Panpimol, speaking at a "Youth Problems in Schools" seminar organised by the Education Council at Bangkok's Rama Garden Hotel, said many Thai teenagers had no outstanding qualities - whether academic, music, sports or in the ability to express themselves - yet they were not slow or in need of special educational attention.

Youths received little attention from society, so many of them adopted deviant behaviour to show they were "not just wallflowers", said Panpimol.

A graph depicting Thai youth development would show 10 per cent of teenagers and children achieving good school grades and displaying some kind of talent; 10 per cent achieving poor grades or being "problematic"; and 80 per cent being classed as average, Panpimol explained.

One third of the 80 per cent group suffered from a sense of "non-existence" and thus started to ignore school, skip classes and create problems. Many become involved in violence, stealing, premature sex, and drug abuse, she said. These youths craved attention, she added. Thus the development curve was sliding towards the problematic.

The ratio of "good kids" to "problematic children" had slipped from 80:20 to 50:50 in some schools, causing the education authorities more problems in preventing bad behaviour, she said.

She urged schools and parents to work together to boost children's self-confidence by supporting them in constructive activities. Problem children should not be made to feel inferior through comparison with "better kids".

Panpimol said that Thai youths spend up to eight hours a day exposed to entertainment media, including an average of four hours surfing the Internet and two hours watching television or listening to the radio. They had no time for other useful and constructive activities.

She suggested that parents step in to manage the time their children spend on entertainment media.

There should be limits to the number of hours spent watching TV or on computer games, and more parental guidance on the content of such activities. She also proposed that schools include media studies in their curricula.

President of the National Student Council and 12th-grader from Roi Et's Wittayalai School, Chaiwat Krittakom, said he had talked to other students at the Education Council and found that many had problems resulting from a lack of discipline. An increasing number gathered in gangs with certain objectives that led to fighting, money extortion and bullying of junior students. He said that such behaviour might be caused by a lack of family warmth.

Dr Amornwit Nakhontap, director of the Ramjitti Institute and an advisor to the deputy education minister, said there were more bad youths than good nowadays and many of them were obsessed with mobile phones and the Internet. This affected their behaviour and personal relations as they secluded themselves in the cyber world and talked excessively to their friends via cell phones.

He urged all sides to help tackle youth problems and not just leave the issue in the hands of the ministry or schools.

He emphasised the fact that most troubled children came from broken homes, which put them at risk of problems such as sexual assault and drug abuse.

With serious cooperation in trying to solve the problems, the situation could improve in a few years and gradually fade, he said.

Education Minister Wijit Srisaan said in his seminar-opening speech that schools should regard the teaching of basic virtues as their key mission, and that this would lead to better behaviour among students.

Supinda na Mahachai

The Nation