Following the fatal shooting of a teenager last week, the young people of Thailand have come under fire in a survey conducted throughout the country.
Even though the shooter was in his 50s – engineer Suthep who has been charged with murder – the public seem to be reserving their anger for the young people who allegedly threatened him.
The poll talks of youths in society deemed as out of control, high on drugs and fueled on alcohol, engaging in frequent acts of violence, too early sexual relations and disobeying parents.
But respondents also blamed parents and elders in society for not caring enough about youth and many felt that a poor example was being set for youth to follow.
Less than half of those who replied thought there might be a problem with the Thai education system.
Nowhere in the Thai Rath report of the poll findings was there any mention of guns being part of the problem.
The poll commissioned by Suan Dusit University asked 1,129 people throughout the country a series of questions between February 7 and 11 last week.
Some 75% of people expressed the view they were worried about youth and the influence of social media. About 72% agreed with the statement that youth today exhibited bad behavior and overreaction.
A total of 70% said parents need to be more responsible for their children.
Asked to pinpoint the top problems regarding youth the poll reported:
85% saying that the main problem was violence,
83% pointed to problems with drugs and alcohol,
78% said too many youth having sex too young was to blame and
69% pointed the finger at social media influence.
Regarding the story about the road rage incident when a 17 year old was shot dead:
84% of the public said the case pointed to a severe problem with arguments leading to violence in society, 75% said the case showed that people were just unable to control their temper anymore and 73% said it highlighted problems with youth in Thai society
Asked how the problem of today’s youth might be solved the responses were as follows:
78% thought parents needed to show more love and care,
74% said the elder generation should set a better example and advise the young,
65% thought there should be stricter punishments and control of the media,
56% thought youth needed to engage in more sports and exercise while 49% thought the Thai education system needed to be overhauled.
Whilst the survey has brought up a number of valid points, there are flaws regarding it.
The timing was bound to bring results like these with the shooting being fresh in people’s minds. Also generalising all Thai young people is unfair. All news media (including this one) tend to focus on the negative. Bad news becomes good news for the media.
It would be impossible to document all the good things young Thai people do so the only things that come to the fore are when someone is involved in something bad. Every society has problems with young people and there are many common reasons for it all over the globe.
The results of this survey should not be ignored and there are many valid issues raised. However, it should also be taken for what it is, a knee-jerk reaction to a tragic incident.
(Source: Thairath)