Our society has no rescue systems in place that may timely intervene and save such youths and teenagers from suicidal acts who feel that life in general, and their existence in particular, is devoid of any meaning and purpose.
Literary scholar Ahmad Javaid made this remark at an Off The School podcast while discussing the recent case of suicide by an A level student from Chakwal who reportedly left a suicide note on his computer expressing his despair due to his perceived meaninglessness of his life.
Javaid Sb said that never in the history of mankind had come such an era, in which the elders were considered absolutely unwise as is the case today. He added that the elders were supposed to impart knowledge, wisdom and skill to the youngers, but in the current age, the teenagers and youths already have access to endless information through the internet and they believe that their elders have no knowledge or wisdom that they need to acquire from them.
He said teenagers who want to nourish their individualism to find some purpose in life often do not find other people in their surroundings who would understand their psychological needs and support them. This causes deep sense of alienation. To overcome this, such teenagers imagine their own self as another person and try to live in their own company. However, when such mirage disappears and they are forced to confront the bitter reality of their alienated self, they resort to commit suicide.
Javaid Sb also pointed out arrogance in the teenagers and youths owing to the unlimited information at their disposal. He said such teenagers fail to realise that all such information is present outside them in the computer. They also do not feel the need for retaining that information in their own memory. Hence, they are unable to process that information into knowledge with some personal or private perspective.
The scholar also expressed concern over robotic attitudes of the younger generation. He said the teens of today all feel and think alike and their individuality has been shrinking. Over-reliance on computer and inability to deliberate over things has left them deprived of essential human characteristics, he remarked.
To deal with this crisis, Javaid Sb called for the elders, who include parents, teachers and others, to show compassion and be a well-wisher of such teenagers. He said it is important for the elders to impart this impression among the younger generation that they are their well-wishers as this will bridge the gap between them and enable the latter to derive much-needed wisdom from the former.