Following the embarrassing London riots where young people ran amok destroying public property and looting, the British Prime Minister Davis Cameron has spoken out against the culture of negligence and irresponsibility in 21st century British society. Obviously he was referring to the indiscipline among the youths during the riots. The British PM was right in identifying part of the problem and pointing out that ‘crime has a context’ and blamed that children are ‘growing up not knowing the difference between right and wrong’. And Mr Cameron did not spare the institution of the family while making the point that parents are losing the plot in the upbringing of these children. The point is that if we want to produce law abiding citizens of the future and who have respect for both rights as well as responsibilities, then the building block for such useful citizens should be the home and schools. Parents firstly and then teachers have a big responsibility in making sure that children grow up with the right values instilled in them. The problem of poor parenting and indiscipline among young people is not just confined to the British. Naga society is today faced with similar challenges and if we are able to get this right, then we will solve many of our basic problems. Off course besides our family and schools, the Church must also engage with this problem of deteriorating moral values. When we see our young people in the streets threatening or using violence against an innocent passerby; or take the case of extorting money and robbing someone’s hard earned money; misbehaving with our elders or womenfolk under the influence of alcohol or drugs, it is clear there are things that are badly wrong in our society.
It is not going to be easy to address this perennial problem of indiscipline among our youths. The reasons are many. Firstly the very values that we cherish—of honesty, non-violence, peaceful order, respect for law etc these are vanishing because the moral standard of this world does not give credit to these values anymore. Instead in today’s world, we are giving legitimacy to the new values of corruption, lawlessness; culture of might is right, intolerance, disrespect for the other etc. Aided and abetted by the new media with its sophistication and penetration, our young people are today faced with the onslaught of conflicting message adding to their confusion and restlessness. This is having an adverse effect on their mind (to be healthy and to think freely) and the end result seems to be the turmoil that we are witnessing. Secondly we are witnessing the gradual decline and influence of our basic social institutions—the family, school and church. Unless we are able to revive and reform these pillars, the future looks ominous. While several suggestions can be made to go about doing our task, one area that must be given importance is on value education as it will help to better the quality of life. Values codify the dos and don’ts of behaviour. The values that spring from within or the core of the heart, like love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, tolerance, etc. lay the foundation for the external practised values like peace, love, honesty, discipline, punctuality, loyalty, goodness etc. And isn’t this the need of the hour for the world as also the Naga people?
It is not going to be easy to address this perennial problem of indiscipline among our youths. The reasons are many. Firstly the very values that we cherish—of honesty, non-violence, peaceful order, respect for law etc these are vanishing because the moral standard of this world does not give credit to these values anymore. Instead in today’s world, we are giving legitimacy to the new values of corruption, lawlessness; culture of might is right, intolerance, disrespect for the other etc. Aided and abetted by the new media with its sophistication and penetration, our young people are today faced with the onslaught of conflicting message adding to their confusion and restlessness. This is having an adverse effect on their mind (to be healthy and to think freely) and the end result seems to be the turmoil that we are witnessing. Secondly we are witnessing the gradual decline and influence of our basic social institutions—the family, school and church. Unless we are able to revive and reform these pillars, the future looks ominous. While several suggestions can be made to go about doing our task, one area that must be given importance is on value education as it will help to better the quality of life. Values codify the dos and don’ts of behaviour. The values that spring from within or the core of the heart, like love, compassion, sympathy, empathy, tolerance, etc. lay the foundation for the external practised values like peace, love, honesty, discipline, punctuality, loyalty, goodness etc. And isn’t this the need of the hour for the world as also the Naga people?
