Many people from the West who come here on holiday to Egypt are surprised when they see a young man of eighteen years of age holding his grandfather's hand when they cross the road together. Young people used to do this in London and New York, but they don't do it anymore. Where young people used to hold doors open for old ladies and offer their seats to the elderly on the bus, we now see in many cities in the West a situation where people are afraid to go out at night because it is no longer safe to do so. In any revolution, there are winners and losers. One system gives way to another and one group of people take over from another group. In more violent revolutions, the leaders are summarily executed. In others, the transition is a peaceful one. But whenever we see this kind of social and political upheaval, some people must lose out. In the recent Presidential elections here in Egypt, we saw many of those who had lost out last year trying to get back into power. Their candidate, they claimed, had nothing to do with the old regime, but wanted to see change brought about in an orderly way. The revolution's winners now have all the cards in their hands and the future of the country is in their hands, too. Leaving aside, though, the political considerations of this or that group, there is one group in Egypt that has definitely lost out because of January's Revolution. We might call them the lost generation. This lost generation comprises all of those young people who were younger than the young protesters in Tahrir Square. They weren't old enough to go out and protest. Many of these young people did not yet have any political sense or interest, but they saw everything around them collapsing. We can put the group in the age bracket of around twelve to sixteen years of age. Growing up isn't the easiest thing. It has its challenges in any age. Imagine, then, how many young people in Egypt must have felt last year. They didn't quite grasp why people wanted to see an end to thirty years of one type of government, but they saw the country falling apart before their eyes. They saw the country's president and all of his government vilified by vast crowds, calling for their downfall. They saw the police force being treated as an object of hate. In a country where respect is usually given to one's elders, they saw revolutionary youths openly questioning and challenging what their elders were saying. A few days into the revolution, they then saw a breakdown of security, which hasn't really yet been fixed. And, once the jailed former president had been ousted, after years of quiet, they saw every citizen voicing his opinion in every metro carriage and minibus in the land. In a country where political debate had been largely silent, now every idea and every opinion was valid. The fruit of all this change for Egypt's lost generation has been a group of young people growing up with no respect for their elders. We see it in their behaviour today. How many of us, travelling in central Cairo, have been shocked at the loud and unruly behaviour of groups of young people? We hadn't seen this before in Egypt, but now graffiti is everywhere. We have all seen open defiance of the police by many people, where a group is all that is needed to make the police officer quietly walk away, in fear for his dignity if not for his personal safety also. Many of these youngsters had been taught by their older brothers and sisters, if not by words then by actions, to despise the police and to mock the government. What we now have is a generation of young people who are at a loss. Why should they listen to what their teacher has to say? Why should they obey their father? Why should they do as they are told when it seems that the rest of Egypt is doing precisely the opposite? At the present time, there are many challenges facing the new government. The economy is one. Restoring the reputation and improving the performance of the forces of law and order is another. The new President has impressed many, even those who didn't vote for him, by the simplicity of his style of governing. His words have certainly led many to hope that things might not be as bad in the future as they had feared. His style seems to be inclusive and conciliatory. Inshallah, given time and support from those around him he will be able to address some of the most pressing needs of the nation. But somewhere in his list of “things to do" there needs to be someone who takes a look at Egypt's lost generation, for these young people are the future of the country, but they are growing up with no respect for authority. It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that if this issue is not dealt with, Egypt is going to have problems in society that it only heard about before. When young people grow up frustrated and without direction they turn to other things to give them the support they are not getting elsewhere. If they are being ignored they will look to other things that will give them satisfaction and attention. In the West, we see high levels of teenage pregnancy, of abortion, drunkenness and drug addiction. We see a society where materialism has taken over from the values of the family. Each one has to look after himself and, as a result, the very fabric of society has broken down. We saw it last summer with riots in many cities in Britain, where young people went on a spree of burning and destruction. If Egypt is to avoid this, and inshallah God will spare us from it, then we need to look to our sons and daughters as a matter of urgency and look after them. “Because I told you so," is no longer an acceptable answer to a young man's question. He has seen his older brothers die before him on the television. He has seen those who are supposed to care for the nation steal its wealth and lie to the very people they are supposed to care for. In shouting loudly on the Metro and questioning the policies of those in charge of the country, we need to spare a thought for the example we are setting for our children. This doesn't mean keeping quiet or allowing tyranny to have its way. We did that for thirty years. But it does mean doing things in a way that sets a good example for those who are young. If we engage in debate, then it should be courteous debate. If we disagree with our political opponents, then we can do so in a civilised way. Egypt has seen many changes in the last eighteen months. With the election of a new President we have at last seen the revolution take hold of the institutions of the state. Inshallah, things will begin to improve. But we could lose it all if we lose our young people in the process. In a world that has become very confusing to our sons and daughters, let's start by telling them how much we love them and have their interests at heart. Maybe then they will begin to feel a part of the change, not excluded from it. British Muslim writer, Idris Tawfiq, is a lecturer at Al-Azhar University . The author of eight books about Islam, he divides his time between Egypt and the UK as a speaker, writer and broadcaster. You can visit his website at www.idristawfiq.com.
