Is Irish youth oppressed? Opinions needed!!:)

Holden Blake

I'm thinking about writing a piece on the idea of youths in Ireland being oppressed due to cultural and financial restrictions with regards to a generally poor standard of life. Do you still think that kind of thing still goes on? Are young people still prohibited from achieveing their full potential in today's socitey or are things looking up for the youths of Ireland?

Please let me know were you stand on these issues or rather, what your general views are about the notion as a whole, I'd love to get some opinions on this.:)

brianthebard

I don't think that Irish youth is financially restricted for the most part. If anything I think that Irish youth don't reach their full potential because there's no impetus to do so-If they work they get results (in school, or sport or whatever) but if they don't bother they'll still get by and be fairly comfortable.

Sounds a bit half-thought out, because it is, but I definately don't see Irish youth as oppressed anymore, not in the same way I would've thought of it fifty years ago.

Holden Blake

Thanks so much your views have been really helpful:D . I guess what that means now is that I'm either going to have to set my piece in the 50s or come up with another grievance facing the youth of today. I really wanted this piece to have a relatively modern setting but as it seems there's not enough grievances in today's society to write about. I'm sure that's not entirely true by any means but I'm really at a loss for finding ways in which Irish youths are effected (negatively) in todays' Ireland .

jrey1981

There are two sides to every coin, and there are conflicting forces at work that affect young people today.

There is greater choice, more opportunities and increased wealth than ever before.

At the same time, technology and a changing society affects the way that people see themselves and perceive the change that is taking place. Young people experience this especially as they go through what is now a longer period of adolescence.

djeddy

Holden Blake wrote:

I'm thinking about writing a piece on the idea of youths in Ireland being oppressed due to cultural and financial restrictions with regards to a generally poor standard of life. Do you still think that kind of thing still goes on? Are young people still prohibited from achieveing their full potential in today's socitey or are things looking up for the youths of Ireland?

Please let me know were you stand on these issues or rather, what your general views are about the notion as a whole, I'd love to get some opinions on this.:)

i dont know about the financial restrictions, but maybe they like the older generation , they are oppressed with the cultural changes in ireland today,

incontinentia

you could make the point that there is greater pressure to be a success and that there isn't or does not seem to be a non achedemic option open that would allow an individual to live a quiet life in a safe job. you could make the point that the decision of what they want to do with their lives could be alot more daunting than previous generations as there is so much on offer.

honestly though the young people these days seem to be more confident with more options there is not usually a problem with getting a job and achieving financial independence from their parents
I remember in the mid to late eighties when you could only get a summer job through pull in the local shops.

to me they appear rich and stupid like kids all over the western world. which is not a bad thing once they grow out of it.

Thursday*

I think so, yeah.

I don't mean they don't have room to work to their potential in school. I mean they're not expected or to an extent allowed to participate in society - there's lots of things they just can't do, for no good reason. A teenager is for many (not all, don't jump down my throat) intents and purposes an adult - they can handle hot things, read and write, be put in charge of a child, yada yada yada. But there is a very prescribed path for young people in Ireland - go to school, eat your dinner, maybe do some chores, participate in teenager-specific extra curriculars, but drop them in your exam year, do your homework and study, go on the internet perhaps, bebo especially, go to teenage discos and shopping centres in your social life, if you must, but we'd rather you didn't go anywhere.

I think young people could be a really exciting part of society if they were allowed to fulfil their potential in a wider sense - if they weren't stopped from doing things for no good reason, by rules or just by having their whole lives taken up with school. Volunteer work, travelling, the arts, politics, family work, and many other things that I think about when nobody is there to listen are to various extents closed to many teenagers who would gladly be more involved in them.

Personally, when do I feel like an Oppressed Young Person? Well, a little bit when I'm with my friends, and there isn't really anywhere for us to go. People's houses are great if they're central and parents don't mind, but the coincidence of these factors is rare. Pubs are off-limits. Parks are great in summer, if there's one nearby, but not so great in bad weather. Cafes and shopping centres, outside on the street etc. are where we end up, but they're not really for the purpose, and you're not always welcome. Adults looking for the same thing a) have their own homes and b) can go into pubs - not even necessarily to drink loads of alcohol, just to meet friends.

Also a little bit when I want to join an organisation, or volunteer for something close to home, or do a bit of work in the summer*, or take eight books out of the library at once (though I wangled that one!), and I can't, cause I'm not eighteen.

*This is just harder, not impossible, if you're over a certain age.

JumpJump

Most of you are talking like you think every Irish 'youth' is a middle class shallow surburbanite with too much leisure time and money,posessing no principles or strong beliefs in anything thats not material.

Do your homework. This isn't true.

chuckberry

Holden Blake wrote:

I'm thinking about writing a piece on the idea of youths in Ireland being oppressed due to cultural and financial restrictions with regards to a generally poor standard of life. Do you still think that kind of thing still goes on? Are young people still prohibited from achieveing their full potential in today's socitey or are things looking up for the youths of Ireland?

Please let me know were you stand on these issues or rather, what your general views are about the notion as a whole, I'd love to get some opinions on this.:)

Well, the concept of the typical Irish 'youth' as a middle class shallow surburbanite with too much leisure time and money,posessing no principles or strong beliefs in anything thats not material is correct in most fee paying colleges etc.

But you need to look at things from a class perspective and you will see the most restrictive thing holding back Irish youth is the disgraceful low level of funding for the majority of non fee paying schools etc. Never mind the creation of "sink " estates by government inaction and i don't just mean Moycross in Limerick.

DublinEvents

I think most youth will always consider themselves to be kinda oppressed because they see the adults around them having fun in life and making good money and it seems unfair to them that they aren't enjoying the same life they are. I guess youth who think like that fail to realize that those adults have paid their dues for these privileges. They worked hard when they were young and now they are reaping the fruit of their hard work. But I am going to say one thing here: the adults certainly don't make it easy for the youth to succeed. I guess that's the primary cause of frustration among the young people.

cue

I dunno about oppressed but I am not sure I would fancy being a young person today in Ireland. Why are so many of them killing themselves? C'mon, adolescents, at best, are viewed as half-formed adults and we hope they will grow out of this particular phase quickly so that they can get on with the important stuff like work and taxes and looking after us when we get old.