Introduction
In Aristotle’s work Rhetoric, we find a discourse on “The character of young people.” He says that the emotions of the young are ambitious, they want to do as quickly as possible what they set out to do, yet they are also unstable; just as quickly as they become excited about something, they can become indifferent to it. They are irritable, impulsive, and cannot tolerate being underestimated or treated unfairly. They try to stand out, attract attention, be the center of attention, and win recognition or victory. They are inclined to trust because many times they have not yet been disappointed, so it is necessary to protect children and youth and explain to them whom they can trust, and under which circumstances, and whom they should not. They live in hope, often dreaming about who they will become when they grow up, because in childhood and adolescence there is still so much to trust in and they may believe in anything. They strongly prefer what seems beautiful and gives them joy over what is merely useful. They need their peers around them and choose them based on personal affinity, not on what each person can provide them. They also often feel pity because they believe every living being is endowed with innocence. They like to laugh and joke, and whatever the reason, this provides adults with a path to get closer to them. Aristotle described archaic children and youth, yet conditions and circumstances have changed, and the influence on children and youth functions differently; still, he captured the nature children and youth have even today (Aristoteles, 2009).
Emerging Needs of Children and Youth
We can state, for example, that children aged 6 to 12 have different needs than children aged 12 to 18, and their needs change based on changes happening in their environment. The term emerging needs of children and youth refers to the challenges, opportunities, and problems associated with child and youth development. (Oudenhowen, Wazir, 2006) We define emerging needs as a set of challenges, opportunities, and risks that interfere with their development, with the interaction of today’s children and youth with these needs occurring with much greater intensity compared to their occurrence in the past. (Piovariová and others, 2009). Emerging needs appeared under the influence of media, parental upbringing, and school, and reflect the character of modern times: for example, the need for safety on the Internet, healthy environments, healthy lifestyles, movement, and similar needs.
Generation Z, which we categorize as people born after 2000, is characterized by searching for things online while multitasking, and therefore they can generally listen to music and work, or watch television while doing assigned tasks at the same time. It is also typical that freedom, justice, and the possibility to express their opinions are very important to them, and they are largely open to topics that previous generations would have considered taboo. The youngest generation is called Generation Alpha, expected to include individuals born after 2020. Since this generation is still made up of very young children, we cannot fully define what makes this demographic cohort specific, but we can predict that they will be highly fluent with computing technology and that virtual and physical spaces will be merged for them into one (Trezová, 2015). During the coronavirus pandemic, communication among children was significantly altered and deprived of physical contact and face-to-face meetings. Children attended classes and communicated only through communication platforms. In the case of online classes this was usually Zoom or MS Teams, and with classmates they communicated, for example, via Messenger, WhatsApp, Discord, or in-game chat. Some children and adults, following the model of online classes, also made video calls with acquaintances, family, and friends. Overall communication with people and offices was limited almost exclusively to online space. Children at the first level of primary school gradually merged online communication and personal interaction into one, and we believe they will continue to view this in the future not just as an addition but as a normal part of their life and functioning. In this way, children learn to operate devices and online platforms, and over time they may become considerably more experienced with technology than children who were at that level, for example, ten years ago.
When observing today’s youth, it is important to consider their needs in cyber space. What possibilities and motives do they have to engage there?
- To stay in contact with people.
- To be liked.
- To gain respect.
- To improve their self-image.
- To learn something new.
- To be entertained by videos, images, and modern games, where they can briefly enter a world where almost everything seems possible.
Need to connect with others online: It is saturated on social networks. On these platforms, one can meet a lost family member, best friends, or the love of one’s life, but also pedophiles, manipulators, members of cults and sects, aggressors, bullies, cyberbullies, and people who with a smile provide or sell personal data that we have provided and continue to provide on social networks through posts and messages.
It is safer to write only with people we know personally and provide as little personal information as possible, especially to profiles that are clearly “fake,” i.e., where the described and depicted person is obviously made up or someone is impersonating another person. People also fall for fake profiles and scams not only children, but adults and seniors as well. Protection from these online traps is a demanding issue, and preventive measures against threats lurking online should therefore be carried out by multidisciplinary teams of IT professionals, psychologists, lawyers, and other experts. Creating such teams and organizing activities, as well as ensuring continuous active support and help, is one of the newly emerging needs, one that affects not only children but adults too.
Need to be liked: The need to be liked and to improve one’s self-image is again connected with sharing photographs and functioning on social networks used for dating, so-called matching platforms. The risks stemming from this need are obvious: pedophiles, aggressive people, sexual predators, people playing with young people’s feelings, mocking messages, sharing our photos with sexual overtones with other users, and so on. All these issues can lead to suicidal tendencies in children and youth. If warning signs are not timely detected by parents and educators—signs that could indicate poor mood, depression, disappointment, or a harmful change in self- and life-image— it may be too late. For protection against toxic people online and the threats targeting them, it would be necessary to establish campaigns and educational programs focused on protecting children and people online and on improving self-image. Currently, within its Safekids program, Eset produces articles and posts and, as part of its security solutions, provides a function intended to protect children online (Parrental Control). In addition, its articles and videos include many tips for children and parents that could help us protect ourselves. However, programs and campaigns that should focus on child protection as the most vulnerable group should also be established by the third sector and local governments, because education, information provision, and counseling are essential for child protection today.
The need to be liked, or rather a child’s desire for something, can also escalate into an unwanted payment transaction for parents. Today, people’s computers and phones are linked to credit cards; if that account is not doubly secured, a child may, intentionally or not, order a product or service that parents do not want and do not approve of. Therefore, it is necessary to set technical settings on devices and to properly educate the child about the seriousness of online purchases and to insist on consultation before doing so. This does not even include possible scams in which a child may become a victim.
Need to gain respect: The need to feel respected by others is connected to the need to be liked, to achieve performance, and to build an image that is “in the know,” including online spaces such as games and for example Instagram.
Need to improve one’s self-image: A better sense of self can come for children only in a community that values and supports their effort sufficiently. This may be satisfied on social networks and in online games.
Need to learn something new: This need may sound “nice,” and we might say, “the child is educating themselves and enjoys it,” yet this need can also be two-sided. We should become alert especially when the knowledge and philosophy involved stimulate racism, drug use, violence, the promotion of anorexia or bulimia, self-harm, suicide, or dangerous behavior based on the ideology of a cult or sect. Children become excited quickly, and it is never easy to tell them not to engage in something clearly unsuitable for them. Particularly in adolescence, affinity toward parents is evident, so to keep children safe we must rely on someone else explaining these things to them. In such cases, examples can come from influencers, YouTubers, or Twitch streamers who can more easily help them accept that critical thinking is important and that information and content should be considered before being absorbed. At this stage parents also have a role: with a trusting relationship, where parent and child talk about many things, parents can in time analyze potential risks. Adults should show genuine interest in the child: what they like, what troubles them, who they get along with and who they do not, and guide them toward critical thinking—that not everything online is true or well-intentioned, and that one must choose what is suitable for us and what is not. This seems to be a more appropriate prevention against undesirable decisions by children and youth.
Need to have fun: On the Internet, children and youth are especially interested in photos and videos they watch, share, and spread on social networks such as Instagram, Facebook, or lately very popular TikTok. Children want to be known, create content, get followers, and meet interesting people and friends. But children and adults today spend on average at least 4 hours a day on social networks, and social networks are now a significant source of information. A possible prevention against risks could also be the effort of popular content creators to encourage their followers to create and share videos and images based on ethical principles, with respect and dignity for everyone.
We also connect the need to have fun with the risk of dependence on computer games. Today this typically involves games played on online servers, multiplayer, and involving communication among players. Such dependence often appears as child inattention, with the mind constantly “stuck in the game.” These games usually have a purchase fee that is not small, though there are also games that are “completely free”; after closer inspection, however, we find that to enjoy them fully, one must pay further fees for upgrades that give a sense of victory and the previously mentioned need for respect, which is then reinforced by other players. In games, we can briefly become the hero we sometimes create for ourselves; children and youth create avatar characters they would like to be in reality, becoming who they currently want to be, because then they are “cool.” Returning to real life can be difficult if a child does not have opportunities for similar excitement and fun and is forced into activities and information that feel uninteresting. It also often happens that a child becomes a huge fan of a game series, such as Assassin’s Creed or Grand Theft Auto, and tries to imitate, within acceptable boundaries, the behavior and clothing of main protagonists. In Assassin’s Creed this may mean climbing trees or buildings, while with GTA it may involve adopting vocabulary characteristic of that title. Such behavior is often common and usually does not have strongly negative consequences. It is still necessary, as a parent, teacher, or animator, to show children that there are many fun activities that do not require a gaming computer or console. In such cases, it is necessary to gently present other ways of spending free time, persuade them of the attractiveness of other activities, and engage with them a bit more. The root of the problem is often boredom—children simply have nothing to do. When they return from school, parents spend very little time with them, and if they also do not have many friends, as can happen in some smaller villages, a child may give in to virtuality. A child often cannot organize their own schedule and sometimes cannot even choose or find a game that they would enjoy. Certainly, this depends on the marketing of particular games, their visual design, their playability, and the community around the game. For example, if a child’s peer group includes Dota2 players, they will likely install that game too.
Emerging Needs of Children in the City of Rimavská Sobota
The research was carried out in Rimavská Sobota. We recognize that the results we present are specific to the place where they were identified, and generalization in this case should be very cautious; however, with children and youth whose age is comparable to our participants (12–17 years), it is possible to predict the needs found in Rimavská Sobota also in another city. We believe that problems occurring in the area where children live and directly affecting their parents also become problems for their children, while at the same time identifying almost identical solutions and needs as their parents. It is interesting how sensitive and observant today’s children are toward their environment. Children notice and are sensitive to external stimuli. We can certainly reject the stereotypical notion that children and youth only care about things directly affecting them and are unaffected by other realities. From their statements we can conclude that children register their parents’ problems, current world situations, and are interested in ecological issues described in the media.
The research we conducted in Rimavská Sobota was focused on studying children’s needs using group semi-structured interviews. The research sample included children from Rimavská Sobota aged 12 to 17 from the local Stredná škola technická a agropotravinárska in Rimavská Sobota, from the Centre for Children and Families RS, from the Relax leisure center RS, and from Dobšinský Elementary School in Rimavská Sobota. During the study period, 7 research sessions were conducted with 89 children. In total, 34 girls and 55 boys took part.
Within the research, many problems perceived by children were identified. One of the most important is the lack of employment opportunities for parents, which influences a lack of finances and forces parents to work two jobs at once, or one parent is forced to travel abroad for work.
As problematic, children perceive both the high number of hours their parents work and the resulting difficulty in balancing family and work life. Long working hours, according to them, negatively affect the parent-child bond. A few statements from children illustrate these and the following assertions.
“This is not only up to the parents, but in this system in this country, it’s simply that parents are forced to keep working, working, working so they can feed their families, because today almost nothing can be done without money. Everything runs on a material principle. Here in Slovakia, for example, some jobs are not paid enough, so certain mothers have to go care for others in Austria—that means they do not spend as much time with these children. Or even when some fathers go, they also have to go on trucks—or I don’t know what—and they also do not spend much time with their children.” Participants believe parents should spend more time with their children, and employers should take this requirement into account. An employer, in their view, could also contribute to supporting the parent-child relationship: “Well, an open-door day, for example, where families with children could come, have fun, or do something like that.” Especially by organizing activities for employees’ families, providing longer vacations for employees with children, increasing salaries of employees with multiple children, and retaining employees in their workplace or institution. “Maybe give better holidays to those parents so that when their children are on vacation, they can spend more time together, or pay employees better so they can bring more money home.”
Children also fear that if one parent travels abroad for work, this may lead that parent to find a new life partner abroad and establish a new family there with a new partner. “Let’s say they left to work, or they have a new family and do not want anything to do with the old one.” This would mean not only a temporary loss of a parent but potentially a more permanent one, as that parent’s time would then be devoted to the new family and the parent-child relationship would lose its original authenticity. Besides this, children and youth attach significant attention to this issue of employment opportunities because even if such a scenario does not happen, a parent’s departure may still result in a loss of open communication with children. For this reason, children and youth also see employees who do not have children as potential supporters of parents with children. They think colleagues without children could, for example, accommodate parents with children by exchanging shifts. “In my view, people like that should maybe, at the expense of those with families, take overtime twice a month, because those four extra hours in work are enough, for example.”
Children in the city also perceive a lack of leisure opportunities and spaces for spending free time. According to their words, most of their free time is spent at home, in front of computers or phones. “They are so isolated, as if they are alone, they do not go outside at all.” They would welcome more sports clubs: “If there is a child in Sobota who likes volleyball or basketball, where should they go? For example, I like volleyball too, but I don’t have anywhere to play volleyball.” And more cultural events: “People who are more interesting would come here, some performances like these that happen here, but something more engaging.”
Children also said that for youth in this city it is not unusual when young people spend long stretches of time using intoxicants. For instance, one motive for drinking can be the wish to belong: “So I think, but if I knew, for example, imagine you wouldn’t drink, then I would look like some kind of autistic person.” They also said a reason for drug use and alcohol consumption may be boredom and also a lack of opportunities for children and youth. “Younger people here don’t know what to do, and everyone does drugs, everyone, the whole town, they don’t know what to do, they do drugs. I’m not saying everyone, but a large part of them.”
Based on the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs (ESPAD), 15–16-year-old students from Slovakia reported in 2015 that drug use in Slovakia is more or less similar to the average of other countries, though a slight increase in cannabis use was observed. Almost half also reported having experience with alcohol. Alcohol is among the most accessible drugs and so most children and youth turn to it when using intoxicants. In deeper analysis we also found among our participants that when they talked about drugs, they first meant alcohol, cigarettes, and cannabis. In the city, however, children from weaker social backgrounds also use toluene, which currently represents a major problem in Slovakia, for example in Roma settlements (Správa o dorogách, 2019). According to operational information from the National Criminal Agency of the Police, in the Banskobystrický region the most frequently encountered illicit drugs were marijuana, methamphetamine, ecstasy, and heroin. Since 2012, distribution of the drug known as “herba” has gradually spread into southern districts, including Rimavská Sobota. According to information from the same sources, the youngest users found in the Banskobystrický region were 12 years old, and child intoxication occurred in ages 12 to 15. These are users of marijuana, synthetic cannabinoids (including “herbs”) from socially weaker groups, mainly of Roma ethnicity (Report on the State and Development of the Drug Scene in the Slovak Republic for 2018).
Participants also perceive as problematic that smartphone activities are replacing real-life actions and also create a habit of device use in which this habit appears in an individual’s thinking focused on virtual activities while ignoring stimuli and opportunities in physical life. “I would say phones or computers, electronics affect children’s lives. More on the negative side, children spend more time on it than they should.” “I notice it very much, this generation, people from around 2014, 2004 to 2006, they are constantly on phones, it is incredible.” “Not only when they are outside, or these things, but they are on their phones, and even when they are outside—once I met a friend after four years, we sat down and it was like we were on our phones more than talking.” From these comments, you can feel participants are aware that modern mobile applications significantly reduce full cognitive presence in reality and that the mind is often elsewhere, in apps and social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. Along with expanded use of social media, other negative scenarios also emerge, such as cyberbullying. “A classmate wrote to a girl that she was overweight, or what she looks like, even though it is not true, but they needed to compensate something,” as they put it. In deeper discussion, participants proposed that such cases should be handled by experts whose job should include communication with the child and contacting platforms to prevent such behavior, delete derogatory content, and offer preventive advice for safe use of such applications. “Some hacker who would monitor social networks, or some expert who would maybe be able to delete certain things. In other words, provide psychological help for these victims and some IT expert who could also help in that virtual world, because as we know, some of these bullies got used to pretending to be someone else and posting insulting things about him/her.”
Another sensitive topic participants identified was environmental pollution in the world. “Please, people, separate the waste, because then the Earth looks the way it does, whales literally choke on plastic—they get entangled in some waste. This is not a problem only for Slovakia or Rimavská Sobota, but for the whole world.” “We need to think ecologically; sort everything.”
Participants reported many problematic situations related to the city or broader environment. In their statements we can sometimes find their needs either implicitly or directly. They include:
- Need to grow up in a healthy family environment.
- Need to live in a pleasant environment.
- Need for partial financial freedom.
- Need for a sense of usefulness.
- Need to feel belonging and participation in decision-making processes.
- Need for a solidaristic and social perspective on things.
- Need for security.
- Need to have a job.
- Need for orientation in ways to use free time.
- Need to find meaning in activity within free time.
- Need for available space to meet peers.
- Need to have cultural recreation (entertainment).
- Need to belong to a group.
- Need for safety in cyber space (on the Internet and social media).
- Need to gain admiration.
- Need to find and create identity in cyber space that is more attractive than in physical space.
- Need for safety.
- Need for self-realization without fear of ridicule and tyrannizing.
- Need for individualized approach.
- Need for self-realization.
- Need for appropriate stimuli for development.
- Need to protect Planet Earth.
- Need to live in a clean environment.
- Need for an open future.
Conclusion
Thus, emerging needs of children and youth are the challenges to which attention must be paid, because the intensity of interaction and the urgency of meeting these needs are significantly higher than in the past. These may be needs that have long existed but were not perceived as sensitively, or needs that emerged under the influence of advances in science and technology and needs that are noticeable in the context of problems and situations that were not present in the past.
From our research, it follows that the greatest problem and challenge to stabilization is the lack of employment opportunities in Rimavská Sobota. A key problem for children and youth in Rimavská Sobota is also the lack of leisure and sports opportunities. People need self-realization, and if no form of fulfilling this need through activities and opportunities exists, complications arise. Participants state that such children are often sad, disillusioned, and may turn to drug use and to entertainment venues where drugs are used. A second alternative consequence of a lack of leisure opportunities is spending time on computers or smartphones. The desired effect we seek is digital balance and directing children toward responsibility and activities through which they can be satisfied. Children and youth must be listened to and provided with as many opportunities as possible for them to develop and be happy. Children and youth are the future, and we need to leave it to them in a non-polluted environment and with excellent adults who will be satisfied with what they have today and who remember with love what once was.
Author: Mgr. Roland Sivok
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