The Definition and Knowledge on Youth Culture - Research Paper Example

 Significantly, there is a lot to the definition and knowledge on youth culture as a vast subject that revolves around the lifestyle of adolescents, the customs, morals and common practices. Typically, any culture defines the symbolic systems that a certain community or group of people share; however, under this subject maintenance and transformation processes for these systems are also inclusive and equally important (Durkin 204). Most people will agree that today’s youth culture is very different as compared to that of earlier generations due to varying factors as per everyone’s experiences. Naturally, the culture of youth has chief elements that involve the beliefs, behaviors, styles and interests particularly on aspects such as clothing, different music genres, slang, sports etc. These elements seem to matter for the adolescents more than any other age group thus giving them a relative discrete culture that they follow across the globe; however, there might be minimal variations in cultures adopted across parts of the world but the interests are almost similar or base on the same entities. Adolescence to adulthood is the most significant stage especially for children, as a time they establish their characteristics and turn out as self-sufficient people with the ability to make decisions that will direct their lives (Klaas 1). Classically, this stage is all about taking up responsibilities and making a difference in the society. According to psychologists, the struggles and challenges that come with adolescence determine the culture that the youth adapt to on the verge of looking for a different community that has varying practices and where they can easily fit. During the adolescence to adulthood period, the youth tend to express themselves more as showed by their compromise with social boundaries, which is why some follow the right path and others go astray. Today, the youth engage in too much activity and have access to a lot of information that they refrain from following the advice of their elders; in fact, the believe they are old enough to make their own decisions even at early stages of adolescence (Harvey 228). As a result, the culture of the youth has vastly changed over a short period as compared to customary practices when people had to attain self-sufficiency and follow the right path in order to survive. Assertively, this essay entails a comprehensive assessment of facts supporting the notion that the culture of the youth continues to change over time. These facts will be a general evaluation of the journey from adolescence to adulthood that dictates the culture that the youth adopt. i. Discussion Significantly, the youth culture was not a topic of discussion until late in the 20th Century where it became a historical phenomenon based on evaluation of past practices relative to the adolescence to adulthood experience. Since then many professionals have come up with theories on the evolution of the youth culture based on the core influential factors i.e. history, economy and psychological traits. According to some of these theories, the changes in youth culture emanated from the introduction of schools as a compulsory way of education. The overall idea is that this isolation of the youth created a completely new experience of the adolescence to adulthood mostly because it led to limited interactions with adults. Contrary, problems such as those identified in the ‘How Long Will I Cry?’ book were not prevalent because children, predominantly the youths extensively associated with adult unlike today when they do so with their peers (Harvey 24). However, these interactions are not entirely disadvantageous because the youth get to cultivate collective experiences and connotations that define their culture. Comparatively, the youth of this generation have multiple attributes that are different from practices of their parents due to the significant advancements in areas that determine the culture adolescents adopt. Traditionally, the adolescence to adulthood journey was not only about transformation, in fact, the youth had to take on different roles and duties in the society as a requirement for meeting the demands of the punitive and sterile environment. During this time, gender roles played a significant part and unlike today, adolescents had tremendously limited options (Durkin 218). This seems harsh but the extended interactions with adults prepared them for the journey and most of them would accept the situation and make the best out of it. Many men would have life goals and selected roles that they wanted to take on even before the adolescence process; for instance, some of the men would indulge in hunting or other practices that they knew would provide food and other resources for the family. On the other hand, women would acquire different skills that would be efficient for household practices. Naturally, the interactions were the key facilitators of the constructive and efficient roles that the youth adopted as part of their culture unlike today where the youth in areas like Chicago opt for violence and gang-related practices (Harvey 102). The lack of adult insight has negatively affected them and as much as they share collective experiences, most of it leads to negative peer influence; a form of brain washing and superciliousness. However, the blame is not entirely on the schooling system because in the past households were not that big and the youth had limited age mates that would distract them from their parent’s insight. Today, once teenagers reach the youth, there is a societal urge to experiment on unconstructive behavior that revolves around drugs, sex, violence and peer-influenced practices which results to addiction, unwanted pregnancies and other distractions of excelling in life. This depicts a form of ineptitude unlike in the past when parents where in total reach of their children to the point of arranging marriage for both genders and the time they would bear their own children (Klaas 2). The set traditions by the parents and other elders in the society were also inclusive in the youth culture because they formed betrothals that had dear consequences when evaded. However, young men would not get into marriage immediately after going through the adolescence process; naturally, they had to attain an age of 17-20 years before engaging in activities such as marriage. Evidently, the situation today is completely different as compared to the practices discussed above but the youth are not entirely to take the blame for the negative changes that are there in their current culture. In the past, spending time as a family influenced the adolescence to adulthood journey adversely since the hunting, fishing or other types of joint activities acted as a distraction for the youth involving unconstructive activities such as gang-related crime, drugs, pre-marital sex etc. Today, youth peer groups dominate their own recreational activities because of the freedom and lack of interest from their parents (Durkin 212). Conversely, some elders will argue that this is a way of teaching them how to be independent but the lack of knowledge and positive advice leads to activities that demolish the society instead of work or education that act as platforms for development. The augmented economic and financial safety of modern lifestyles makes it conceivable for the youth to delay in accepting their duties and accountabilities as the first step to adulthood. Moreover, some of them adopt the wrong ways of life because lack efficient information and are fixated on what they experience on the media. For instance, in Miles Harvey’s book ‘How Long Will I Cry?’ Ernie Purnell, a nurse at one of the hospitals in Chicago elaborates the perception of gunshots by the youth that indulge in gang-related crime. According to him, they believe that they can survive up to four gunshot wounds as they have seen on the media i.e. movies, comedy, cartoon, blogs etc. (Harvey 120). This is a clear depiction on how the other part of the society expects the youth to make decisions yet they lack sufficient knowledge or experience that forms an utter foundation for making the right choices in life. During the adolescence stage, one of the main aims of the youth is getting the necessary attention hence they will do anything to ensure that people in the society notice them. This is the reason why the lifestyles revolve fashion, music, slang, sports and activities that involve peer influence mostly because of the belief that everyone else in the society has a certain concern about the behavior and appearance (Durkin 209). Resultantly, the youth will engage even in activities that they know are wrong just to attract the concern and attention of the society (particularly their parents) and their peers. The youth of Chicago will involve in drug trafficking, robbery and other crimes to get money or other resources that will make them ‘noticeable’ or to earn the ‘respect’ of their peers. ii. Conclusion Assertively, the most probable cause of the changes in the journey from adolescence to adulthood is the limited interactions between the youth and adults hence increasing the collective sharing of information, ideas and experiences that lack a firm basis of knowledge. The segregation is the foundation for the gang-related crime that leads to death of the youth even before they get to enjoy their adulthood (Klaas 2). Moreover, the activities that the youth consider as part of their culture are unorthodox ways of expressing their feelings, thoughts and misguided perceptions of life; typically, it is their only way of sharing with the society. Works Cited Harvey, Miles. How Long Will I Cry? Chicago: Big Shoulders Books, 2013. Durkin, Kevin. Adolescence and Adulthood: Blackwell Publishing 10.2, (2002): 204-22 Klaas, Ann. Adolescence- Supporting the Journey from Childhood to Adulthood: Department of Health and Human Development, Montana State University 8.4, (2004): 1-3 Read More