What is Youth Extremism?

Oct 12, 2021 • 6 min read

In one of his speeches at the UN Security council, Anthropologist Scott Atran said that ‘’The Youth need values and dreams. I agree with his idea. As a teacher, while I was doing some research about ‘youth Extremism’, I came up with lots of information about youth extremism in violence. However, in my observations, I realized my students and generally other students really had other problems causing this extremism. I try to empathize with them and find the causes of these behaviours.

In today’s communities, people get affected by others easily. TV, the internet and other things make young people want more and more every day. Most of their dreams are materialistic. They spend, waste, or consume whatever name you use without thinking. There is a huge gap between young people of different social statuses.

Aiming to violence to be popular,
Easy gains and quickly willingness to exchange for a better item,
The idea of being different from others, so that people think that they are cool,
Using drugs to be different or for the need of attention,
Using slang in speech,

Dressing up with expensive outfits or using expensive electronic devices such as cell phones, cars etc.

The rapid changes in societies, the vanishing of borders, regimes, wars, migration put young people into different positions, and they start looking for exciting situations. Unfortunately, education in our country creates ‘’Diploma graduates’ most of whom are not qualified for any jobs.
The idea of being a parent and family values changed a great deal. Most families have no discipline at home at all in the name of giving freedom to their children. They raise children without rules or any values.

Giving children everything without thinking or questioning
In the ways of earning money, education has no place at all.
Youth have easy access to everything via the internet.

To sum up;

Vanishing borders
The things children get without any struggle (easily gained things) have no value for them.
Unhappy society after having things (dissatisfaction) as a continuation of unhappiness extreme addictions can appear such as drug addictions in order to get the feeling of satisfaction.
Society drugging away from its values; normalizing the having been dragged away from traditions and customs