Young People in Britain and Yugoslavia

Britain
by Smiljana Nedic, 17

The majority of British young people remain at home because that is a place of safety and security for them. They stay close to their parents who are the main providers of money, food and all the amenities for life.

The average young person spends free time in front of TV. In most of the cases children have a TV set in their own room. Other activities such as cinema-going or sports are also popular. Many boys play football and there is a number of girls who also play it although they in general prefer swimming and tennis.

Parents are models from whom young people draw their main beliefs and attitudes. They also give advice to their children about general problems as well as about employment. Young people want to go where and when they want but they understand when parents worry about them or set times for them to return home. Young people's attitude towards the world in which they live has changed. They are aware of global problems such as polluted seas, deforestation and damage to the ozon layer.

Some teenagers have hobbies but many are more interested in activities which do not entail particular resonsibilities or planning, and, of course which do not cost money. Those at school or unemployed seldom have sufficient income to do what they please. Spending time in pubs, going to dances, concerts, discoes and cinema are popular for young people who are employed.

Life in the street is important. In the street young people meet and talk and start to develop their confidence. Groups of friends meet in the streets, squares and parks, they visit town centers or do window shopping. Young people are selective about what they do because of the money. They spend money both on basic and the luxury items. They buy clothes, CDs, save for motorbikes or cars, go to the discoes or cinema. Some of them spend money on more specialised hobbies such as angling, bird watching or sailing.

The average pocket money is L 2.05 a week. There are many teenagers who have part-time jobs and their pocket money is about L 6 a week.

Young people do not spend all free time entertaining. They are involved in a wide range of organisations such as youth parliaments, youth councils and forums which organise activities. Religious groups and churches have established separate youth organisations.

One of the main activities is sport. Most young men and about half of young women in Britain are interested in sport. They participate in a wide range of activities and both outdoor and indoor sports are popular. Schools and youth clubs organise competitions. Teams and groups are formed to compete with other schools and clubs.

Sixteen is a crucial age for British teenagers. They have to decide what to do in future. They can stay in school, go on to a college, look for a job or start training for work.
Many of them study for 'A' and 'AS' level qualifications. These are two-year courses in single subjects. Both schools and colleges offer this. In order to study for 'A' and 'AS' levels students must have sufficiently good GCSE ( General Certificate of Secondary Education ) qualifications which are normaly taken at the age of 16.

The Government thinks that more young people between 16 and 18 should stay at school or college to gain practical skills which will prepare them for employment. Colleges of further education offer courses for 16 to 18 year-olds. Those courses prepare young people for work in various occupations such as business, engineering, administration, catering and tourism. After the period in further education young people have the opportunity to go on to higher education. They must have good 'A' level exam results. During the last 15 years the proportion of young people going into higher education has risen from one in eight to one in three. Most of the students receive some financial support, and in certain cases large companies sponsor students through their studies.

Yugoslavia
by Dragana Petrovic, 17

Quite a number of adults think that today's young people weren't born at the right time. We can boast that we are those unusual ones who already feel a lot of rancour at the outset of our lives, but at the same time we are a very clear-headed generation who wants to live well and we hope that we will retrieve everything we missed.

The young in Yugoslavia spend a lot of time at school. The rest of the day we spend preparing for the next school day. Education in our country is very hard and it costs a lot. Although we spend a lot of time at school we still try to find a little time for ourselves. We manage to find some free moments for sport, friends and going out.

Our town is famous for sportsmen and their sports results. The most favourite sport is basketball. There are a few teams who work very hard and they take part in almost every sport event in our country. The young also love football, handball and volleyball. As everywhere in the world, we have fitness clubs where we can do some exercises and relax. Not many people decide to take up folk dancing, which is beautiful, but requires lots of practice. Still, in our town there are five clubs which want to preserve our tradition.

Like all young people in the world we love going out. When we go to school we usually go out only at the weekend but when we are on holiday, as now, we usually go out every night. In winter time we usually go to clubs and discos while in summer time we walk along the popular streets in town.
The big problem appears when we stay out late during the school term. In our country, the night life is quite turbulent. It starts late, about 11 o'clock, and it finishes at about 2 or 3 in the morning. Our young bodies aren't so strong to stand that exertion. In such a situation we are forced to sleep long by day so we can't prepare for school and we can't fulfill other obligations.

At the same time young people in our country like to visit cinemas, concerts and performances. In the cinemas we can watch the latest film hits, while older films can be watched in some clubs.

Those who like to watch TV say that it's a different kind of entertainment. It is generally known how much young people like music so they also like music on television. In our country there is a TV channel called 'PINK', which I don't like . On that channel we can sometimes see some good films, hear a lot of short news and listen to a lot of bad music. We can notice faces who try to look like some popular foreign singers, but in the end they are only pale or bad copycats.

Other TV channels which have different contents are better than 'PINK', and we can see pleasant faces on them. They are 'STUDIO B', 'CHANNEL 3' and 'BK' Television.

In the last few years the development of music in Yugoslavia has not been enviable. During that time some new styles of music like TURBO-FOLK and DANCE have appeared. One part of young people love this music because you can dance to it, but I hope that nobody really loves it. I hope that times are going to change and I want the good old rock music to come back.

In our country a big problem is drug abuse, as it is all over the world. About ten years ago drugs entered like storm in the young people's lives. It has gradually spread into middle- and small-size towns in Yugoslavia and it's very hard now to single out a town in Yugoslavia which doesn't have this problem.

Drugs were at start delivered by those from older generations who had suspicious morals. The circle of drug addicts got bigger, so today everyone can unfortunately take drugs wherever they want.

Each fifth young boy works with drugs so drug abuse is really a serious problem...

Teachers from big schools are usually organizers of many public debates in our town. These debates are usually attended by people who don't take drugs. Quite a number of experts work on this problem but the results are still slim.
The bombing of Yugoslavia by NATO, which for us, the young people, was a terrible and painful experience, finished about a month ago.

We came trough all those bad things and I think that we are a little more mature and that we have started thinking about some of the things in a different way.
My childhood wasn't so nice but I hope that times will change so that my children might have a happy and beautiful childhood. Altogether we will fight for better times, because this country rests on us.