The youth cultural crisis

أزمة الثقافة لدى الشباب

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode on the youth cultural crisis. Seventy-one percent voted that the youth suffer a real cultural crisis; ¹ and they split on the satellite-and-internet effect: 47% saw culture weakened after them, 43% saw it improved; ² from the episode's figures: only 4% of girls read books against 96% magazines (a Saudi study), and 6-8 hours daily before the two screens; ³ ⁴ and 30% placed the remedy in education, only 7% in the intellectuals ⁵.

The episode and the votes

The 'Al-Wasatiyya' episode debated the youth cultural crisis — whether there is a real decline and whether satellites and the internet caused it ⁶ ⁷. Seventy-one percent voted that the youth suffer a real cultural crisis; ¹ and they split on the tools' effect: 47% saw culture weakened after satellites and the internet, 43% saw it improved ².

Figures on reading and screens

From the episode's figures: only 4% of girls read books against 96% magazines (a Saudi study); ³ and the youth spend 3-4 hours before television and another 3-4 before the internet — 6-8 hours daily ⁴.

The tools are the symptom, not the cause

Panelists held that satellites and the internet are tools that reveal the crisis rather than make it, and the real question is 'which culture do we want?' across the domains of faith, the material, thought and society ⁸ ⁹. They stressed the entertainment novel is a legitimate gateway to habituating youth to reading ¹⁰.

Reform starts with education

Thirty percent voted for reforming the education system and its institutions — teacher, material, the hidden curriculum and the student — against only 7% for the intellectuals and thinkers ¹¹ ⁵.

Opinions on the question

First opinion · Sunni tradition (the museum's frame)Main reference

Basis: Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) al-wassitiya ep18, 00:35:00-00:43:00

More opinions (1)

Other viewOther opinion

Basis: Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) al-wassitiya ep18, 00:30:30-00:59:30

Sources

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:06:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:35:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:31:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:39:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:59:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:01:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:01:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:41:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:42:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:31:00 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

Assabile archive of Tareq al-Suwaidan's lectures (video) , Al Wassitiya, episode 18, at 00:51:30 · Listen at the archive (opens the audio at this time)

The youth cultural crisis

At a glance