In this past 6 months, Hong Kong had seen a string of youth suicides, becoming a social phenomenon.
When faced with this phenomenon, adults who could not understand such occurrence often ask, "why are you unhappy, I don’t understand", or "why you youngsters have so much discontent”. What these adults simply cannot understand is that they are the ones who created a society that is making youths feel "unhappy" and "hopeless".
These adults created an immensely foggy social environment, and for young people entering into society, is like stepping onto a suspension bridge in the fog - you don't dare to move forward and yet nowhere to retreat. In this environment, young people not only cannot find hope, they cannot find a place to stand either, and naturally would become despaired.
The adults love to use their personal experiences to lecture the young, saying, "I once had to walk this road too", or "you think crossing this bridge is difficult? Back in my day, we had to build the bridge ourselves!"
They love to reminisce the old days, and yet they forget that when they were crossing the bridge or building the bridge, it was cloudless weather for miles around. Today, yes the bridge has been built, but it is these adults who are raising smoke alongside the road, surrounding it with heavy smog.
It is you adults who have made the road difficult to traverse! Moreover, these adults have also forgotten their responsibilities!
Let young people live in joy and feel hopeful, is the adults' responsibility; as the current pillars of society, we adults have the duty to open up the future, for the younger generations to find hope.
Young people should feel that the world we created is filled with opportunities, they should feel empowered to create their own future - this is our responsibility as adults.
Stop asking questions such as "What on Earth are you discontent about? What happened for you to be so sad?"
Stop saying the society have "youth issues" or what not.
The problem is always on the heads of adults! That is because the adults have the say in society, authority is in their hands, and whatever problems actually arise in society, only the adults have the ability to cause these problems.
When the youths have problems, it is the adults that have the problem.
(Original article was published on the Vol. 42 of Passion Times, which was freely distributed on 29 May 2016. Please support Cultural Resistance against the communists, and subscribe to Passion Times: http://www.passiontimes.hk/?view=regform)
Related episode:
Good Morning Hong Kong Episode 532 Part 1 – It is the adult’s duty to give hope to young people
Chinese Version 中文版本: