Kurdishaspect.com - By Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar
There are several problems with the contemporary youth in Kurdistan. For centuries they were disregarded, and their opinions were shunned aside by elder family members, yet in contemporary Kurdistan, their opinions are seemingly valued. We have seen politicians use slogans such as ‘children are the future’ and clearly, they are far too old to have heard it from Whitney Houston’s songs. In my recent visit to Kurdistan, I was frustrated with the mentality of the youth. In fact, my frustration was furthered by the fact that it was not just the consequential effect of globalisation, but the direct result of parental pressures.
We all know within our Kurdish culture, parents focus on the name of the qualification for their children rather than the value of the qualification. There is an overwhelming pressure for the youth to ‘wow’ their parents by obtaining high grades, and pursuing typical careers — medicine, law, and etc. The interests of children are often overlooked by parents, not through communicating why their child’s perspective, or possibly chosen career style might not be successful, but rather through force and intimidation. You would think, at some stage this would change, but far from it. Each generation seems to have similar expectation(s) from their children, and as a result the cycle never ends.
It would unfair to just blame parents for the faults of their own children, but of course there are economic, social, and governmental influences which shape the future of the Kurdish youth. I want to shed light on 4 factors that need to be changed, or at least taken into consideration. From my observation of the youth in 3 areas — Arbil, Shaklawa, and Sulaymania, there are 4 major problems facing the youth — inevitably the success of Kurdistan as an independent federal state of Iraq.
Family Structure
Parents play a vital role in the upbringing of their children, they are the prime generators of enthusiasm, and confidence in their children. Unfortunately, many parents intimidate their children, as opposed to instilling confidence in them. I found that a 25 year old adult would still be perceived, and even treated as 16 year old teenager. Secondly, parents often dictate to their children what they should study, regardless of whether the child likes that area of study. There is an overwhelming influence to force children into studying medicine, or any other area they perceive as ‘respectable’ without taking into consideration the needs, and wants of their children. In fact, in most instances the advice of an academic tutor is needed as opposed to a parents needs. In certain situations, parents seem to live their own dreams, and academic failures in the lives of their children.
Education
Education is outdated, and students are taught things in theory as opposed to reality. This often poses a problem once students graduate. Take for example the University of Salahuldeen which I had the pleasure of attending. I attended several classes, but enjoyed Kurdology mostly. Here I witnessed something that I thought was unbefitting to a University. Two female students were shouted at in their face by the teacher, as well as several male students for talking in class. What was mostly troubling to me, is the language used by the professor, who was well-aware that I would be writing a review about his class, yet this did not seem to stop him from addressing students in such a degrading way. There are major problems within the education system which are not tackled by the government nor teachers, and I will write more about this in the near future inshAllah.
Media pressures on youth
In the west, we have access to a large number of media outlets. In the east (Kurdistan), I noticed that an increasingly number of people are using the internet, and social sites such as Facebook, but not enough of them due to language barriers. The internet is overwhelmingly English, and the literature available in the Kurdish language is largely limited. As a result, the Television programmes attract more viewers, but they are almost always ‘occupied’ by a number of presenters that broadcast similar TV shows on different channels. The programmes are either an ‘pathway to becoming a singer’ or other competitions which revolve around music, and fame. As a result, these two factors (A) music (B) fame become the central focus of the youth. This is directly reinforced by the Media.
Youth Attitude
I interviewed several people for my research while in Kurdistan. I noticed that the youth were largely ignorant about the history of Kurdistan, the predominate religion, the historical figures, and most importantly the importance of education, not for the sake of qualification, but learning. To know and to read are not appreciated by the youth. They are all after (a) fame (b) appreciation. To their unfortunate future, they do not have confidence in their ability to create a legacy, to pursue a career out of interest, and not just parental wishes.
Ruwayda Mustafah Rabar is a second year Law student at Kingston University, having written several articles about gender and Islam, and travelled eastern countries throughout her youth, she has an interest for comparative religion, culture, and effects of globalisation. She blogs on www.ruwaydamustafah.com.
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