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Originally written for the al-Ameen newspaper (B.C., Canada)
Prepare yourselves, people, for a revelation sure to shock you and possibly turn your life upside down. Particularly if you’re a teenager.
There is no such thing as a teenager in Islam.
NO. SUCH. THING.
All right, so let’s first define what exactly a teenager is. According to the dictionary, a teenager is: a juvenile between the onset of puberty and maturity.
In this Western culture, a teenager is anyone between the ages of 13 and 19. It’s also a period of time where we’re pretty much expected to be irresponsible, immature, and do really stupid things. We can do the most idiotic things on the face of the earth, and we have a ready excuse: “Aw, man, I’m just a teenager!”
But guess what? That doesn’t cut it. Not in Islam, anyway. In Islam, there are exactly two stages in life for us: child, and adult. No in-between phase where you’re given a free license to be as much of an idiot as you like.
Let’s look at what the Islamic definition of ‘child’ and ‘adult’ is, before I launch into a full rant against the stupidity and incorrectness of the concept of teenager-hood.
The Islamic definition of a child is someone who has not yet reached maturity (physical puberty). According to Shari’ah, the faraa’idh of Islam (obligatory acts, e.g. salaah, zakaah, sawm, etc.) are not incumbent upon the child.
In a hadith related by Ali Bin Abi Talib (raa), the Messenger of Allah (saas) said: “The Pen that records the deeds has been lifted from three people; the insane person, until he recovers; the sleeping person, until he wakes up; and the minor, until he dreams (i.e., has wet dreams.)” (Ahmad)
However, even here we need to stop and realize something – just because your child hasn’t reached puberty yet, it doesn’t mean that they’re totally free.
‘Amr ibn Shu’aib related from his father on the authority of his grandfather that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said, “Order your children to pray when they reach the age of seven. Beat them (lightly) if they do not do so when they reach the age of ten. And have them sleep separately.”
(The hadith is related by Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and al-Hakim.)
So you see, even kids aren’t let off the hook – it just goes to show how important it is for parents to be raising their children to be familiar with those acts of Islam that will become obligatory upon them when they grow older, so that when they do reach puberty, it won’t come to them as a shock, having to suddenly pray and fast and wear hijaab and whatnot.
Not let’s look at what the Islamic definition of an adult is. That is, someone who has reached physical maturity – for girls, when they get their menses; and for guys, any of these three things: experiencing wet dreams, the appearance of pubic hair on the body, and finally (if neither of these two things occur) turning 15. From this point on, both girls and boys are considered to be fully adult in the eyes of Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala), and they are held accountable for their deeds. The compulsory acts of Islam are obligatory for them to fulfill – from the five daily prayers, to fasting in Ramadan, to giving zakaah, to wearing the hijaab, and everything else that is expected of us.
There is absolutely NO EXCUSE WHATSOEVER for anyone who has reached this point and who is not obeying Allah (subhaanahu wa ta’aala) in what is expected of each and every (sane) adult Muslim on the face of the earth.
Right, so now we’ve got that covered. Let’s move on.
So: the concept of adolescence/teenagerhood. It is, in my opinion, one of the most ridiculous and retarded things ever.
In Western culture and society, which we are unfortunate enough to be stuck with right now, the period of adolescence is one in which kids are expected to “transition” from child to adult. However, this transition is rarely ever smooth, and in fact teens often end up acting more childishly than they ever did before. Irresponsibility and immaturity are practically a given when it comes to teens – which is stupid.
How the heck are we expected to become adults if everyone is so willing to give excuses for our idiocy?! Furthermore, this whole attitude of, “Ah, they’re just teens!” is really quite an oxymoron – what’s the point of giving teens responsibilities if they’re not held accountable for their irresponsibility, of expecting them to be mature when they’re always excused for their immaturity?
As a teenager myself, I have to say that it’s also frustrating for us: It’s like we’re being given mixed messages. On one hand, we have some people expecting us to be responsible, mature, grown-up; on the other hand the mass media and the culture around us tells us that at this point, we’re free to do whatever, to go out and have fun and that’s it.
Another point of frustration and bewilderment for us is that we have now reached an age when we’re definitely not children any more and are ready to take on more – in Islam this is recognized and we’re given things to do, commandments to carry out – but in this society it’s really weird because we’re given the freedom to do a lot of things, but we’re not given the trust of our elders, that they believe we’re capable of handling serious responsibilities.
News flash for all the parents out there: This is what is the source of so much teen angst.
“My parents treat me like a child! They don’t trust me! I’m bored!” Yadda yadda yadda… you know how it is.
In the words of a wise friend of mine:
You’ll only find “teenagers” in economically developed societies. Here the adults refuse to recognize that these young people are quite capable of contributing to the community, whereas in poor and developing communities, much like the times of old, every sentient individual is expected to pitch in.
This is especially true where the age of life expectancy is low. Where people have to work hard to survive, you won’t find rebellious teens – or at least it won’t be the norm. You’ll only find children, young adults, middle-aged adults and old adults.
I think she really hit the nail on the head. Honestly, these days the only thing that seems to be expected of teens is that we do well in school – but WHY is this the only thing expected of us? Why is that parents seem to place a good education – something of this dunya – over a good Islamic education, which is far more important for both our dunya and aakhirah?
On the Day of Judgement, Allah will not be asking us if we completed high school on the honour roll. He will be asking us about whether we prayed our salaah, five times a day, every day, at their appointed times. He will be asking us whether we obeyed His Commands, as set down in the Qur’an and Sunnah. He will be asking us what we did to secure our place in Jannah, not at Harvard. He will be asking us whether we ever bothered to use our brains to stop and think about whether He would be pleased with our actions. We will have to account to Allah for EVERY SINGLE DEED we have ever committed since we became baaligh (mature) in His Sight and according to His Law.
Parents, I beg of you: Don’t fall into the trap of Western thinking when it comes to your kids. Don’t think that they should be given free reign to have fun. Raise us from our childhood to be aware of Allah’s expectations and rights over us, for we are Muslims, the ones whose every word and action should be in submission to Him. Raise us to become responsible, mature, capable young adults who can fulfill our personal duties to Allah and who can take our place within the community, under your guidance, to strengthen the Muslim Ummah as a whole. Don’t let us be overgrown children; raise us to be adults.
Fellow teens, I beg of you: Stop and realize that we’re NOT kids anymore. Those excuses we use for ourselves and that other people give us when we do stupid things – we’ve got to stop using them, because they’re not valid. We are Muslims, and we have a goal in life that goes beyond becoming a doctor or an engineer, that goes beyond school hours and goofing off on our free time: it’s a goal for the next life, the eternal life.
Sure, it may seem far off – but none of us will live forever. Heck, none of us knows if we’re going to be alive ‘till tomorrow! And we have got to remember that while other people might not hold us accountable for some things we do, know that we have an angel sitting on each of our shoulders recording every single word we say and every single action we do… and these records are going to be waved in front of our faces on the Day of Judgement and we’re going to have to admit to our sins in front of every single human being who has ever existed. Assuming you’d gotten expelled or suffered some equally mortifying incident, would you want everyone knowing about it and laughing at you because of it? Obviously not.
On the Day of Judgement, it’ll be a kazillion times worse… forget about every single human being who ever existed; think about standing in front of ALLAH, our God, Lord and Creator of everything – think about standing in front of HIM and having to admit for all the horrible stupid wrong things we’ve ever done!!
So please, please, let’s try to make it easier for ourselves in the Hereafter… it’ll be twice as hard working towards that than it’d be studying hard enough to get to Harvard or wherever, but it’ll also be twice as worth it – more than twice.
We are not children. We are not teenagers. We are ADULTS, and beyond that, we are MUSLIMS. So let’s get off our butts, out of this stupid mindset, and straighten ourselves out.
May Allah increase us in emaan, strengthen us in our Islaam, and help us in this long and difficult journey called life. Ameen!
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Asalaamu Alaikum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu sister,
mash’Allah excellent post! This is something the Muslim youth of today need to hear so desperatley!
Jazak Allahu Khairan
Asalaamualaikum,
mashallah nice post, I think the same way, but you know what the response of parents will be when you tell them Allah does not care if we get into the honors program or if we get a killer SAT score, it’s this. “As Muslims we should be balanced everywhere and on the top on everything” so we should be good muslims and at the same time getting into harvard and getting Honor roll every semester. AND THEN. When you say that’s hard, they say why is it hard? And they start telling you how they used to walk 5 miles everyday and back and forth, and not have paper and still get the best marks in school etc. For me its just a hopeless situation where now I just nod my head while staring at the ground ,sigh, make it look like they are right and accept that we dont try hard enough and then just go away and try not to get yourself into a conversation with them about stuff like this again. “Just keep swimming”
as-salaamu ‘alaikum sis,
masha’allah, this is a nice post. I never really thought about this much. Its one of those things that you know, understand and implement but never truly conceptualize. Thanks for doing the work for me. I will be sure to remind my children of this article in 10 years.
Good post, shows that we don’t have excuses for stupid actions in our youth!
Just a couple of points though:
First, is using the word ‘retarded’ not really un-PC? It sounds a bit wrong.
Second, you can’t really deny that people are immature before their 20s (even through them, sometimes). Or is that just a case of being more mature as we get older?
Wa ‘alaikumus-salaam wa rahmatullaahi wa barakaatu,
Thank you for your comments!
Moiez: I totally get what you mean… quite a few of my friends’ parents think like that as well, as do quite a few people in my family. However, my own parents have always taught me – and teach others as well – that we have to get our priorities straight. Absolutely, we Muslims have to be balanced in everything and should try to be amongst the best. However, we must remember that some things are a hundred times more important than others: knowledge, understanding, and implementation of religion definitely comes over and above academic achievements.
Honestly, I would rather live a humble life ekeing out my living in some unglorious occupation while knowing my responsibilities in Islam and fulfilling then, than having the greatest, most prominent career on earth and neglecting to fulfill even the basics of our Deen.
And y’know, it’s not even sufficient to fulfill only the basics of Islam: there is soooooooo much more to Islam that too many of us (myself included, may Allah forgive us all) neglect and abandon because we’re of the mindset, “Oh, it’s not a fardh, so whatever,” and the time and effort that we could be using to improve ourselves Deen-wise goes towards other, more material things.
This, I think, is a dangerous attitude which we all need to strive to correct.
As I said, though, this isn’t to say that doing well in worldy matters is wrong; it’s just that too many of us have skewed priorities when it comes to balancing Deen and Dunya. This includes ourselves and our parents, and I think that for those of us whose parents do push us on in this way, we need to sit down and have a gentle but firm talk with them about this and let them know what we believe is most important. And if, in the end, they still insist on some things, there’s little we can do except smile, nod, and then gently ignore them (well, not really ignore them… but y’know what I mean, right?) and go about trying to live our lives the way we know ALLAH will be pleased with.
Mcpagal: Heh, yeah, you’re right… although I hope everyone knows I don’t mean it the wrong way! (I’ll go back and change it, insha’Allah… but if I forget, just keep this in mind!).
-Mouse
Assalamu Alaikum,
Subhanallah! A definite wake up call!! I have an almost thirteen year old, and its already not easy, mashallah!! Sometimes we do forget that our deeds are being recorded, and its a scary thought. The things we forgot, Allah remembers, and will remind us when we are in front of Him. Will we get our book of deeds in our right hands or left? I pray every believer gets their book of deeds in their right hands inshallah. Every youth needs to read this inshallah. Jazakallahu Khairan.
I am glad you brought this subject up. Yesterday, I was reading about Tibetans and found out that even a 5 year-old learns how to take care of infants (his/her younger brothers and sisters) and how to steer the cattles when they are grazing. Although they are young and are loved by their elders, they know how to smoothly move into “adult” phase. No concept of “Teenagers”.
Correspondingly, how old was Usamah bin Zayd when he lead the Muslim army? How old was Ibn Abbaas when he was explaining Qur’an in the gathering of the “alumni” of Sahaba? How old Asma’ when she was helping out in the migration of Rasul salallahu ‘alyhi wassalam and her father? Our “current” concepts, regarding childhood, teenhood and adulthood with regards to responsibility, are pretty messed up :S
I knew I had read this article before! I did read it in al-Ameen a while back.
What you’re saying is true, that the hedonism of adolescence is fabricated. When you think of our predecessors like Tariq bin Ziyad radhiAllahu’anh and Muhammad bin Qasim radhiAllahu’anh, who lead the Muslims to some of the most celebrated triumphs of our history, it is almost embarrassing that we call ourselves Muslim youth and let ourselves fall into all sorts of traps. This is a largely Western concept, that these years are for amusement and frivolous pursuits; rather, these years can be tremendously valuable, and we will be questioned specifically about this time.
Several years ago, I was travelling through some very remote villages in Bangladesh where there was no electricity or modern comforts. The children there were more mature and wise than most adults I see in this part of the world, simply because they were taught to shoulder their own load right from the start. And really, I don’t know if I’ve ever been anywhere in the world where I’ve met happier people masha-Allah. There was a level of dignity and satisfaction that I have never seen elsewhere subhanAllah. It makes me feel embarrassed almost when I think about my own condition, and the condition of those around me. May Allah protect us and guide us all.
You make up a fabricated scenario where you state that teenagers are somehow absolved of responsibility in western culture, and proceed to attack that notion. That is what is called a straw man argument. There is no western idea of teenagers being able to do whatever they want, and you are guilty of being culturally ignorant apparently. Or just a liar.
Maybe you should come up with arguments that aren’t built upon denigrating others falsely.
John,
But it is an absolute pleasure seeing her write her ideas here. I don’t know why you would call or insuiate that she is a liar. She is critical of some western practices that she feels contradict her view of Islam. All of us struggle to find our places in life and to do the right thing. Mouse’s struggle and her worldview have been basically here for the world to see. (I can’t even imagine my ideas or worldview as a 16 year old). There is a difference in not agreeing with the writer and attacking her as dishonest. I believe that is my problem, here John.
First of all Mouse lives in the west….and while I do not agree with her on lots of issues, there is absolutely no questioning of her integrity or genuineness (by the way.. i am a horrible speller so everyone please forgive me). She is very ambitious in her commitment to Islam and is infact herself a young lady. I do think what she is saying about teenage years being a time for immaturity is right. We differ because I don’t nessecarily think that is a bad thing, but then again I don’t share alot of Mouse’s opinions
I think John is the one not living in reality. Most of the readers here do indeed live in the West. As Sequoia pointed out (great comments!), different people have different perceptions.
But it is not just Muslims who perceive the Western teens to act like kids much beyond their kid-age. In fact, I was talking to a baby-boomer American factory owner (his family has owned the factory for over a hundred years); he was telling us how today’s youth are completely disinterested in responsibilities and work. That their minds are on games, dates and booze. And because his factory depends a lot on young workers, has caused him a great deal of heartache due to attrition and production losses. This is the same story across manufacturing sectors.
If anyone believes that the MTV, gaming and rap cultures haven’t affected the young minds, precluding them from maturing into responsible adults, then they are the ones who in complete ignorance of reality.
John, I was raised in America and accepted Islaam in my teenage years. What she said is nothing but the truth. How can you deny it? My mother in law is an american woman and she herself admits it. Her children (2 out of 3) are married, and she thought they weren’t prepared for it, too young and had to live their life like teenagers. Why do we make a difference? Look around you John. Even as a non-Muslim in the past, I realized the immaturity of society. You should too.
What mouse has done is looked at the state of teenagers in the west and declared that it’s bad and that piling responsibilities on them the way Islam does is good. I disagree.
Maturity doesn’t work quickly (this is especially true for males). It doesn’t go “oh, you ejaculated in your sleep, so now you are ready to take on the full responsibilities of an adult”. Before taking on any responsibility, there has to be a period of learning, and adulthood has a lot of responsibilities, so the period of learning is long.
In the west, this is recognized. This is why we we have drinking ages, voting ages, driving ages, etc. In order to do any of those things, you have to prove that you have the maturity required to do them properly, and having hair on your bollocks is hardly a qualification. I don’t want an immature (by western standards) 13 year old deciding who the leader of my country will be, because regardless of whether or not that 13 year old has had wet dreams, the average 13 year old has simply not yet had the time to learn about policical parties. 13 year olds are very likely to simply vote for whomever their parents are voting for, so why should they be allowed to vote at all? Instead of allowing every
Now, I fully realize that the treatment of teenagers in the west is ludicrous at times (for example, the underage sex laws in the states are amongst the stupidest laws in the developed world), but at least they recognise that maturity is not black and white. Teenagerhood is the period where you *become* an adult, and become *prepared* for the responsibilities you will have to undertake as an adult. People have to be eased into situations – suddenly forcing responsibilities on them and granting them extra priviliges when they do not yet know what to do with them is a very very bad idea indeed.
In the name of Allah, Most Beneficient, Most Merciful.
Didi,
Thank you for sharing your opinions, however, I must say, I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood Mouse in several ways:
1) Mouse quoted the hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him) right in the beginning of her article where children should be encouraged to pray right from when they are 7 and then when they are 10, they should be disciplined. Clearly, the fact that in Islam, children are transitioned into the responsibilities of adulthood refutes your argument of “Muslims force teens to accept responsibilities the day puberty hits.”
2) You said:
“This is why we we have drinking ages, voting ages, driving ages, etc. In order to do any of those things, you have to prove that you have the maturity required to do them properly”
Honestly, I don’t see the relevance of these “ages” and how they relate to your argument. Why? Because, to a large extent, these ages don’t mean much. Drinking age? Pffft… how are high schoolers who go get drunk every weekend living up to the drinking age of 21? Are they proving they are mature enough? Is this “age” helping at all? Some may argue that having these ages divides society and makes children not feel mature until that age is reached.
IE. You are forcing kids to remain “kids” until they reach a certain age. What if the ‘kid’ is mature when he/she is 13? What if they are politically aware? Even if it’s an exception, in my books, this is DISCRIMINATION to marginalize someone based on their age alone.
3) You said:
“Teenagerhood is the period where you *become* an adult, and become *prepared* for the responsibilities you will have to undertake as an adult.”
Yes, but what is the harm of starting when they are younger than 10 and slowly transitioning them to have more responsibility as a teenager? In fact, many American families give their kids chores to do from the onset of when they are 7-8 years old. Preparation should start not at one age, but gradually, and this is exactly what Islam’s stance on this issue is: teach them and encourage them at an early age, but when they reach puberty, they are responsible.
4) About the 13 year old’s “voting”, honestly, I think you are extrapolating too far. However, if you did want to continue this train of thought, I will ask you one thing: where is this paradigm coming from? From a mentality in which all kids are deemed to be “unaware”? Or is it coming from a mindset that kids should be involved with people their age, but also encouraged to read, broaden their minds, take on extra responsibility? I hardly think it’s the latter.
Because IF it came from the latter mentality, that kids are gradually maturing, they do potentially know what is going around in their society, from a Muslim mentality (ideally: Islam is perfect, Muslims are not), then the kids WOULD be beneficial in their ‘vote.’ But this is hypothetical for now.
My main point: Didi, I think your ad hominem arguments aren’t useful because they are blinding you from seeing that Mouse actually said what you are trying to similarly point out: that responsibilities should be given gradually. Although there are some things which I do not agree with from your point of you, there are some things very similar for both of us.
Allah knows best.
May Allah guide us all, ameen.
Didi, I think it is the approach that you’ve presented that is basically the reason behind the teenager phenomenon. We’ve become so used to coddling them and not expecting them to be able to make wise decisions, that they in turn are more than happy to comply.
Of course becoming an adult is a process – its a process that should start *before* the wetdream or the period. Not after it. The example of prayer is case in point. That’s the only way you’ll get responsible 13-year olds.
Western society has so lowered the bar with young adults that you can’t even begin to imagine a 13-year old voting. Why is that? Is that nature or nurture?
When we as a society begin to *expect* maturity and dare I say greatness (like Tariq bin Ziad and Muhammad bin Qasim) from our young adults instead of writing them off as big children, then we will finally rid ourselves of this silly ‘teenage’ concoction.
WA-
Naeem
I totally agree with how Mouse has presented the correct view (Very colorful language I must add
)
I remember being an adult by the time I was twelve and so were all my friends.
We were brought up correctly, told clearly what was right and wrong, prayed since we were children and therefore, when the time came to record our deeds, we were ready. Thanks to our parents.
Its not to say that as adults we didn’t make our share of mistakes. We did, but we didn’t give excuses- we turned to Allah Taala to seek His forgiveness.
To justify your mistakes under the pretense of ‘Adolescence and Teenagehood’ is really silly and those who encourage it should also now reflect and stop.
Train your children from an early age and they will become responsible by the time they reach puberty.
….and before that, train yourself.
Mouse: Haha! Yah I know what you mean.
(Once Again Nice Article)
Interesting, but why is this “Islamic”?
I treated my children as cihldren when they behaved like children, and like adults when they behaved like adults. They didn’t have an easy life, but faced up to the challenges with hard work and good humour. Yes, the ‘teens can be a challenging time – but, just as when children are about two years old – so rewarding!
This post was taken off “for technical repairs” and is back up now.
I agree with the post, as a non-Islamic westerner, and as a teenager. The concept of ‘teenagerdom’ developed in this country (Britain) between the end of the Victorian era and the the end of the second world war, before that children were seen as little adults, and responsibility was given to everyone, increasing with age, but there was certainly no chance to behave immaturely once you were no longer an infant. Part of the problem we see in our society at the moment is the infantilisation of those who are actually capable of adult behaviour; we can see this in the job market; before the war the system of apprenticeships was healthy and a vital part of the economy. Having training and an income gave young people a measure of self esteem and usefullness; they helped themselves, they’re families, and the economy, and they had a place in society that afforded them respect. Now young people are expected to do little more than go to school, and possibly do a little work of the kind that no adult really wants to do. What does this tell young people? That we are not productive members of society, that we are not capable of ‘real’ work, or ‘desirable’ work, and that no one trusts us anyway. So we behave the way we feel we are expected to behave: immaturely, and in a way that reflects our percieved status as a drag on society.
Education is a wonderful thing, and the fact that everyone can now access it in this country is fantastic, but young adults need to be given a place in society that builds their self esteem and responsibility, and the best way to do this is to give them positions that require maturity and productivity, but with the guidance that anyone learning new skills need. The Islamic method detailed above seems sensible and it works: responsibilities are clearly drawn, and each individual knows what they must do, and when, and practices from an early age. Secular society could learn a lot from this method, by taking the basics and applying them in a model to treat young adults not as mollycoddled ‘teenagers’, but as responsible young people with a role to play and something to give. After all, if we carry on like this, the whole world will be run by teenagers who never grew up.
Hurray!! I am not Muslim, but Christian. I came across your post while stumbling, and the title caught my eye. This message should be read by ALL people of all societies and religions! I am proud of your boldness and impressed by your wisdom. God be praised! Thank youuuuuuu for your speaking out. I do plan to forward your post.
Well done!… K. Fisher
@ Franky and K. Fisher
Thank you!
I think it’s incredibly important that all children be raised with the awareness that very soon they’re going to be young adults, and should do their utmost to become fully mature members of society who have the potential to accomplish great things. As everyone knows, the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow – and what kind of people do we want ruling the world?!
May God guide us all to the Truth and that which is most pleasing to Him, ameen.
Salaams, everyone!
I totally agree with Mouse and whenever I tend to neglect my duties a s a Muslim and then blame my age as being a phase where one’s mind is filled only with shallow, worldly thoughts, I remind myself of Ali (R.A) who accepted Islam when he was only 12 ( I think), which clearly shows how much of depth and insight he possessed. Hidayat does come from Allah only but still…….
Anyway, Wassalam!
Assalammou’alaikum evryone. Alhamduliilah its really nice to hear our youth taking about islam. nowadays, wenever u meet a young man or lady, they just talk abt dunya its amusemants. Alhamdulillah we still hav this young strong and united ummah talking abt islam. I totally agree with mouse tht islam come before evrythng. If we apply this concept in our life,zen sure inshaAllah we will be sucessful both in dunya and akhirat
I have done my best to read all of Mouse’s article, and rapidly gone through the comments.
Carefully, but quickly.
There are a few points which I feel should be addressed.
First of all, as an Italian and a “Mediterranean Classical”, I take pride in reminding myself (and others) that it was Greco-Roman philosophy that created modern institutions, modern principles and codes of conduct such as the Magna charta, the Bill of Rights, the Unversal Declaration of Human Rights, approved by the Assembly og the United nations in 1948.
Because of an extraordinarily recent event such as the victory of USA and UK ni the 2nd World war, English has become the most influential langiage in cultural and commercial exchanges.
This has lead people to believe that “anything Western” is certainly portrayed in the English langiage.
Nothing could be farther away from the truth.
Spanish, French, Italian, Greek teenagers are much more similar to their conuterparts in Marocco, Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey than they are to those in Swedem UK or USA, both for moral and for ethical values.
Secondly, their parents have much more “traditional” values than those of the “anglosaxon” nations aforementioned.
Mediterraneans have been tolerating Americans, Britons and Scandinavians make themselves ridiculous decades before television was invented, let alone the internet or long-distance jet planes.
On the other hand, “Mediterranean Europeans” suffer (or should I say, “take offense”) when they are portrayed as “sinners” and accused of “…they do that in California”
Really ? That do that in California?
And what should a good, pious Algerian think when they do something else in Indonesia?
I hope you see my point.
TEENAGERS.
In ancient, agricultural times, the “adolescent” (Latin word meaning “to be nourished, to grow up”) was the very young man/woman who was trained as an apprentice in a trade, if a boy also learned the basics about military skills (if nothing else, to defend his crops from bandits)
It was an important age; Ancient Romans even differentiated between the “adolescent” and the “iuvenis” or “young man”, when one had full adult duties BUT was not allowed to marry yet, until he could prove he had a worthy job/skill and could properly maintain a family.
In those days, turning 30 (that was the age) for a man was a substantive turning point.
That legacy still holds, and it’s 3000 years old. That’s not peanuts.
If “anglosaxon” teenagers are irresponsible, its their (anglosaxon society) problem.
The anglosaxons made a reputation for themselves as soldiers, seamen, adventurers, but compared to mediterraneans they still have a lot to mature.
The first written Code of Law was published by Ur-Nammu in 2100 B.C.;
Romans published their “Roman Law” in 700B.C., and when they built acqueducts, paved roads and traded gold and silk with the nabateans and the Persians, the anglosaxons were still clad in furs – literally.
So, please, is anybody is cross with Americans, Canadians or whatever, blame it on them.
But to read that “Western” civilization, which originated with Aristotle, Plato and Seneca, is corrupt because of a generation of pimply anglosaxons, is like comparing refined literates from Alexandria or Damascus with the local fishmarket stalls.
Regards to you all.
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I have just realized there are a few mistypes in my post above, please excuse me but I only have few fingers…