system of current Bangladesh!
Don’t we know about Bandura’s powerful Social learning theory? Children see Children do! You lie, yell at your household helpers, deny your relatives of their rights, cheat, steal – they do the same! Help them!
Let’s find these devils that are taking advantage of this group of children. n
(Naheed Hasan, PhD, Professor of Psychology, College of DuPage & Riffat Ahmed Siddiqui, Chairperson, Siddiqui’s International Schoo, Dhanmonid, Dhaka)
