The term "adolescence" is a modern concept from Western culture. It refers to the period from puberty until around age eighteen, though its duration varies based on hereditary and environmental factors. This stage encompasses all physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social changes in a young person's character.
Adolescence is a vital transformation in a child's life. It requires a change in how we treat them. When dealing with adolescents, Islam considers all objective circumstances. It provides teachings that ease their crises and guide them toward the right path.
Rapid physical changes can cause anxiety for the adolescent. This anxiety may become severe if caregivers neglect proper upbringing and preparation. We believe adolescence is a natural stage, primarily linked to sexual changes and desires affecting the body. This can be difficult due to the lack of lawful means to satisfy these desires. The resulting anxiety is hard for both the teenager and those around him to manage.
Therefore, we must deal with adolescents in a special way, considering their unique condition. Instability is not just mental illness. It includes instinctual and emotional excitement that can affect anyone. This excitement is like natural turbulence—floods, volcanoes, earthquakes—all natural events. Adolescence is a phase of instinctual excitement that was previously dormant. Now, the person must learn to manage it.
This excitement becomes problematic in a society with many restrictions. Islam acknowledges the sexual aspect of life as ordinary. It considers sex a natural, innate need and views it as normal. A male may express his needs to a female, and vice versa, but within religiously lawful limits.
The problem lies in how society overburdens marital relationships with traditions and customs. These often hinder healthy marriages. Islam seeks to facilitate marriage. It permits two students, still learning and living with parents, to marry. This reflects Islam's interest in early marriage.
A society willing to address this problem should change its laws and views on sex. By facilitating marriage, teenagers can avoid many problems. We should marry boys and girls soon after puberty. We must also address issues like childbirth through legitimate means of birth control.
Our society often evades the sexual problem. This evasion pushes boys and girls toward deviation. An open, mixed society facilitates constant direct contact between males and females in schools, which can be tempting.
Adolescence itself is not a complex or a dilemma. Suppression turns it into a crisis. In a closed society, physical transformation can make a teenager feel incapable of controlling his instincts. This leads to confusion, depression, and irrational thinking.
In fact, adolescence is a natural state. Parents should alleviate its negative effects as much as possible. It does not hinder the process of reaching religious maturity (Al-Taklif). Parents should facilitate religious responsibilities for teenagers. This can be done through early marriage or by distracting them from sexual thoughts. Keeping them busy with religious, sports, and scout activities responds to their inclinations at this life stage.
Source: An excerpt from the book "The World of Children".
The term "adolescence" is a modern concept from Western culture. It refers to the period from puberty until around age eighteen, though its duration varies based on hereditary and environmental factors. This stage encompasses all physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and social changes in a young person's character.
Adolescence is a vital transformation in a child's life. It requires a change in how we treat them. When dealing with adolescents, Islam considers all objective circumstances. It provides teachings that ease their crises and guide them toward the right path.
Rapid physical changes can cause anxiety for the adolescent. This anxiety may become severe if caregivers neglect proper upbringing and preparation. We believe adolescence is a natural stage, primarily linked to sexual changes and desires affecting the body. This can be difficult due to the lack of lawful means to satisfy these desires. The resulting anxiety is hard for both the teenager and those around him to manage.
Therefore, we must deal with adolescents in a special way, considering their unique condition. Instability is not just mental illness. It includes instinctual and emotional excitement that can affect anyone. This excitement is like natural turbulence—floods, volcanoes, earthquakes—all natural events. Adolescence is a phase of instinctual excitement that was previously dormant. Now, the person must learn to manage it.
This excitement becomes problematic in a society with many restrictions. Islam acknowledges the sexual aspect of life as ordinary. It considers sex a natural, innate need and views it as normal. A male may express his needs to a female, and vice versa, but within religiously lawful limits.
The problem lies in how society overburdens marital relationships with traditions and customs. These often hinder healthy marriages. Islam seeks to facilitate marriage. It permits two students, still learning and living with parents, to marry. This reflects Islam's interest in early marriage.
A society willing to address this problem should change its laws and views on sex. By facilitating marriage, teenagers can avoid many problems. We should marry boys and girls soon after puberty. We must also address issues like childbirth through legitimate means of birth control.
Our society often evades the sexual problem. This evasion pushes boys and girls toward deviation. An open, mixed society facilitates constant direct contact between males and females in schools, which can be tempting.
Adolescence itself is not a complex or a dilemma. Suppression turns it into a crisis. In a closed society, physical transformation can make a teenager feel incapable of controlling his instincts. This leads to confusion, depression, and irrational thinking.
In fact, adolescence is a natural state. Parents should alleviate its negative effects as much as possible. It does not hinder the process of reaching religious maturity (Al-Taklif). Parents should facilitate religious responsibilities for teenagers. This can be done through early marriage or by distracting them from sexual thoughts. Keeping them busy with religious, sports, and scout activities responds to their inclinations at this life stage.
Source: An excerpt from the book "The World of Children".