JEDDAH, 15 January 2006 — Adolescents represent around 59 percent of the Saudi population, which is a high rate even in global terms. Young adults in their 20s outnumber older Saudis. This fact behooves Saudis to pay special attention to certain issues related to youths, says Sameer Asaad, an academic adviser who is interested in adolescence issues generally.

One problem adolescents face (and cause) is verbal harassment, particularly of young ladies who are sometimes chased in public places or harassed with a barrage of rude and untoward phone calls. These habits of our young men are adopted with no respect to religious principles or social values.

A few chaps talked about this phenomenon expressing different opinions.

“I usually go to shopping malls with the intention to verbally harass girls. I never count how many girls I chased after. Although I know what I am doing is morally wrong, I am not the one to be blamed alone because girls play a role in seducing us,” said Waleed Al-Rais, an undergraduate student.

Abullah Al-Ayesh, a student in a Cairo college, spoke about the differences in verbal harassment between Jeddah and Cairo.

“Going after girls in Cairo is different because here the society is open and allows acquaintance between girls and boys,” said Ayesh. “I never go to shopping centers anymore to flirt, though I used to. I worry that I might say something inappropriate to a girl; I would regret ever doing so. I wish there can be a strict law to put an end to this problem though rules are not the only solution, educating adolescents is part of it.”

On the contrary, Maryam Hussain, a student from Effat College, thought that verbal annoyance is increasing immensely lately especially around weekends and summer vacations. Teenager boys do not engage in enough character-building activities and they end up spending their free time haunting girls to brag about their manhood.

“We girls know exactly what the boys’ intentions are so we never take them seriously,” said Hussain. “I refuse to be chased by one of them because I am sure that rejection will force them to respect me.”

Samar Al-Saggaf, dean of King Abdul Aziz University in Jeddah, says that parental habits are a large part of the problem.

“Unfortunately this is a result of maids and servants bringing up children instead of their parents,” Saggaf said. “Kids grow up doing what they desire with no restriction or attention from their busy parents. When they reach maturity and marriage, divorce becomes a knee-jerk reaction to the failure to take responsibility for their lives.”

Adolescence is an important period in a person’s life and our youth is in need for more than religious and ethical lessons to mature. “We should focus on adjusting and disciplining individual behavior. The youth have energy and the boys need more than football games to release it. They should have open athletic facilities, amusement parks, cinemas and theaters. It is also essential to have regular meetings to listen to their problems and advise them,” Saggaf said.