18th January, 2015,Yesterday we (Nada India) held a conference at the former school of Suneel’s daughter and son school (DAV Public School Vasant Kunj). It involved conventional well meaning school and media professionals plus a remarkable group of 15 active duty teachers in many different schools in Delhi. The teachers formed 3 separate focus groups who expressed a high level of awareness of the developing pressures leading to a loss of sobriety and safety for their young students. Let me share a developing concept of mine.
In many parts of the world modern changes lead to social developments that are labeled as growth. A significant component is new marketing to young and older adolescents through the internet focused on soda, fast food, movies and music, facebook, etc., leading to tobacco and alcohol use. Money is effectively channeled to adolescents from their parents. In older poorer societies there was no ‘adolescence’ because teenage people had to work to support the family economy and household---not to mention having their own new family’s children. When adolescent freedom and education is a natural phenomenon, it can be very beneficial and proper. When adolescents are encouraged by robbing from their parents, it can be a fair redistribution of social funds or a loss of survival funds to pay for frivolous foods and entertainment and substance abuse. Much of the developing world has a large youth growing rate which make this empty adolescent expansion quite overwhelming. Even in affluent western homes, empty adolescent expansion can be source of dangerous, demeaning stress.
At the conference I was asked to talk about the great spiritual reality of adolescence described in my Serenity paper. When asked about their personal goals, 8 year old children are both savvy and magickal. Their older teenage siblings may have a phoney response for certain adults, but their accurate answer is “I don’t know.” Adolescence is the most spiritual time of life. Even in the best of times, there is nothing certain. In an era of ‘empty adolescent excess’ the spiritual challenge is very important. NADA needs to be part of the response. People needs silence and balance just to begin a spiritual process. If nothing can be said for sure, a non-verbal process is a fair beginning.
In our world there are a lot of unusual events that suggest an excess adolescent process. Groups of youth are specifically kidnapped or killed. (Nigeria, Pakistan, Mexico). Battles are waged by young independent migrants. Many adults seem angry at their people as well as an enemy. Young adults provoke destructive response just by existing and listening to marketers. Often there are gangsters selling drugs and sexual enticements because the ‘innocent’ marketing has opened a door that did not seem to exist before.
Our conference and further meetings will for partial solutions. Most normative adults admit they don’t know anything about adolescent life. Teachers of this age are the best hope of understanding---and sympathy for this problem. What has always been a minor problem of family disarray is now quite large an contagious. Today was a small beacon of hope. ....Dr.Michael O.Smith
In many parts of the world modern changes lead to social developments that are labeled as growth. A significant component is new marketing to young and older adolescents through the internet focused on soda, fast food, movies and music, facebook, etc., leading to tobacco and alcohol use. Money is effectively channeled to adolescents from their parents. In older poorer societies there was no ‘adolescence’ because teenage people had to work to support the family economy and household---not to mention having their own new family’s children. When adolescent freedom and education is a natural phenomenon, it can be very beneficial and proper. When adolescents are encouraged by robbing from their parents, it can be a fair redistribution of social funds or a loss of survival funds to pay for frivolous foods and entertainment and substance abuse. Much of the developing world has a large youth growing rate which make this empty adolescent expansion quite overwhelming. Even in affluent western homes, empty adolescent expansion can be source of dangerous, demeaning stress.
At the conference I was asked to talk about the great spiritual reality of adolescence described in my Serenity paper. When asked about their personal goals, 8 year old children are both savvy and magickal. Their older teenage siblings may have a phoney response for certain adults, but their accurate answer is “I don’t know.” Adolescence is the most spiritual time of life. Even in the best of times, there is nothing certain. In an era of ‘empty adolescent excess’ the spiritual challenge is very important. NADA needs to be part of the response. People needs silence and balance just to begin a spiritual process. If nothing can be said for sure, a non-verbal process is a fair beginning.
In our world there are a lot of unusual events that suggest an excess adolescent process. Groups of youth are specifically kidnapped or killed. (Nigeria, Pakistan, Mexico). Battles are waged by young independent migrants. Many adults seem angry at their people as well as an enemy. Young adults provoke destructive response just by existing and listening to marketers. Often there are gangsters selling drugs and sexual enticements because the ‘innocent’ marketing has opened a door that did not seem to exist before.
Our conference and further meetings will for partial solutions. Most normative adults admit they don’t know anything about adolescent life. Teachers of this age are the best hope of understanding---and sympathy for this problem. What has always been a minor problem of family disarray is now quite large an contagious. Today was a small beacon of hope. ....Dr.Michael O.Smith