A report in Asharq Al-Awsat dealt with a survey of teenagers’ reactions and attitudes toward the major changes the Kingdom is seeking.
The results of the survey which was based on 10 high school classes (male only) were shocking, puzzling and an accurate indication of what has developed here over the last 20 years.
The main aim of the survey was to explore what the young men thought about the reforms regarding women, education and society in general.
For the most part, the answers — not surprisingly — reflected an obsession with women, in how they should be treated and their roles in society.
One of the students made a surprising statement; he thought there should be a prison for women who do not follow society’s customs; in other words, he felt that women who do not cover their faces or who wear form-fitting abayas should perhaps serve two weeks in prison.
Another student suggested that women’s morals should be carefully checked (how I wonder? and what about men’s?) and he regretted that women blindly follow Western fashions and trends. (I wonder what he thinks about the jean-clad, baseball-cap wearing young men who are all over Jeddah.)
Another, however, supported the right of women to drive. Hamad said, “If women were allowed to ride camels and horses in the past, then how can we prevent them from driving cars today? If each one of us reminded himself that his mother or sister was driving on the same road, maybe we would come to respect other women a little more than we do.”
Rami felt that there should be increased segregation of men and women in shopping centers and that this should be done by having different shopping hours for women and different ones for men.
In a different vein, 17-year-old Mazen said that he wanted some attention given to planting trees and flowers inside schools.
And Adel, 16, suggested that young men under 25 should not be allowed to travel outside the country lest they be corrupted. (Does he think that Saudi men only travel abroad to do what they cannot do here in the Kingdom?)
Some of the students reflected a certain dislike and intolerance for non-Muslims.
A general look at these opinions shows us what our society suffers from, a fear of the outside world and its effects. Another problem is the obsession with women as objects that have to be controlled all the time.
These are all genuine feelings and comments but there were others who expressed the need for openness, for broadening perceptions and perspectives and beautifying the environment.
Commenting on what the young men had said, a well-known sheikh remarked that he did not see anything wrong in some of the aggressive remarks relating to women.
In fact, he supported the remarks and the attitudes behind them as being “positive.”
Now if this is the response of people who have space in the media, then we should not be surprised at any of the answers we got.
All of the answers point to the needs of these young men. Their views of the world would be considered distorted by many.
If their answers tell us anything, they tell us that segregation, not only of men from women but Saudis from non-Saudis etc., has led to alienation and double standard.
There is sadly a certain intolerance that has taken root in these young men accompanied by a narrow view of the outside world that does not allow room for diversity or maneuvering.
But who is responsible for these ideas? Between family, school and media, the responsibility is divided.
The problem is how we can repair the damage. The problem must be solved but time is not on our side.
A quick solution is needed unless we want to face yet another frustrated generation with twisted ideas that create new and unimagined problems in the future.
