The Origins of Youth Culture - Research Paper Example

 ‘A society that cuts itself off from its youth severs its lifeline; it is condemned to bleed to death’ Kofi Annan (1988). Introduction Youth culture has developed into a growing segment of significance among academics and researchers. Nevertheless, the term youth has variously being a contentious issue with most analysts generally categorizing the years 18 to 24 as the ideal youth period (Helpingyouthconference.org). Conversely, market analysts contend that due to the nature of the prevailing consumer driven environment and the dynamic nature of youth culture, there is need to undertake a critical view of the trends in the youth culture leanings (Label Networks). Consequently, this study aims at examining the evolvement of youth culture and the fundamental issues affecting the young people in conventional and modern societies. According to Poulette and Poulette, “culture can be defined as the rules by which the game of life is played.” (p. 3). The concept of youth culture stems from the categorization of childhood into adulthood having a transition period of adolescence. Nevertheless, amongst the youth class, there are various subgroups, which constitute the subcultures that distinguish diverse aspects of the youth groups, ranging from urban to rural, ghetto and trendy youths, music induced etc (Rogers 48). The youthful stage refers variously to the ages of early teenage 14-25 in most countries (Ginwright and James, 2). Nearly half of the global population is aged below 25 years with almost 90 percent of this younger generation found in the developing countries (Lanuza 1). The effects of “globalization, technologies, modern education, urban life” as regular and escalating cultural transformations in the youths pose problems in diverse socio-economic ways, which has led to fresh concerns by the assorted stakeholders (Sheykhi, 173). Although youths in many societies are rarely held accountable for their juvenile actions, there is a need for careful parental guidance in these formative years to avoid later disappointment in adulthood. However, in instances where family direction is lacking, the society is obliged to lend a hand by firmly guided as the youths are profoundly influenced by the society they grow up in (Sheykhi, 180). The youthful stage is marked by psychologically stressful transformations in the body chemistry and teenage years can hypothetically generate behavioral shift in the person hence the individual is somewhat helpless to avoid or be in charge of in the adolescence phase (Schildt and Siegfried, 2). This includes uncontrolled sexuality; rebuff of parents / instructors; need for focus; strong of passions / aggression; and impulsiveness. This factors are further aggravated by the prevailing social or economic conditions that the youth encounters as they gradually face the prospect of split from sheltered family life and evolve own self-determining character (Krayewski). New outcomes unveiled from Label Networks’ 8th bi-annual Fall Youth Culture Study of 2008 based on North America disclosed that the youths aged 13-25-years-old have entirely restructured the market development (ResearchandMarkets). This has been inspired mainly by new financial environment and transformations in technology and rising communication model ensuing in a changes in the preceding 6 months in predilection and inclination for wherever they splurge their cash, assume styles, and take up control from songs, games, amusement, fresh media, promotion or publicity, among other trends (Gasperini). The incidence of ‘popular culture’ can be ambiguous due to the nature of culture being dynamic and constantly evolving amongst the youth trends (Fouce 1), (Austin 1). The concept has become synonymous with consumerism which is dominated by the young people is an urban subculture globalised aspect that transcends all the major cities and cultural trends in the globe (Lee, 125). In a study covering three Australian Catholic schools, Maroney (76) concluded that youth spirituality is both assorted and divergent. Although the youth are aware of their right to adopt and develop religious values they also display some non-religious elements hence do not necessarily conform to the conventional values. Nonetheless Maroney (4) found that parental influence is significant in guiding this decisions, with many contemporary youth spiritually not ‘rooted’ in conventional biblical terms but on own perceived upright values. Thus the traditional ‘hail and brimstones’ God of yore is increasingly ignored with the youth viewing God as of tolerance and unqualified love (Pilarzyk 43). He thus surmised that the rising ‘individualism and moral self-reliance’ has become predominant as opposed to the rules guided traditional leanings amongst the modern youth (Maroney 74). According to the World Health Organization (2003) quoted in Hills (166), there is a positive linkage linking youth maturity, growth plus improvement and bodily wellbeing, mental health, misdemeanor cutbacks, lessening of malingering and alienation, educational success, communal inclusion, and societal conscientiousness to sporting activities. Consequently, most government or public policies have been geared towards this end through initiating sports as the natural forum for positive enhancement of youth growth (DFID). This involves adopting sporting policies in education, local and national authorities erecting time and amenities that encourage the participation of young people in sporting activities including such the YMCA and the Boy Scouts programs. The notion of sport as an ideal forum of implanting high-quality qualities in the youth stems from the perception of sports as inducing positive socialization and positive change away from other undue degenerative tendencies like drugs, crime and general juvenile delinquency (Hills 167). The youth stage has generally being acknowledged as the critical stage in an individual’s transition into adulthood. Consequently, there is a doubly need to keenly guide the youth in regards to the continuity and change ensuring particularly in instances of property and resource tenure including bequests and sex issues. In many developing countries where the youth constitute the majority of the population, the youth assume ‘adult duties’ at very young age due to the prevailing acute poverty and hazardous diseases like AIDS. Therefore, there is need to develop sustainable livelihoods amongst the young people to guard the contemporary hassle and trauma while sustaining the available resources and capabilities for prospective progress while preserving the natural resources. Being significant stakeholders in the community, the youth should be encouraged and supported in utilizing their inherent talents in mainstream activities rather than alienating them to develop the entire society (DFID 11). The youth stage has traditionally being viewed as the period of deviance as the young people display a keen sense of independence and disregard for authority. This has been variously being blamed on the influence of peripheral factors whereby in the early 20th century cartoon strips were the major culprits, later changing to videos in the 21st century and undue influence of the internet amongst the young people. However there is minimal empirical research to support this presumptions as rational explanation can be discerned including need for parental guidance, divorces in families, poor administration from the authorities, societal overindulgence and poor discipline. Nevertheless, the undue influence of the media including TV and videos cannot be overstated as the need to be in sync with others always prevails amongst the youth. (Research and Markets) The main reasons for the supposedly emergence of unbridled youth culture that deviates from those prevalent in the pre-war period has been linked to the lack of a transition period in those societies. The family was the focal economic feeder of the individuals as opposed to communal influences in modern societies (Schildt). Individuals were obligated to cater for the needs of their nuclear and larger families with minimal time for recreational activities thus confining them into closed groups. Other factors that can explain the lack of clear dichotomy between childhood and adulthood in the early societies are the lack of easy communication between diverse communities. This translated into closed groups that coalesced amongst family members. Likewise, the lack of formal education left little room for interactions, as the major identity was the family unit (Best). Most young people believe culture only constitutes of arts, languages, customs or literature (Research and Markets). However, a Eurobarometer survey (2007) deduced that culture is still held in high regards in most societies with the more educated favoring the arts as the epitome of culture. However, there are significant differences amongst the youth and the older generation as well as the educated and semi-educated [see figure 1]. The study however noted that though there was penchant for young people liking of cultural activities, they were unable to partake in the tasks due to financial and time constraints (EACEA 211). Figure 1 Conversely, Ginwright and James (25) argue that young people have increasingly become disorientated, as they are isolated from mainstream activities just as the ethnic minorities and women were prior to their emancipation. The essence of this argument can be discerned from the impact the youth had on the last presidential campaign when the winning candidate Barrack Obama managed to mobilize the young people through online social networks even as divisions along ethnic lines persist (Krayewski). The modern urban youths particularly African-Americans and Latino groups perceives their marginalized youths and families are each day confronted by the likelihood of open prejudice, massive joblessness, relentless bloodshed, and police. This factors generally hinder healthy development of young people brought up in these communities hence the urgent need to integrate them into mainstream activities including political and economic thus averting deviant progression (Ginwright 43). Traditionally music has been associated with the rebellious youths particularly from the 1960s era; however, Moore (2010) in Weir (2) argues that the deviant culture has been largely influenced by the prevailing ‘social and political disorder’. He draws analogy between the punk and hip-hop culture rooted in New York’s underground to current economic crisis facing the youth. He also likens the influence of heavy metal music in the UK and US to unemployment and subsequent dissatisfaction resulting in undue pervasive occultism and devil worship amongst the youth (Weir). Conclusion Issues of identity crisis and orientation have confronted youths across the years as they transform from kids to adulthood. Conventional societies with their close knit family ties had less pressure on the youths who were thrust into adulthood while contemporary societies where the ease of communication, freedom and low moral values have put tremendous pressure on the youths. This study has revealed that although the youthful stage is deemed nowadays as the period of deviance, it is also critical in shaping the future of individuals. Modern youths indulge in deviant behaviors and delinquency in efforts to seek own identity and economic and social aspect play great role. The youths however set the pace in fashion trends and are increasingly influential politically due to their greater numbers. There is however a need for clear empirical studies to confirm some of the conclusions which are generally lacking in most of the literature. References Austin, Joe. "Youth Culture." 2004. Encyclopedia of Children and Childhood in History and Society. 17 December 2010 . Best, Amy L. "Youth Culture in Modern Britain, c1920-c. 1970 By David Fowler." Journal of Social History (2010). DFID. Literature Review of Theoretical & Conceptual Issues Surrounding Youth, Youth Livelihoods & Sustainable Rural Development. Reading: UK Department for International Development (DFID)/The University of Reading, 2006. EACEA. Access of Young People to Culture - Final Report. Brussels: EACEA, 2010. Fouce, Héctor. "Towards a visual youth culture: Articulating the visual subculture through the music." VOX magazine (1995): 1-6. Gasperini, Kathleen. 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