India’s youth are often hailed as the nation’s greatest asset ~ brimming with energy, ambition, and promise. But behind this hopeful narrative lies a stark truth: only a fraction are meaningfully contributing to national progress. The rest remain emotionally adrift, professionally underutilized, and socially undisciplined. Our much-celebrated demographic dividend risks becoming a demographic liability unless we confront this reality with urgency and resolve. The symptoms are most visible in urban India, but rural regions are not untouched ~ thanks to the instant reach of electronic media and digital platforms. Aggression, impatience, and civic indiscipline have become routine.

Reckless driving ~ on expressways, city roads, and even on the wrong lane ~ along with foul language, queue-jumping, and public confrontations reflect a deeper malaise. Helmets are ignored, traffic rules flouted, and civility eroded. It is not uncommon to hear abusive language in public spaces, revealing a disturbing collapse of basic politeness and respect. This behavioural drift is not confined to the uneducated or economically marginalized. It has seeped into the psyche of even the well-off and well-schooled. The rise of nuclear families, helicopter parenting, and instant digital gratification has shaped a generation emotionally unprepared for adversity. Shielded from discomfort and fast-tracked to rewards, many adolescents now lack the resilience to face failure, rejection, or uncertainty.

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When pressure mounts, escape often feels easier than endurance ~ manifesting in aggression, addiction, or apathy. Emotional volatility, sleeplessness, and even suicidal ideation are no longer rare ~ they are warning signs of a deeper disconnect. Based on NCRB data for 2022, 41 per cent of all suicides in India were committed by people under the age of 30 ~ a staggering 70,000 young lives lost in a single year. Substance abuse among adolescents is rising alarmingly. In December 2022, the Centre informed the Supreme Court that more than 1.5 crore children aged 10-17 were addicted to substances ~ alcohol, cannabis, and opioids being the most common. Simultaneously, the digital space, especially platforms like YouTube, has become a breeding ground for vulgarity, perversion, and foul language. Despite community guidelines, algorithmic incentives and cultural shifts allow such content to thrive, shaping impressionable minds in........

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