While the public and the media are debating the arrest of Shah Rukh Khan’s son at a cruise-ship rave party off the Mumbai coast, a look at some factors which drive the youngsters irrespective of their social status towards unhealthy lifestyles.
It’s a clear case of ‘problem of plenty’. Born ultra-rich and famous, the star kid Aryan Khan has lived in a world of extreme luxury. Designer clothes, variety of delicacies, most modern electronic gadgets etc. are of the highest quality that any middle-class guys could only dream of in everyday life.
Education in world class institutions, highly expensive cars for travelling, holidays at exotic locations, exclusive hangouts and a company of friends of similar kind are the privilege of Aryan Khan. But it seems one important thing that is missing in the young man’s life is parents’ attention.
Being the son of a superstar, he has, of course, the trappings of wealth, fame, success, applause, influence and power. It’s also a huge responsibility for him to live up to the expectations of his and his father’s fans. Ready to join the Bollywood bandwagon, the star kid will have to outwit others like his father to survive in the industry. It’s a stressful task ahead for him like most of the star kids in the Bollywood industry.
After his arrest by the Narcotics Control Bureau on October 2 for alleged drug abuse, Aryan Khan reportedly told the NCB sleuths that “father is busy and I take appointments to meet him”. Amid all the luxury, the poor son practically has to wait to speak to his star father. In reality, busy parents whether they are professionals, business persons or politicians hardly find time to engage in, at least, simple conversations with their children, let alone spending quality time with them.
Everybody knows that any boy or girl essentially needs parents’ attention and care until he or she reaches maturity which enables them to lead a normal, productive life with social responsibilities.
Though everyone at this age longs for it, busy nuclear families of today can ill-afford such necessities as both parents are working hard sans rest to fulfil the material requirements of the family.
Children from affluent families during one-to-one talks with teachers and psychologists have complained, usually saying, “parents are always away and very busy with works”. They also remark that parents are mostly preoccupied even while at home. It apparently sounds the children are not only unhappy but also averse to their parents so that they may look for others to lean on and open up their minds.
From their perspective, the home is the most ‘unpleasant place’, at least temporarily and those living there are unsocial, unfriendly, traditional morose and lousy. They long to get out of the place somehow as the home has turned out to be a place of mutual accusation, blaming, quarrels and even fights.
Knowing the turmoil of the growing minds of children and its pitfalls, school teachers in particular very often warn parents, urging them to spend as much time as possible with their wards every day by engaging them in conversations and making them share their concerns. Globetrotting high profile parents actually want to but since they are running against time, they fail to fulfil this simple task. They would think aloud, it’s easier said than done.
On the other side, the lower strata of society where luxury is unheard of and families survive on meagre income. Saddled with the problems of daily life, they are yet to learn to dream big by forgetting the worries about the next meal. A permanent shelter, a little privacy, some new clothes and occasions to relish exotic dishes are what these underprivileged children desperately look for. Poor, helpless parents who find themselves worn-out early in their lives and unable to take their children’s school education forward persuade them to take up some work and earn to sustain the family.
Being school dropouts with hardly any privileges and no scope of going up the socio-economic ladder, these children let the last flicker of hope fade before falling into the abyss of destiny.
Somewhere along, the unguarded but rebellious children fall prey to the habit of liquor consumption or drug abuse and start travelling alone in the dark alleys of life in search of security, pleasures and fulfilment, though temporary.
Here also, the family environment and domestic fallouts such as dysfunctional families due to financial crisis and health issues hold the key in ‘make or break’ the future of the children.
The adolescents in the two extremes where one group feels bored owing to a life of excess while the other is sorry for their miserable life are likely to easily succumb to familial as well as social pressures. What is common for them is the higher risk of smoking, liquor consumption and drug addiction.
Most of the studies of adolescents who have been addicted to substance use have cited family factors as the main cause, followed by individual factors. Emotional stress, loneliness, anxiety, curiosity and rapid irritability are common among the habitual users of banned drugs, the studies point out. It has also confirmed that besides the depressive mood, parental disagreements have a major role in youths resorting to substance use.
There are other risk factors that include adverse childhood experiences such as emotional, physical or sexual abuse. Growing up in poverty and households with violence and crime triggers risk of drug addiction among adolescents. A study of the subject shows that if children lack family support and parents are not involved in their life, they are likely to have higher risk of drug addiction. Boredom, curiosity and low self-concept are cited as significant causes of drug abuse in many adolescents. Additionally, school and college students are under pressure to perform and achieve higher scores and it is not uncommon that they use drugs in the belief that it can boost their cognitive performance.
Instant gratification in terms of physical, psychological, and emotional sensation entices the beginners but a habitual user has to rely on increasing quantity of substance to have stimulation which will adversely affect all faculties of the adolescent body before becoming an adult. Many of such lives end up in tragedies after losing memory, ability to take right, quick decision and temperament often leading to quarrels and even murder.
BY: KS Rajagopal
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