Youth and its place in modern society

What is youth?

This question can be answered in different ways.

Youth is spring. Youth is love. Youth is the joy of fatherhood and motherhood.

Youth is quest, quest for new ways in science, revelations in art, roads in life. Youth is daring and implacability, rejection of everything old and moribund. All this is true.

Generation Gap

I. Pay attention to these words. Pick out sentences with these words from the text and translate them into Russians:

Generation gap — проблема «отцов и детей», разрыв между поколениями;

the awkward age - переходный возраст;

juvenile [´dƷu:vənail] delinquency [di´liŋkwensi]- подростковая преступность;

out of sheer boredom - от (всепоглощающей) скуки;

the smart set - законодатели моды;

gilded youth - «золотая» молодёжь;

to live below the poverty line — жить за чертой бедности.

II. Read out the following words and memorize their meaning:

vagary (n) [´veigəri] причуда, каприз, чудачество

coin (v) [kכin] создавать новые слова

insatiable (adj) [in´sei∫əbl] ненасытней, жадный

аре (v) [eip] подражать, обезьянничать

adolescence (n) [´ædə´lesns] подростковый возраст, юность

adolescent (n) [ædə´lesnt] подросток

cool (adj) [ku:l] крутой

clumsy (adj) [´klÙmzi] неуклюжий, нескладный

elation (n) [i´lei∫n] приподнятое настроение

despair (n) [di´speə] отчаяние, безнадёжность

jealousy (n) [´dƷeləsi] зависть

acute (adj) [ə´kju:t] острый

inhibit (v) [in´hibit] сдерживать, тормозить

impressionable (adj) [im´pre∫ənəbl] впечатлительный, восприимчивый

arrogant (adj) [´ærəgənt] нахальный, самонадеянный

harsh (adg) [ha:∫] жестокий

lenient (adj) [´li:njənt] мягкий, снисходительный

annihilation (n) [əֽnaiə´lei∫n] истребление, уничтожение

shed (v) [∫ed] отбрасывать, оставлять

III. Read out these phrases several times till you remember their meaning:

in a fearful hurry страстно жаждущие;

to grow up повзрослеть

twice their age два раза старше их;

to get through a confusion преодолеть неразбериху, замешательство;

to get into a bad company попасть в плохую компанию;

to become stratified расслаиваться (на классы);

to bring about приводить;

under the constant threat of под постоянной угрозой;

to question the wisdom подвергать сомнению

and sanity of their elders мудрость издравомыслие старших (старшего поколения).

IV. Read the text and get ready to speak about the problems of teenagers:

GENERATION GAP

Old people are always saying that the young are not what they were. The same comment is made from generation to generation and is always true. It has never been truer than it is today.

These days grown-ups describe children as «difficult», «rude», «wild» and «irresponsible». Only some people say that they will grow up to make our country a better place.

For kids from 8 to 14 a new term «teens» has recently been coined. They are no longer children nor yet teenagers, just between - teens. They are said to be a generation in a fearful hurry to grow up. Instead of playing with Barbies and Legos they are interested in the vagaries of love on TV serials. Girls wear provocative make-up. At this very age kids start pairing off. Teens have got an insatiable desire for the latest in everything - from jeans with labels so that everyone will know that they've got the latest stuff - to CDs. Kids at their age desperately need to belong and that's why everything comes down to appearance. They think that having the right «stuff» is the quickest way to acceptance. For parents and teachers they can be a nightmare, aping the hairstyle, clothes and make-up of celebrities twice their age. Experts saythat the rush to grow up is due to the mass media. Being raised by single-parent families as well as watching TV, which sucks up most of their free time, can also accelerate the desire of children for being independent and creates behaviour problems.

But the most painful part of childhood is the period when they begin to emerge from it: adolescence or the awkward age. There is a complete lack of self-confidence during this time. Adolescents are overconscious of their appearance and the impression they make on others. They feel shy, awkward and clumsy. Feelings are intense and hearts - easily broken. Teenagers experience moments of tremendous elation or black despair. And besides, friends are becoming more and more important these years. At schools there are cliques who decide what is «cool». Adolescents may rebel violently against parental authority, but this causes them great unhappiness. And they are not always helped to get through a confusion of life in a steady, productive way. But even teenagers with sympathetic and supportive parents can fall in with bad company.

Most children don’t belong to any clubs and they just start roaming the street after school out of sheer boredom. A lot of them become addicted to drugs and/or alcohol because their life is hollow and they don't think of life-long goals. They have nothing to fill the emptiness of their souls with. They demand to have all that they see, and regard it as their right to be entertained every waking moment.

And besides our society is becoming more und more stratified. There has appeared a class of rich people and a class of poor people (to be more exact - people leaving below the poverty line). Children of well-off parents consider themselves «the smart set» or «gilded youth». Their parents give them every material benefit, pocket money any time they ask. A lot of these children have their own brand-new cars and personal computers. It goes without saying that it causes jealousy and the desire to possess the same things on the part of children whose parents are poor and cannot afford it. Such feelings can push teenagers to committing a crime and it leads to a wide spread of juvenile delinquency.

Nowadays children start using computers very early. Teens are so fascinated by them that they spend hours and hours at their personal computers or at computer clubs. The electronic universe replaces their contacts with friends and dominates their life completely. Obsession with computers brings about a mechanical, disillusioned mentality and inhibits their emotional development.

The heads of youngsters are also being filled with violent pictures they have seen on TV. Children are very naive and impressionable. And no wonder that they are so aggressive and arrogant in real life. They are thrown into such a harsh world, especially if they live in a city.

These days a lot of parents think that they should be lenient with their children, they should let them find out about life for themselves, they should leave children to develop their own idea of right and wrong. But it's a grave mistake, Parents should try to protect their children from possible bad influences and give them clear guidance about right and wrong.

There is no way to predict how today's children will turn out. Keeping faith in kids is necessary. They are not bad. They are optimistic. They expect to have a better life than their parents'. And grown-ups - if they are prepared to admit it - could learn a thing or two from their children. One of the biggest lessons they could learn is that enjoyment is not «sinful». Enjoyment is a principle you could apply to all aspects of life. It is not wrong to enjoy your work and enjoy your leisure, to shed restricting inhibitions. It is surely not wrong to live in the present rather than in the past or future. This emphasis on the present is only to be expected because the young have grown up under the constant threat of World War II, which means complete annihilation. This is their «glorious» heritage. Can we be surprised that they question the wisdom and sanity of their elders?

V. Answer the questions:

1. What comment is usually made about the younger generation? 2. What epithets do grown-ups use speaking about children? 3. Does anyone believe that children will make our country a better place to live in? 4. What term has been coined recently? 5. Are teens interested in playing with dolls and toys? 6. What things do they want to have and why? 7. Why is the awkward age the most painful part of childhood? 8. Do teenagers obey their parents? 9. Teenagers with sympathetic and supportive parents never get in bad company, do they? 10. Why do teenagers become addicted to drugs and alcohol? 11. What do teens regard as their right? 12. What society do we live in? 13. Are there any people who live below the poverty line in this country? 14. Who belongs to the smart set or gilded youth? 15. What can push children from poor families to commit a crime? 16. When do children start using computers nowadays? 17. What does preoccupation with computers bring about? 18. Children are easily influenced by violence on TV, aren't they? 19. How do they behave in real life? 20. What do many parents think about upbringing nowadays? 21. Are they right? 22. What should parents do? 23. Is it possible to predict what people today's children grow up? 24. What sort of life do children expect to have? 25. What could grown-ups learn from their children? 26. Why do young people prefer to live in the present? 27. What does World War II mean? 28. Do young people have a right to question the wisdom and sanity of their elders?

Vocabulary

to relate to относиться к ч-л.

peer сверстник

adult взрослый

overwhelming неодолимый

breakdown разрыв

to affect оказывать влияние

drug наркотик

pregnancy беременность

delinquency преступление

complex сложный

citizen гражданин