Unit 5. Youth is full of pleasure?

Task 1. The teenage years can be both difficult and wonderful. Fill in the table:

I like being a teenager because…	I don’t like being a teenager because…

Task 2. Read the statements about teenagers. Agree or disagree with them and give your reasons.

1) Young people often have arguments with their parents about clothes and make-up.

2) Most teenagers in Ukraine have to work part-time.

3) University students in Ukraine should wear a uniform of their alma mater.

4) The relationships with peers are of more importance for most teenagers than their relationships with their parents.

5) All young people realize that good education gives them better prospects for their career.

6) Teenagers tend to imitate people they look up, mainly film stars and pop performers.

7) Many young people become intensely concerned about their appearance.

8) Many teenagers who drop out of school or neglect their studies come from families where learning is not encouraged.

Task 3. Read the text and find at least four teenage problems and their causes.

Problems Facing Teenagers and Youth in Ukraine

The political and social changes and the economic difficulties of the 1990s have resulted in an insecure financial position of a lot of families in the Ukrainian society, in uncertainly about the future and an unfavourable daily environment for teenagers. Young people in Ukraine, like people everywhere, face many challenges. In fact, the problems worrying teenagers reflect the problems of a society going through a transitional period.

According to the survey a number of teenagers are characterized by feeling a growing need to defend themselves, impulsive behaviour, rudeness aggressiveness and settlement of conflicts through violence. They challenge conventions and become dropouts.

The survey also shows that the young people are deeply concerned with material problems. They experience fear of poverty and are affected by growing material relations between people and therefore, delay getting married until later in life. Some even say that they are losing hope for education since they can’t afford it. Quite a few students, especially those living separately from their parents, face the problem of funding themselves while they are studying. Trying to find a way out, they work part-time to make their living. But out of the frying pan into the fire. Their problem-solving becomes a stumbling block to their successful learning and passing the exams.

Typical problems of teenagers are lack of recognition in the family, lack of support, difficulties in establishing contacts, loneliness. Friendship is of great importance to teenagers. They wish to have trustworthy friends not only to share good times but also problems. They are ready to sacrifice anything for them. But teenagers easily break off with friends who let them down or if they get disappointed in them.

Family problems like parents’ divorcing, a death in the family or violence in the home tell on teenagers. They have all possible arguments with their parents. Now and then the arguments come down to conflicts between the teenager’s desire to be independent of restrictions and the parents’ right to control them. Young people are encouraged to leave home by parents unable or unwilling to provide for them and soon they find themselves with a bad crowd in the street. Different crimes committed by teenagers are influenced by the specifics of their age, physical and psychological development, as well as their social and legal immaturity. The major threats for ‘street’ children, apart from criminal activity, are drug and tobacco addiction, toxicomania, alcoholism and prostitution.

The national programme “Children of Ukraine” foresees the development of measures to prevent juvenile homelessness and criminality by reforming education and law and activating social work directed at solving these problems. The aim of the programme is to help young people to realize their potential in life, to set goals and to make friendships with positive peers. It is important to find ways to involve young people into different projects and programmes intended to address their problems. In Kyiv, for example, at weekends there is the so-called “trust bus” where one can talk to a psychologist or a doctor. Special courses for the young are conducted on prevention of AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.

Centres for social and psychological rehabilitation are organized at educational establishments for teenagers as well as for their parents. Special seminars are held by teachers and social workers for youth on the issues of sex education and the preparation of young people for married life. There are also youth-oriented programmes and talk shows on TV, problem pages in youth magazines and special Internet sites that give the young people an opportunity to share their problems, find possible solutions and build up a positive view of life. The work requires further development and practical state support.

Task 4. Answer the following questions to the text:

1) How have the political, social and economic changes in the Ukrainian society affected the position of young people?

2) What do the investigations of the social-psychological state of teenagers show?

3) How do material relations in our society affect young people?

4) What way do different family problems influence teenagers?

5) Why are teenagers so much concerned about their relations with friends and peers?

6) What specific characteristics of teenagers lead to different crimes?

7) How does the national programme “Children of Ukraine” try to solve the problems of youth?

8) What are the aims of centres for social and psychological rehabilitation?

9) What other activities help to find solutions to youth problems?

10) What is necessary for the successful work of youth-oriented programmes?

Task 5. Give English equivalents from the text to the following phrases:

1) несприятливе повсякденне оточення; 2) перехідний період; 3) зростаюча потреба; 4) погана компанія; 5) улагодження конфліктів; 6) дефіцит визнання; 7) скоїти злочин; 8) вікові особливості; 9) юридична незрілість; 10) наркотична та тютюнова залежність; 11) центри соціальної та психологічної допомоги; 12) державна допомога; 13) семінари з питань підготовки молодих до сімейного життя; 14) кидати виклик умовностям; 15) ставати ізгоями; 16) бути серйозно занепокоєним; 17) відчувати страх злиденності; 18) втратити надію отримати освіту; 19) забезпечувати себе матеріально; 20) встановлювати контакти; 21) переживати разом добрі часи; 22) пожертвувати чим завгодно заради кого-небудь; 23) легко припинити стосунки з ким-небудь; 24) призводити до конфліктів; 25) запобігати підлітковій злочинності; 26) накреслювати цілі; 27) реалізовувати свій потенціал у житті.

Task 6. Here are some problems young people complained about. Discuss with your partner how they can be solved.

1) My most painful problem is that I am getting anxiety attacks every time I think about tests or exams. I know I am going to fail. These thoughts overload my brain, causing me to forget what I have learnt.

2) I am having difficulty making friends as I am too shy.

3) I feel so lonely. I want to have a boyfriend so much – my best friend is so in love with her boyfriend, and I am really jealous. Everyone says I’ll get a boyfriend sooner or later, but I won’t. I’m fat and ugly and I have to put a brave face on, but it’s killing me inside.

4) She was my best friend. We were so close! We were like sisters. When I started going out with my boyfriend and inevitably spending less time with her, she became hostile and jealous.

5) I have a good friend who helps me a lot. But he often talks me into missing lessons. He puts pressure on me and I can’t resist and we miss lessons together. I am afraid to end up in trouble with my parents or the dean.

Task 7. Here are the most common reasons why teenagers walk out. Which reasons could make you leave home?

1) Parents put pressure on them;

2) Teens need to establish own identity and independence;

3) Parents don’t care and teens lack their support;

4) Homes are cold and unhappy or there’s violence in the family;

5) Parents’ expectations are too high;

6) Teenager is jealous about one parent’s new partner.

Task 8. Read and listen to the text and say which reasons do you think made Cindy leave home.

I demanded money for getting ears pierced and was refused. Cries, threats, banging doors followed. I didn’t see any point in staying at home after that, as it seemed to me parents didn’t care about me any longer. Why should I? I asked my former boyfriend to help me collect belongings, we decided to carry on our relationship, but in a week we had the same argument as before and I moved out of his house and left school. I felt miserable: just think, a drop-out and a walk-out rolled into one, with nowhere to live and not a penny in my pocket! Actually, it was one of the worst moments in my life.

But fortune smiled on me and my friend, Melanie, agreed to have me round at her place for a while. In a week my mom spotted me standing in a doorway smoking. I took her for some coffee and said I was staying with Melanie but didn’t give any phones, no matter how she insisted. Then Melanie’s dad told me to move out and suggested coming back home. I had nothing to do but go nowhere. In about a week Mother spied me out living in a boarding house with a friend and called on me. When Mother dropped in quite unexpectedly, I suddenly realized how badly I had been missing her. Two days later it was my birthday and Mom sent me some flowers. I remembered my usual birthdays, it made me about to cry and I first time felt like coming back home for a short stay.

Then one more “friend” threw me out and I had nothing to do but I ask my parents for some money to rent a flat. They agreed to pay for only a month as I had to find a job and to fund myself to prove my real independence. I failed with the job, and came back both home and school.

Two weeks ago my friend walked out. “Stupid little creature, needs to grow up”, I thought at hearing about it.

Task 9. Read and discuss the text.