The news that several teenagers have apparently committed suicide in Bridgend will have come as a shock to most of us. When I think back to my teenage years I recall having so much enthusiasm for life as all my friends appeared to do.
What has changed? Teenagers are still similar human beings to the kids we once were. Life has changed a great deal but people are still people so we cn be fairly sure that it is society and experiences of life that are different.
We now live in a society where there is a feeling that we should be given everything from financial support for everything. We hear suggestions that the government will be paying children to stay at school for longer. Entertainment comes prepackaged, we are the tv generation. Sit on the sofa and play computer games or watch tv and chat online to people you will probably never meet in person.
We lack hands on experience of life. We lack aspirations to achieve things in life or if we do have those aspirations we see life is tied up in government regulation and red tape. We are told we cannot do anything remotely dangerous because of health and safety rules and your car can be towed away and crushed if you forget about renewing your road tax.
Nobody can feel in control of their lives anymore. We may not live in a dictatorship and we do not need to fear the knock on the door in the way people do living under despotic dictators but there is a huge feeling of lack of control over our own lives. Depression is a huge health problem in our society but previously it was generally thought that it was not affecting young people.
Our society is without doubt somewhat sick. Money and possesions seem to have taken over as the important things in life. Deep down we all know this is not the case. Advertisers encourage us to want things and the government and sales departments of the world are eager to supply our demands but the truth is that what we really want and need is a sense of purpose, a sense of direction and a sense of fulfilment which is missing in modern western society.
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