Youth: Our generation has a harder life

THEY may have more opportunities for education, travel, work and wealth but the majority of young people think they have a harder life than their predecessors a decade ago.

Drink and drugs, peer pressure and the strain of keeping up with the latest in fashion and technology are identified in a survey as the top three challenges X young people face in day-to-day living.

Much further down the list were the demands of school and college, issues of sexuality, self-esteem and family problems while a third of those questioned believed that having too much money was a serious struggle for today’s youth.

The survey, carried out for Foróige, the national youth development organisation, and sponsored by Permanent TSB, found the plight of young people wasn’t helped by adults who don’t listen to them and a media which reports negatively on them.

One thousand people aged 15 and over were questioned for the survey, which asked about the challenges facing the 12-19 age group and there was a large degree. onsensus between respondents in the younger and older age categories.

80% said young people faced greater challenges today compared with 10 years ago.

85% believed mental health issues such as depression and eating disorders posed a serious challenge.

62% said the media was overly critical in its reporting of young people.

76% of under-25s said adults don’t listen to young people.

On the question of who young people listen to, celebrities held the top spot. Some 70% said celebrities were the people with most influence in young people’s lives, followed by popstars, (58%), peers and friends, (46%), parents, (33%), teachers (14%) and community activists, (11%).

The survey was published as Foróige members gathered last night for the organisation’s annual youth citizenship awards which were presented to 20 outstanding voluntary projects undertaken by youth clubs.

Foróige chief executive Sean Campbell said the awards were proof of the good young people could do. “Given support, encouragement and guidance young people can and do make a meaningful and lasting contribution to local communities,” he said.

The survey shows good citizenship has to overcome competition from other interests such as the internet.

Nearly half of the respondents said parents were a deterrent to young people getting involved in their communities because they did not show enough encouragement.

When it comes to combining good works with a good time, however, young people may have picked a good role model as half of them identified Bono as Ireland’s best-known citizen.