Posted: May 16th, 2015

What Contributes to the Intellectual Decline of Today_s Youth

The youth today are exposed to a number of situations, which are different from the previous periods. The differences in experiences and exposure is one of the major factors that has contributed to the intellectual decline among today’s youth. This paper highlights different reasons why the mental health among the youth has declined sharply over the recent past with a focus on societal and environmental changes. The changes in intellectual abilities are seen in the comparison of youths in present times and youths in the past periods. Clearly, there are significant changes in terms of creativity, imagination, adventure, and general intellect.Intellectual decline in today`s youth has been caused by the current environment within which the youth are raised.

One of the challenges has been a wider exposure to drug and substance abuse. In this case, the increase in exposure to drugs and substance abuse has been caused by the societal changes in terms of liberalization. With the increase in substance abuse, there has been an increase in the rate of absenteeism from school, which consequently leads to the decline in grades and intellectual capabilities.

The reduced intellectual levels are also attributed to the lowered commitment levels by youths to engage in intellectual activities. The youths today express a higher commitment level to other activities rather than learning and development of intellect. These activities include socializing, entertainment and partying. In this case, these activities are equally time consuming as those of developing intellect. The lack of commitment also leads to the conflict of interest, as individuals know that developing intellect is important but they equally want to spend time with friends and being entertained.

The ease in availability of resources has also presented the current situation with the reduced intellectual levels among today`s youth. Comparing the availability of resources for today’s youth with past periods, it is evident that today the youth have an easier access. In this case, the easy access to resources hinders adventure and imagination. Furthermore, although not all resources are easily available to today`s youth it is also evident that the exposure levels is different. From this perspective, parental providence is also an issue which depicts that of intellectual decline among today`s youth. For example, children from well able families and stable backgrounds find the access to resources easy thus have not push to work hard. On the other hand, those from the poor backgrounds have little access to resources therefore their drive is higher in order to see better days.

The lack of role models has also caused the intellectual decline of today`s youth. In this case, the youth have very little people to look up to thus; they lack motivation and inspiration to work hard. Unlike in the previous periods when the youth would look up to presidents and scientists, today they look up to movie stars and celebrities who are not actually intellectuals. Therefore, the absence of intellectual role models has led to the decline in the intellectual ability among today’s youth. The position of a role model shapes the direction of the youth especially due to the aspect of being easily influenced by the role models.

Conclusion

The most significant factor has been the change in environment within which the youth are exposed to develop. The environmental differences between the current and past generation of youths has presented the decline in intellect. However, with the right role modeling and attitude towards intellect and education the situation can change. Changing the environment will be possible by creating the right attitude, fighting drugs and substance abuse, and showing the importance of an intellectual society.