 Pic: NST
Cycling is a sport that many Malaysians enjoy, whether seriously or for recreation, but in the past week, it became the talk of town for a different reason. In the early morning of February 18, eight teen cyclists were killed and several others injured in Johor Bahru after a car rammed into them.
Since then, many parties have shared their opinions on the matter as they argued that the youths should not have been cycling at that hour at all and exposing themselves to danger by riding without safety gear.
As these joyriding activities are not exactly something new, we decided to look at why teens behave that way, what can be done to curb these activities and make it safer for all cyclists in general.
Stopping Them From Going Out Might Not Be The Best Route To Curb Their Activities, Says Psychologist
The teen cyclists and their parents received the brunt of the backlash after the accident where the teens are being blamed for being out and about at odd hours of the night and the parents are being blamed for not monitoring their children’s movement.
But what is the reason for the children being out late at night/early in the morning in the first place?
According to Dr Suzana Mohd Hoesni from The Research Centre for Psychology and Human Well-Being, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, UKM, apparently, it is due to a pleasure principle where they will do anything they believe will make them feel good despite the consequences.
“One psychological aspect is the development of egocentrism, specifically, personal fable, among teenagers.
“This phenomenon will lead teenagers to assume that they will always be OK and nothing bad is going to happen to them although being involved in any high risk activities,” she told Malaysian Digest.
She added that this is also due to biological development where the part of the teenagers’ brains which controls emotions, the amygdala, develop faster than the part of the brain that controls higher order thinking such as decision making, the frontal lobe.
This results in teenagers being unable to make good judgement and therefore guidance from adults is vital. “During this time, it is vital for parents to ensure that they have built a strong trusting relationship with their teenage children in order to offer guidance,” she said.
But actively stopping them from going out might not be the best route to curb their activities. Instead, a strong relationship between parents and children will make a bigger impact.
“Teenager is a period of transition from being a child to being an adult. It is an adjustment period.
“Although teenagers are physically well developed, they are not completely cognitively and emotionally developed. Thus, all their actions need guidance and advice. Parents place an important role in helping shape teenagers.
“Therefore, it is best that parents build trust and faith by showing their warmth, love and care relationships with their children. Teenagers still need their parents although friends are important in their teenage life journey.
“Parents should always be teenager's best friend, role model and counselor but at the same time giving freedom for their children to build strong and healthy relationships with their peers,” she explained.
With a word of caution, Dr Suzana said that on the other hand, teenagers can turn rebellious when parents have qualities such as being punitive, harsh and cold parents.
The strong relationship between parents and children however do not grow overnight as it needs to be fostered since their children are young. “Building a warm, trustful and positive relationship with their children should start from when the children are still small.
“Family is the best place to shape the behaviour of the children besides school. Therefore, it is vital for parents to create a happy and conducive environment to help shape positive and healthy behaviour in teenagers,” Dr Suzana advised.
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Post time 27-2-2017 10:46 AM
变色卡
dulu aman2 je tak basikal waktu pagi anak2 remaja ada kt rumah.. paling nakal zaman dulu lepak tepi jalan main gitar.. takdenya psikologi semua ni.. dunia dah berubah tapi ada masa pendekatan didikan kena seiring dengan zaman rotan , tali pinggang, getah paip, hanger dan salam pensil.. 
