Once upon a time, the image of an angry young man was depicted heroically and the nation applauded his guts. But today, anger and aggression among youth is not only a challenge but it continues to be an unstoppable discussion. Aggression is the delivery of an aversive stimulus from one person to another, either with intent to harm or with an expectation of causing such harm, when the other person is motivated to escape or avoid the stimulus.
What gives birth to this anger and aggression among our youth? Does domination over others provide satisfaction or enjoyment? Or is it something that emerges when one suffers crime and as a victim of that crime, compelling that soul to commit the same crime with another person. Is it the temper, the environment, the social setting which aggravates a sense of anger or is just a manifestation of having been rejected by someone. Very often we get to see that youngsters from highly political or economically well-off backgrounds also have tendencies that stand out when compared to overall youth around them. Does that signify, higher the purchasing power stronger is the aggression? However, when you see the statistics or even capture the scenarios from the daily news, discrimination has a lot more to do with the aggressive behaviours leading to crime. And this is visible across the nation.
All said and done, anger, aggression, bullying and rash behaviour is nothing but a departure from peace. It is indeed a psychological nonconformity. A notable implication of this behaviour is the diversion of mind from studies, career plans and overall positivity.
Though, like every other emotion, anger also is a perfectly natural one, how and with what intensity it manifests can make it hurtful, scary and destructive. For both adolescents and youths, inability to express anger, can make them feel not only helpless, but can cause frustration to the extent of making them ill.
The bigger question is, should we accept and address this leviathan which is not only causing furor in schools and colleges, but also is travelling from there to the streets leading to crime of all kinds. The shocking statistics that we get to see from the data captured by National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) every year is just half of it, as umpteen cases go unreported and do not see the light of the day. Many of us simply avoid doing anything about it, thinking it is a problem with the students, by the students and therefore, the answer and solution for the same should also come from students. And we miss out on doing something about those who emerge with a behavioural outburst. We should never forget that behind every offender of young age is a gut-wrenching story of poverty, broken homes, troubles in early life, pressures in school, drug abuse, physical and sexual abuse, untreated mental illness,
Helping regulate anger to a right degree, at the right time, and for the right purpose is perhaps the only pathway we can suggest to our adolescents and youth.