I enjoyed last week’s celebrations at the start of the Jeddah Summer Festival. While watching the show I kept wondering why not benefit from the opportunities provided by the events to help our youth occupy themselves usefully during the summer. On my way home at the end of a long day, still thinking about how our youth could be helped, I stopped to buy some foreign magazines that normally arrive a few days late in the Kingdom. I don’t know who is to blame for the delay but what is obvious is that we are still far behind when it comes to accessing information.
Not only that, the paper I bought has some missing pages. The irony is that the pages which the censor has carefully removed are available on the Internet. As I left the shop, I saw an unusual sight. It was after midnight and large groups of young men in strange clothing sat scattered in groups around the area. They were not clustered around television sets but were simply sitting there, doing nothing. Out of curiosity, I walked toward one group, hoping to discover why these young people were out so late at night. I expected a hostile reception but instead found myself talking to a polite, well-mannered and self-confident young man who had a good sense of humor. His self-assurance, however, concealed a deep feeling of bitterness and resentment.
These are restless and uncomfortable young people, unhappy with their lives and helpless at not being able to make use of their ample spare time. Their clothes may be foreign but the flesh and blood are genuinely Saudi. These young people are unhappy at home, lack proper guidance at school and feel betrayed by their society for not giving them sympathy and for failing to understand their feelings. They regard as unfair and unjust the judgments passed on them by the intelligentsia while they are also subjected to hostile campaigns of insinuations and unpleasant suggestions by academics, preachers and religious people. They say one reason that drives them to loitering and roaming the streets in fast cars and staying out at all hours is the absence of innocent amusements and entertainment outlets. Many can not enter public places either because the places are only open to families or because they cannot afford the price of admission. Even sport clubs are sometimes off-limit to these young people; the clubs have only wealthy members, many of whom are never seen on the club premises.
The lack of cultural and sport programs at the clubs is also to blame for juvenile delinquency and crimes associated with drug abuse, theft and even sexual perversion. These young people are not dumb; they have open minds and the ideas they have are not old ones. They think differently from the older generation while social restrictions and the methods intended to reform them only drive them to become more rebellious. The intellectual gap separating them from others is so deep that they live like strangers among their families and society. It is unfortunate that so many intellectuals, and even officials only focus on the negative behavior of these young people who are often seen as a liability to society. These people tend to forget that the young are humans and all they need is someone to guide and take them to safety instead of treating them as pariahs or social misfits.
No matter how severe a punishment is given to erring young people, the problem will not be solved. The problem lies with us, the parents, who seem stuck in their own past, refusing to build bridges to the future. Our unwillingness or inability to communicate with these young people have helped feed this bitter feeling of loneliness that will ultimately lead to despair.
Breaking out of this requires courage without which no solutions are possible. This festival — and future summer festivals — should be used to stimulate young people and engage them in more useful activities not only on in the summer but throughout the entire year.