8.12. Young people - what are they like and what are they interested in? In the station area of ​​a large city, a young creature with tousled purple hair and blurred eyes may approach you on the street and ask you for some money - for drugs. Some teenagers can't find

Beware: youth From the newsletter of the Congress of Narcologists: “In Russia, a youth drug culture is being formed with its own centers - discos. This youth subculture is actively supported by funds mass media, promoting rave as

Chapter 12 Group Soviet troops in Germany - Western Group of Forces in 1945-1994

Informal youth groups appeared in our country after the Great Patriotic War. Society then actively rebelled against “mold”, then “hipsters”, etc. Lately the number of informal youth associations has increased sharply. Their study, carried out, in particular, by A.P. Fain, reveals the presence of many forms of the youth movement in the West that are already familiar to us. Today the youth movement, like many social movements modernity, has global character. Our youth, ceasing to be youth closed society, was widely involved in it, adopting the advantages and disadvantages of informal groups in other countries. At the same time, our informal youth movements also have their own specifics. And often their own, special forms. Let us dwell on what informal associations of teenagers and young men exist in our large cities.

Various informal groups of youth, as noted by A.P. Fine, often contact and even interact with each other. Hippies, metalheads, and punks often know each other and can move from one youth association to another. Right-wing extremists enter into temporary alliances with metalheads and punks. Left-wing extremists act as a united front against representatives of all other youth trends.

IN big city There are usually epicenters of interaction between various informal groups - regional and city. Regional gathering places are usually located on the outskirts. Metalheads, punks, wavers, breakers, rockers, usually friendly with each other, and left-wing extremists at war with them gather there. Teenagers most often become acquainted with informal groups and connect to them in regional epicenters. They can then move on to groups at the city's epicenter (somewhere on the main streets).

Researchers distinguish between constructive and non-constructive informal associations. The former often advocate more radical reforms of society. Some informal groups set narrower goals: the preservation and restoration of historical and cultural monuments, the protection of nature, physical and mental health, etc. Constructive groups usually consist of adults and youth. Along with them, there are unconstitutional associations formed mainly from teenagers.

The motives and forms of youth participation in informal associations are different. Some are drawn there only by curiosity, and they function in the outermost layer of the movement, having a “tangential” relationship with it. For others it is a form of leisure, for others it is a search for an alternative lifestyle. The latter are well shown by M.V. Rozin, describing modern Moscow hippies.

Hippies are people with their own philosophy and their own rules of behavior. They unite into the System. This is a kind of club that anyone can join. To do this, you need to systematically participate in System events (“hang out”) and get to know its other members.

The hippie movement arose in our country in the second half of the 60s. At first it was associated with the interest of young people in jeans and other “hippie” clothes, and then with the book products of the ideologists of this movement. Having reached its apogee in the late 70s, the hip movement then began to be supplanted by punks, metalheads, and breakers. However, in the second half of the 80s, a new wave of youth interest in hippies arose.

The Moscow System now has about 2 thousand participants aged from 13 to 36 years. It consists of schoolchildren, students, workers, representatives of the scientific, technical and artistic intelligentsia. Many of them often change jobs; they are attracted to positions as watchmen, boiler room operators, etc., which give them a lot of free time.

The system is divided into groups (“parties”). There are two layers in them: “pioneers” and “oldovs”, or “mammoths”. The first group includes teenagers who have recently become hippies and are diligently adopting this role. “Oldovs” are old members of the System, seriously delving into the problems of politics, religion, mysticism, and artistic creativity.

All hippies wear long, flowing hair (“hair”), usually parted in the middle. Often a thin bandage (“hairatnik”) covers the forehead and back of a hippie’s head. Many men also grow a beard. There are three main reasons why these people wear long hair:

• 1) it is more natural, closer to nature;
• 2) Jesus Christ wore long hair and a beard, hippies imitate him;
• 3) long hair makes it possible to better capture the radiation of the cosmic mind, being a kind of individual “antennas”.

Hippies wear jeans, sweaters, T-shirts, and out-of-fashion coats. Clothes are often torn and shabby, or they are specially given this look; they make artificial holes and put bright patches on jeans and jackets. Inscriptions are often written on clothes English language.

All hippies wear jewelry (“fenki”): bracelets on their arms (made of beads, leather or wood), beads on their necks, crosses on leather laces, images of zodiac signs, skulls, etc. The modern hippie has a “xivnik” hanging on his chest - a small rectangular bag made of denim. It contains documents and money.

In cold weather, hippies live in the city, go to “parties”, and in the summer they travel by boat. passing cars, setting up tent cities.

Hippies believe that a person should be free, first of all, internally. A person is also free in love. Previously, freedom of love among hippies was reduced to the opportunity to openly enter into intimate relationship with the one you love. Now hippies talk about love, which brings people together. Hippies preach pacifism: they call not to respond to violence with violence, and oppose military service. Hippies believe in a different, “higher” reality that exists alongside the everyday one in which we all live. You can access it through changing your state of consciousness through meditation or art. Hence the great interest of hippies in problems of religion and creative activity.

Characteristic of modern hippies is the desire for naturalness. This is expressed in their desire not to change what happens by itself (for example, not cutting their hair); not to carry out any purposeful, active actions, to be inactive; to be unpretentious in everyday life, to be able to endure hardships and hardships.

Hippies are romantics, they love everything bright, original, and creative. They want to be free individuals, independent of social conventions. That's why hippies act impulsively in life. At the same time, they strive for new relationships in a society built on love for other people. However, the naturalness declared by the hippies is demonstrative and parodic. She is a known challenge to modern society, which hippies criticize.

A.P. gives a description of other informal youth associations in our country. Fine. So, a common group in our country are punks, which we have already mentioned in the historical review of the informal movement. Their appearance is deliberately unsightly: a rooster-shaped crest on the head, ending in a large forelock, chains on the face, causing a variety of styles in clothing (leather jacket on a naked body, canvas fabric on a thin shirt with a frill, etc.). Punk slang is crude and behavior is often obscene. Many of them use narcotic and toxic substances. Punks move from city to city, establishing connections with each other. Their activity is especially noted in Moscow, St. Petersburg and the capitals of the Baltic countries.

The appearance of punks in the city is usually associated with an increase in the number of fights, robberies and other forms of violence aimed at insulting the individual.

Groups of majors have become famous among us: “pseudo-Americans”, “pseudo-English”, “pseudo-French”, etc. They wear clothes and shoes made in the respective Western country. The use of wearable items made in any other country is condemned.

Majors once gathered near Intourist hotels and shops for parties, where the purchased toilet elements were demonstrated and evaluated. Among the majors, the image of an active, enterprising, strong person who knew 2-3 foreign languages. The majors were against drugs, many of them were actively involved in sports.

There is a noticeable layer of teenagers imitating the majors. They are called "rednecks". Involvement in the activities of majors led the majority of teenagers to a decline in interest in studying at school and to a reluctance to master any profession. On the contrary, another part of the majors considered their stay in the group temporary, until they accumulated a certain minimum of material resources.

Youth groups united by a hobby of some kind have become widespread. specific occupation. Among them, the most famous are breakers (fans of breakdancing), skateboarders (riding on special boards - skateboards) and rockers.

As the reader already knows, rockers are always with motorcycles. They not only drive cars perfectly, but also perform acrobatic stunts on them, for example, riding for some time only on the rear wheel of the car, and also jumping on a motorcycle from a springboard, “jigging,” etc. Rockers ride in large groups on night streets at high speed (sometimes up to 140-160 km/h), with the mufflers removed. Many rockers don't have driver's license. There have been cases of them stealing other people's motorcycles and refueling cars from the gas tanks of personal cars. In some cases, rockers come into contact with criminal elements who hire them to escort their cars and do other unseemly things. The teacher should use the interest of rockers in technology and motorsports to switch them to socially useful activities.

Various youth groups have appeared - satellites, including fans of a particular singer of an ensemble or genre. There are adherents of certain football teams - “fans” (“fans”). Such groups usually do not have any “philosophy” of their own.

The most numerous group of informals are fans of metal rock. It has several recognized varieties: “heavy metal rock” (“heavy metal rock”), “black metal rock” (“black metal rock”), “speed metal rock” (“speed metal rock”). This music is characterized by a rigid rhythm, powerful sound, and great freedom of improvisation by the performers.

Among metalheads, fans of speed metal ensembles are prone to crime. Their very appearance is defiant and aggressive: in black clothes, with sharply sharpened spikes, big amount metal, placed on the chest with an inverted cross, on the T-shirts the word “Satan” is written in paint in English. They profess the cult of Satan, often calling themselves Satanists. Satanists support groups that call for violence, cruelty, and preach racism and chauvinism. They are prone to hooligan behavior, to provoking hostile clashes between various youth groups and participating in them. Some metalheads have sympathies for right-wing extremists, including neo-fascists.

Metalheads are joined by groups of teenagers who are attracted not so much by rock music as by the fashionable costume of informals or the desire to cover up their unseemly actions with them. They were called "suckers". Having a superficial understanding of the problems of metal rock, suckers act as guardians of the “purity” of the rules of a metalhead, and behave very defiantly and aggressively with others.

It would be unfair to talk about illegal behavior of all metalheads. In particular, among these teenagers there are real experts and connoisseurs of metal rock, who are mainly engaged in listening and discussing musical works of this genre. They are peace-loving, do not get carried away by paraphernalia, and are ready to contact official organizations.

Currently, a few right-wing extremist groups are becoming widespread, but they are attracting noticeable attention from an alarmed society. Basically they preach neo-fascism. They usually look like this: tight trousers, black jackets, white shirts with a black narrow tie, boots or tarpaulin boots. Many people get tattoos: the fascist swastika and other symbols of the “browns”. The groups have the same system of subordination as that of Hitler’s fascists: “Haup-Sturmführers”, “Sturmbannführers”, “Obers”, etc. In Nazi groups a cult is preached strong personality, racism, chauvinism, there is an interest in black magic. Many members of these groups systematically engage in physical training. Right-wing extremists do not hide their views and are ready to actively engage in discussion about them. The rest of the informals, except for punks and black metalheads, have no sympathy for them and often condemn their views. It must be said that teenagers in Nazi groups are mainly interested in the attributes and rituals of their organization. The matter becomes very complicated when an adult with truly reactionary views becomes the head of the group. Then such a group becomes socially dangerous.

Youth groups of the left-wing extremist type are known. Members of these groups cut their hair short, wear their hair combed back, usually completely shave their faces, and wear badges on their chests with images of prominent Soviet party members and statesmen. Members of these groups are extremely hostile towards adherents of Western culture and ideology, waging a real war against them: they boo Western artists who come to us, take away imported things from majors, cut off long hair from hippies, etc. Often such actions are accompanied by beating of informals - “ Westerners."

youth informal group schoolboy

It is at a young age that a person chooses his main path and the directions his life will take. At this time we determine our destiny, because life does not provide another such opportunity.

Young people have their own evaluation criteria and characteristics, which distinguish it from all other groups in society. On this moment youth are analyzed from the point of view of several criteria: age, psychological and social features. Usually the last two characteristics are considered together:

1. Features of emotional sensitivity.
2. Desire for risk.
3. High degree of mobility and adaptation to existing situations.
4. The desire to express yourself and your strengths to the maximum.
5. A critical attitude towards the older generation and nihilism regarding modern reality.
6. Striving for freedom and ideal.

Young people as a social group go through a socializing stage of development, and also acquire educational and civic qualities that should prepare them to perform “adult” responsibilities.

Note that in domestic social science it for a long time was not considered as a separate social unit. The fact is that it did not fit into the definition of class structure. The term “youth” was first defined in 1968 by V. Lisovsky. Then other interpretations began to appear, created by psychologists and sociologists.

At the moment, youth as a social group has certain boundaries: the lower one begins at the age of 14, and the upper one ends when a person achieves economic and personal independence.

The youth of Russia, just like in other countries, are distinguished by a maximalist attitude to reality and uncompromising approach to life. Everyone uses it political parties and figures who begin to skillfully manipulate these features, involving youth leaders in their games on the eve of the next elections. Of course, he has certain and clear views on events in the country, but politicians do not take them into account.

Let us note that modern youth has a number of which, as it turns out, have nothing to do with state interests. Modern policies regarding this category of people are feasible only on paper.

Young people as a social group are heterogeneous: they are divided by place of residence (rural and urban), social affiliation and attitude to the subculture.

Since the problems of society are dynamic, they are also projected onto young people. Since they are the most defenseless against the conditions of the surrounding reality, the situation is even more aggravated.

Moreover, this applies to almost all spheres of existence. Let us note that the life of modern youth is further aggravated by the fact that the state does not pay due attention to young families and does not provide them with the necessary support. After all, parents cannot always help their children, and the market system has led to the development of such problems.

Let us also note that a conflict is developing with the older generation, which not only does not help the socialization of young people, but also acts as a brake on the progress of this process. In particular, the number of conflict situations and manifestations of deviant behavior is increasing.

Also noticeable is a decrease in interest in work, because it is now becoming problematic to satisfy one’s needs through conscientious work for the benefit of society.

Therefore, at present, young people as a social group are considered the least protected both politically and socially. And this cannot but affect her perception of reality and behavioral reactions.

The youth- a socio-demographic group identified on the basis of a set of age characteristics, characteristics of social status determined by socio-psychological properties. Youth occupies an important place in the socio-demographic structure and socio-political life of society.

The age range of young people is considered to be the interval from 14 to 30 years. The lower limit is associated with puberty, the end secondary school, the beginning vocational training. The upper limit is determined by legal adulthood, completion of vocational training, marriage, achievement of economic independence, birth of the first child, and this is up to 30 years of age.

This means that youth, as a demographic category, unites the population within the 16-year age interval. The main social and demographic events in the world occur during adolescence. life cycle person: completion of general education, choice of profession and obtaining vocational education, Start labor activity, marriage, birth of children.

Over such a relatively short period of life, young people experience a change in their socio-demographic status several times:

Junior group: adolescents under 18 years of age (students) are dependent on their parents, continue or complete their general or special education and do not have full civil rights (voting, marriage).

Middle group: youth 18-24 years old (students, young workers). Some of them have already separated from their parental families and live on their own income. At this age there is active marriage, the formation of young families, and the birth of first children.

Senior group: young adults 25-30 years old are people who, as a rule, have already made a professional choice, have certain qualifications, some life and professional experience, but young families are characterized by high levels of conflict and marriage breakdowns.

Sociologists as social sign The upper limit of youth age, at which it ends, is often chosen to form a family. Family man or a married woman - these are no longer young people, but quite adults. And this is correct, since the family imposes on a person completely new responsibilities and status powers that go beyond the concept of “youth.”

Youth is socially heterogeneous and its various groups (worker, peasant, student, urban and rural) have their own specific characteristics. They relate to value orientations, material wealth, image and lifestyle. Working youth begin their working lives earlier and start a family earlier than representatives of the middle class, who study at university for five years and then search for jobs for two or three years. suitable job in order to financially provide for the future family. Therefore, some people’s youth ends earlier than others. A young scientist who is allowed to participate in his category in a competition for scientific projects or publications must not exceed 35 years of age. Thus, socio-class criteria have to be added to the cultural-historical criteria.

Youth is the time most favorable for choosing a profession and a spouse. Before finding themselves and gaining a foothold in the profession, young people must try a lot. That is why she often changes jobs and sexual partners. The choice is limited if financial situation young man(or parents) difficult. He has to fight for the first place he gets, but not his wife. In this case average age marriage rates are increasing. When the economic situation in the country is favorable, unemployment is low, and the number of young people entering working age is small, workers have time to try out professions for more a short time and gain a foothold in the workplace earlier. If unemployment is high, entrenchment occurs later.

The youth and teenage period in the life of every person is a time of tireless experimentation, creative growth and professional self-determination. New paths in the development of science and culture were also often paved by young people.

A. Einstein created the theory of relativity at the age of 25, W. Heisenberg was 24 years old when he, together with N. Bohr, developed the foundations of quantum mechanics. A. Pushkin began creating his fully mature works at a very young age.

A young man, both physiologically and psychologically, needs the experience of changing activities, hobbies, attachments, and expanding his circle of acquaintances. In adulthood and especially old age, nothing like this is required. During this period of life we ​​value old friends, developed habits, home comfort and a comfortable sofa.

The desire to remake the world at will, to make a revolution and fight for social justice, seeing in this its special purpose, in psychology it is called messianic complex . It consists of ascribing to oneself an important role in the salvation of humanity and represents a childhood or age-related illness of the developing spirit.

Each country develops a special youth policy. Its significance is explained by the fact that the future of the country depends on the aspirations and mood of young people. Let's get acquainted with the main provisions of the Concept of State Youth Policy of the Russian Federation.

“The need for a special policy towards young people is determined by the specifics of their position in society. It is not enough to understand youth in the traditional sense, only as the future of society. It must be assessed as an organic part of modern society, bearing a special function, irreplaceable by other social groups, of responsibility for the preservation and development of our country, for the continuity of its history and culture, the life of elders and the reproduction of subsequent generations, and ultimately - for the survival of peoples as cultural -historical communities. Youth has its own special functions in society that cannot be replaced or implemented by any other socio-demographic group.

Young people inherit the achieved level of development of society and, due to their specific position, need to appropriate for themselves the spiritual and material benefits accumulated in society in the form of education, housing, cultural, sports facilities, etc. She immediately takes for granted what is new, developed by her predecessors in science, technology and production, in education and culture, literature and art, in all spheres of human life. Her start in life is at a higher level than that of contemporary adults and elderly people.

At the same time, young people are just entering working and social life; they are not yet fully included, less integrated into existing socio-economic, ideological, political, family and everyday processes. It is easier for her to perceive turning points, but they are the ones that do not allow her to experience the fullness of social interactions and limit her potential.

Youth is the main subject of family formation and demographic processes.

This creates opportunities to choose the pace and direction of young people’s entry into government and public life. It is this circumstance that is the basis of its innovation activity, her creative contribution to the development of society.

The younger generation is responsible for the present and future of their state. The responsibility of the younger generation is realized on the basis of their mastery and transformation of the system of values ​​and norms and their implementation in activities that contribute to the revival of Russia.

The conditions for the formation of youth responsibility for the future of the state are: expanding the democratic participation of youth in the development of society; eradication of poverty and significant socio-economic inequalities; expanding the rights of children and young citizens in the political and economic fields and ensuring their representation at all levels of decision-making; providing support information support, greater visibility and accountability in management matters, as well as in decision-making on economic and social issues.

The likelihood of realizing a particular concept of Russia's development largely depends on the extent to which it is supported by the younger generation, its creative activity, and the way of thinking and life of young people. The decrease in population, and therefore youth, due to the deterioration of the gene pool and the spread of negative phenomena, creates the need to analyze the threshold of these manifestations, after which the impossibility of stabilization and development arises. The decrease in population due to the size of the territory, the nature of economic development in the last decade, socio-economic processes in the youth environment, the content of employment of the working population in the foreseeable future gives rise to the need to analyze Russia’s place in the world economic economy, in the distribution economic roles. These are no longer problems of youth, but problems of national and state security.”

State youth policy in the Russian Federation designed to provide:

• strategic continuity of generations, preservation and development of national culture, education of youth careful attitude to the historical and cultural heritage of the peoples of Russia;
• the formation of patriots of Russia, citizens of a legal, democratic state, capable of socialization in a civil society, respecting the rights and freedoms of the individual, taking advantage of opportunities legal system who have high statehood and demonstrate national and religious tolerance, respect for the languages, traditions and culture of other peoples, tolerance for spiritual opinion, the ability to seek and find meaningful compromises;
• formation of a culture of peace and interpersonal relationships, rejection of forceful methods of resolving political conflicts within the country, readiness to defend it from aggression;
• versatile and timely development of young people, their creative abilities, self-organization skills, personal self-realization, the ability to defend their rights, and participate in the activities of public associations;
• formation in them of a holistic worldview and modern scientific worldview, cultural development interethnic relations;
• development in young citizens of positive work motivation, high business activity, successful mastery of the basic principles of professionalization, skills of effective behavior in the labor market;
• young people’s mastery of various social skills and roles, responsibility for their own well-being and the state of society, the development of a culture of their social behavior, taking into account the openness of society, its informatization, and the growing dynamism of change.

Content:
Subculture concept

What are modern youth associations, what are they based on and how do they influence the formation of the personality of adolescents and young people - these are the questions that most teachers ask. The answers to them, we hope, will tell adults how to use the attributes and elements of youth subcultures for pedagogical purposes.

Subculture concept

On one of the Internet sites there is a list of common phrases modern man, for which in 1990 a person was threatened with ending up in a psychiatric hospital. For example, “I’ll call you back from the forest.” Another example: in a bookstore, up to two-thirds of books have titles and genres that were impossible a couple of decades ago.

In the lives of teenagers, boys and girls, young people, these socio-technical innovations and cultural influences take shape in the form of modern youth subcultures and activities.

Subculture – these are patterns of behavior, life styles, specific values ​​and their symbolic expression of any social group.

Not only age cohorts and special layers of youth, but also professional groups have their own subcultures. Subcultures Doctors, astronauts, actors, TV people, teachers have them... The usual teacher words “window”, “clock”, “rusichka”, “extension” are not understood by all representatives of other professions. Try to decipher the slang of TV journalists: “brick”, “canned food”, “live”, “ruler”, “parquet”... Distinctive cultural features are also inherent in political associations: the subculture of the same communists is not very similar to the subculture of liberals.

youth subculture – These are patterns of behavior, clothing styles, musical preferences, language (slang), specific values ​​and their symbolic expressions characteristic of groups of young people (12−25 years old).

Youth subcultures have existed for a long time, at least since the second half of the twentieth century. In our country, they attracted the attention of society and the media in the 1980s. In those years, bearers of such special cultural practices were usually called participants in informal youth associations. Most famous examples– hippies, punks, rockers, metalheads.

The main socio-psychological feature of informal youth associations is the symbolization of appearance, lifestyle, behavior, in particular, clothing, speaking style. For example, long hippie hair is not only long hair, but also a symbol of freedom; the English-language layer of hippie slang is an orientation toward Western patterns of behavior; an apartment where informal people gather is not just a room, but a flat, where everyone is their own, united by an unpretentious style of everyday life.