Youth Expectations and how they swing wildly from day to day

In the Sri Lankan context, there is a huge gap between what is practically achievable and what is desired. I do not know if it is the foreign factor, where whenever a member of the family is overseas, then riches of material things are seen around the house and it breeds a great desire amongst neighbors for the same.

In my experience we do not have the desire to work hard enough to achieve those material possessions and I am afraid young people seek to achieve this in a short time by any means fair or foul. It is therefore not practical to try and suppress materialism, but to direct the desire, and urge in the right direction.

What might that direction be? Simply that of giving our youth the skills to understand that they can get what they want, by getting certain skills which will enable them to obtain employment or build a business from which they can make sufficient to achieve them. The problem as I see it is they do not see the skill that will enable them to do so. That is what society should show. It is the duty of the Govt. to identify the needed skills in our country today, and guide our policy planners to provide the educational establishments where those skills are gained, honed and developed. That kind of clear thinking is lacking.

As the foresight is not present, frustration amongst youth builds to a degree that mood swings and wild swings are the result. The young people latch on to anything or any idea and then try to imagine they can make money from it. Instead they must be shown a clear path to a promising future with a clear and rational process of how to get there.

While fulfilling the expectation gap is important, it is the gulf between what is expected and what is really possible that needs to bridged by closing the gap and not by building a mythical bridge that cannot be crossed. Realism should be the aim, so that they understand what is possible and why and as time and patience is not a trait with young people, it is more important to set short term goals and show a clear path as to how they can be achieved.

It is insane to see unproductive youth with goals which are as unproductive to society; Goals that are simply to get as much while doing as little as possible. It is a trait of lotus eaters that has to change if we are to progress to our full potential. Greed is what drives most people to achieve what they want. So to direct that greed to the right combination of realism and effort to achieve is what we must concentrate on.