The year 2008 marks 14 years since the UN General Assembly adopted the World Program of Action for Youth in 1995. Many countries have recently recognized the consequences of neglecting youth programs and the countries' apparent inability to confront these problems. Among many interesting findings, Youth Report for 2005 draws heavily on the significance of leisure time for youth welfare. There is, as the report stresses, a growing awareness of the vitally important role that the leisure time plays in one's contribution to the overall development of his or her country. Also, the report takes on those who disregard the potential of young people arguing that these rampant misconceptions are evidently based on false stereotypes. At the end, the report warns that leisure time, in some cases, constitutes particular risks and significant threats to the youth welfare if no joint efforts are exerted to direct and monitor youth-related leisure activities. Here in Saudi Arabia and for nearly two months from now, families' perception of time is no longer the same. Throughout the year, parents were earnestly engaged in educating boys and daughters, overseeing their activities and directing them toward fulfilling their school obligations. For many families, the end of school is generally seen as a relief. Some, however, consider off-school time as burdensome as school time. Since summertime is a leisure time, families' life gets a bit messy. During summertime, many parents believe that they should no longer monitor and oversee how their sons and daughters run their regular activities during this off-school time. Aspects of such messy time are clearly seen in the rapidly changing behavior of many families. Instead of going to bed earlier, as it had been during the school time, an increasing number of teenage boys and girls prefer to stay up until very late at night. Some may not go to sleep until midday next day. However, summer leisure activities vary according to gender, place and weather conditions. Normally, boys prefer to roam the streets, go to coffee shops or park their cars at a roadside empty area where they play cards under the dim light of streetlamps all night until dawn. Few others, moreover, may sit in the Internet cafes where they normally log into chat rooms and do chatting for long hours. Others may prefer paid entertainment such as joining gyms or playing at sport clubs. Girls are different. They spend much of their time watching TV programs, attending weddings and exchanging visits with neighbors and friends. Some of them may find it exciting to do the household chores, read magazines or books, browse the internet or go out shopping. Broadly speaking, parents believe that this time is for joyful activities. So they do not impose any strict-to-follow timetable of useful and rewarding hobbies that helps to develop one's intellectual faculties and develop his or her skills. As a result, much time is spent in aimless activities that would not be useful for the boy or the girl. It is, however, factually true that the unmonitored summer youth activities pose serious threats to the well-being of young people, particularly male ones. Unwanted behaviours such as violence and drug abuse thrive during discretionary summer hours. Living in media-saturated world, young people prefer to stay at home and either spend hours in watching satellite channels or, worse, play computer games. Having long hours playing games or watching TV constitutes health hazards such as obesity, diabetes and bad-temper. It is true that one should take time of to get refreshed after the tedious work. Traditionally, being preoccupied with continuous productive work had long been a characteristic of the youth. Lack of interest in that work was, indisputably, a sign of weakness that was hardly tolerated by that culture. Psychologically speaking, leisure-time activities are always recommended by professionals in all related fields. After a year-long study time, young people need much relaxing time so that they can come back to study or work after getting much energized and refreshed. It has been found that the leisure-time that the grown-ups have is crucial for their physical, emotional and psychological development. Conversely, if, for one reason or another, they are deprived of having free time with their peers, this could have disastrous impact on one's potential thereafter. However, leisure-time should be used to enhance strong aspects in their personalities rather than spoil the good habits which they have previously acquired. Leisure programs should be discussed within each family. So it is a family matter at first and should be an integral part of the family policy. Parents need to present well-articulated proposals that contain numerous summer programs. These programs should be planned carefully and, moreover, should be agreed upon by all family members. In order for these proposals to be effective psychologically and emotionally, they should meet several criteria. First, any recommended leisure program must have a specific time span; parents alongside their sons and daughters need to set time for starting a program or an activity and another specific time for closing it. In other words, they are not open-ended activities. Next, leisure-time should include goal-oriented activities. For example, sons and daughters are informed that while surfing the Internet, they should develop a new computer skill, find an answer to mystery question or research a scholarly topic. Such goal-driven tasks help young generations discover the vast applications of modern technologies. Moreover, they may be taken to the city zoo where they observe the behavior of animals there. When the family returns home, each family member voluntarily writes about an animal or a bird and, then, represents what he had seen. Moreover, these activities are better done collectively rather than individually. Competitions that involve more than one family member fill the house with joy, strengthen family ties and can be done at any time. Parents enjoy seeing their sons and daughters cooperate in doing tasks which bring harmony and bonding to the home. The absence of public libraries, cultural centres and sport facilities has inadvertently driven more young people to indulge in wasteful activities in spare time. Unwanted practices such as harassment in public places, venturing out onto streets with cars and damaging public properties are direct results of the death of such facilities. – SG The writer can be reached at [email protected] __
