The adolescent has many hungers. One of them is the need for recognition. He must find his place in the world and feel he is someone. He wants to be noticed and affirmed. This gives him a sense of self-worth. He looks for this recognition from people significant in his life like his parents, teachers, close friends etc. When he needs something noble and praise worthy he expects compliments and praise. This spurs him on to do still better. A word of praise when he does well in studies or wins a sports trophy makes him feel great and gives him the incentive for striving harder. He does not always expect prizes or rewards though these can also help from time to time. The act of recognition works its magic by giving us all a spot in the social map. The younger you are the more hungry you are for recognition and if you are deprived of this psychological sunshine you might suffer an emotional frostbite and shrivel up.
When one does not receive positive recognition one will look for negative recognition consciously or unconsciously. This is because this is better than plain indifference and utter neglect. When teenagers get into trouble they make news in the school or media and this gives them some satisfaction as they hog the limelight. The noisy and boisterous youth who disturb the neighbourhood with wild midnight parties draw the attention of the elders of the area. Parents who have no time for their children at all and give them all kinds of freedom will be forced to mind them when they are arrested for some disorder and taken to police station. All the time they saved up by not supervising them can now be lost at tremendous emotional and social cost. Street gangs and eve teasers at bus stands are looking for this kind of negative recognition. So it becomes necessary to occupy the youth with wholesome and socially acceptable activities.
