TEMPERING LEADERS FOR THE FUTURE

A network for mentoring students that started in India has now spread to 35 countries. It can be an invaluable bridge between young people and accomplished leaders

- KM CHANDRASEKHAR

THE increase in crime by young people the world over signals the importance of changing attitudes towards the youth everywhere. According to the WHO, "Worldwide, an estimated 1,76,000 homicides occur among young people between 15 and 29 years of age each year, making it the third leading cause of death in this age group." One in eight young people report sexual abuse.

There could be many reasons for the upsurge of youth crime. Drugs and alcohol, abject poverty, perceived injustices and inequalities, ill-treatment of the very young, and social conditions-all these could be major factors. Another critical but often ignored factor is social interaction amongst the young and between them and their elders, particularly between parents and children, has virtually vanished. The digital age has caused deep societal divides, badly affecting the young.

As Catherine Steiner-Adair, celebrated author of The Big Disconnect: Protecting Childhood and Family Relationships in the Digital Age, puts it, "Our children are growing up immersed in a culture where it is cool to be cruel, where media influences encourage it, and social networking facilitates it." When I was young, school started early. After several hours in school, where we interacted with each other as children and teenagers, we returned home, took our cricket bats and balls, and went out to play with others of our age group and a few older men as well. Some girls played with us, too. Others had their means of entertainment. The common point was that entertainment came through social interaction.