Providing better outlet for National Day exuberance

It’s no wonder that the Jeddah Police Department issued a stern warning the other day that hooliganism will not be tolerated on National Day. The experiences of families faced with the prospect of unruly teens and young men have been daunting over the past few years.
The fact that the police must send out advisories that bad behavior could result in jail time and fines is a sad testament to what National Day has become. I remember a time when the holiday hardly raised a ripple among Saudis, but over the last decade or so it has turned into an excuse to party like it’s 1999.
And party is exactly what Saudis were doing last night. Only they were celebrating National Day not on Saudi soil, but staging a mass exodus with 100,000 or so Saudis heading for Bahrain with probably an equal number traveling to Dubai.
How’s that for irony? To demonstrate our patriotism, we go to a foreign country and spend our hard-earned money there. The merchants and hotels in Bahrain and Dubai saw their profits soar while our pocketbooks got thinner.
So what gives? Why the unruliness at home and the desire to leave the country on a day that is supposed to remind us to reflect on our heritage?
Two reasons: One, Saudis don’t know how to celebrate, and two, there are not enough outlets for young people to celebrate.
There is no question that the new generation of Saudis are experiencing unprecedented freedoms that older people never had. We can thank the Internet, satellite television and a better quality of living that allows many of us to travel abroad. This is something many of our grandparents rarely experienced.
But somewhere along the way we have allowed the extreme behavior we see in movies and on YouTube and Keek to become the standard in how one behaves in public. The thin line between a fantasy life and reality is slowly being erased. Take drifting, for instance, a rather fascinating daredevil sport glamorized by in movies and by hip-hop stars, but a highly dangerous pastime that can kill.
The same can be said for many young people, some who filled the streets last night, who clearly were unable to make the distinction between what is appropriate behavior and what constitutes harassment. Today, we will inevitably hear stories about young people harassing families and young women to the point that they break some serious laws.
The core reason for such bad behavior is that youngsters are not taught how to behave in public and among crowds. There is no outlet for their exuberance. In Jeddah, there were many organized celebrations, which is good for the community as a whole. But specific activities for teens are still desperately needed. Only the Corniche offers that, but how many times does a teenager want to go to the Corniche? The stadiums remain closed. If opened to young men, it would be a boon to serve as an outlet for all that energy.
A key component of Saudi society — an aspect that we are immeasurably proud of — is that we are a family-oriented society. Yet we have turned a blind eye to the fact that the family unit has taken a back seat to their replacement: electronic gadgets. Mom, dad, the whole lot have become preoccupied with the latest electronic experience.
So rather than stay at home because there is no place to go in Saudi Arabia, the family heads to places beyond the Kingdom’s borders that offer greater flexibility on how our money is spent and how we spend our time.

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