LATAM-POPULATION: Youth Without Values or Self-esteem

By Marcela Valente Reprint | | Print |

Marcela Valente

BUENOS AIRES, Jan 24 1997 (IPS) - They were born during the “Lost Decade” and have grown up during in an era of “democratization. They believe in themselves although the future does not promise to be paradise, and they reject politics – reflecting adult disillusionment.

Meet the Latin American youth of the new century! Their parents were part of the revolutionary generation of the 1970’s, who wanted a more just society and got involved in its transformation. The young people of today, however, feel a broad sense of disillusionment, say sociologists.

A study by the Argentine company Demoskopia says, “We are not witnessing the growth of a generation with its own values. There are no significant differences between adults and young people, and youth is merely reflecting society’s values.”

The military dictatorships in Latin America destroyed solidarity, which was the most important value of the youth of the 1970’s, say the socioologists. With the return of democracy we now have neoliberalism and competition is the most appreciated value, specially among the wealthier sectors of society.

Social surveys show that the gap between rich and poor will be bigger by the year 2000.

The children of wealthy families are receiving their education at private institutions and they live in neighborhoods isolated from ongoing social problems. Meanwhile, the number of school drop- outs is growing among the poor.

In Colombia and Brazil, young people are more likely to die because of drug dealing. In Bogota, 26 young people die per day. In Brazil, most of the crime executioners are young people. There have been around 300 homicides committed by teenagers during the last three years.

Influenced by their parents’ and grandparents’ middle class, teenagers and young people lose their faith in progress every day. According to the book “Without A Job,” published in Argentina with financial support from the United Nations, one teenager asked his father. “Am I going to finish school just to become somebody like you?”

Colombian psychologist Jorge Alba says the neoliberal model is behind the exacerbated individualism young people are developing. In Brazil the children of neoliberalim “look like they are 35- years- old. They do not want to change the world. They do not want to rebel and they are selfish.”

According to Demoskopia, “The individualist tendencies are not a result of personal attitudes but reflect a disillusion with society.” Young people believe most of the people “are only interested in themselves.”

“We do not believe in democracy,” says 14-year-old Rocio, talking about herself and her friends. “Honest people do not go into politics. Those who go into politics are corrupt.”

In spite of their skepticism, Rocio and her friends distinguish between being politically informed and politically compromised.

“We talk about our country’s problems, unemployment, the problems of the elderly and so on, but we are not interested in politics,” they say.

In their school, they organize in order to “get things done,” mostly related to their education. Student organizations do not relate their activities to broader political projects.

Rocio is Argentine, but she could be Mexican, Chilean or Colombian. According to a recent poll by the Mexican newspaper ‘Reform,’ young people believe that you have to be “corrupt” to be president of Mexico. In Colombia 60 percent of the young people do not feel politicians represent them, according to a poll done by the weekly newspaper Cambio 16. In Chile, research by the University of Santiago reveals a similar lack of hope.

“Here the only people who succeed are the ones who are recommended and belong to wealthy families. Politicians are only interested in young people to gain power. That is why we are not involved in politics,” said Alejandra, a 14-year-old Chilean girl.

Only a minority are politically active at Rocio’s school, where many young people were taken by the military in the seventies. Only 9 percent of Argentine youngsters define themselves as being extremely left-wing or right-wing.

Together with a rejection to politics, young people show greater self-confidence. This distinguishes them from the previous generation. In Brazil, 85 percent of the teenagers believe that “succeeding in life depends on yourself.”

In Argentina young people talk about themselves as confident in their personal success and their ability to achieve their goals. In Mexico, 88 percent of the youngsters feel they are “very much” or “more or less” winners, while 82 percent believe that what they are doing has “a lot” or “relative” importance for society, according to the poll by ‘Reform.’

In its results of this month teenager poll, “New Study on Youth Population,” the United States advertisement agency, DMByB, concludes that the new generations believe that “anything they want to get depends completely on themselves.”

Argentine youngsters at the turn of the century identify more with those people who transmit them the joy of living than with the ones who have more social sensibility, the opposite of what most adults believe. Youngsters value being honest and sincere more than being solidary. Both want to “be happy” and “build a family.”

In their relationships with the opposite sex, young people are more loyal than adults, although there is a gender difference regarding this. Thirty-two percent of the teenage women believe being loyal is a virtue, while only 16 percent of teenage boys have the same idea.

The decline of the family and self-esteem are related to insecurity about the future. Youngsters and adults are suspicious regarding any hope of social equity and progress by the year 2000. This has helped to develop individualism and consumerism. In Argentina, 66 percent of the youngsters are studying “in order to have better job possibilities.” Rocio explained that “learning English is not an advantage but you are handicapped if you do not learn it.”

Teenage unemployment pushes Chilean students to begging at subway and train stations in order to have money to spend. In Argentina, an official statistic has revealed that the 47 percent of those who are searching for a job and do not find it are between 15 and 16 years old.

Their most important demand is to get a good education to cope with reality. But getting a job is also the most crucial concern of the 76 percent of the Latin Americans, who do not want to be left out of the system. Most of them, however, can not avoid this tragic fate.