Youthful Idealism

A group of Upper Secondary boys have been getting some attention lately. Not because they misbehaved. No. Attention was on them because they chose to be absent from school to attend a talk by a visiting ustaz at a local organisation. Some of us were worried that they might have their priorities wrong, for at their age, education should be foremost in their minds. Right? Hmmm...They did have their parents' blessings, as far as I know...the organisation even wrote a letter to inform the school regarding their absence...imagine! I was actually reminded of a thought by Imam Ghazali regarding youths...he was writing about the developmental stages of a child and he said, if I am not mistaken, that at the youthful stage, we need to give these youths a cause to fight for. It is at this age that their idealism is at its highest. They are at that stage where they would want to cling to some idealism, take on somebody as their mentor/idol and would stick to that ideal throughout their adult life. It is a most impressionistic time of their growing up and given the right guidance, these young adults can do wonders and lots of good to themselves and to society. Which brings me to the question of these students - how do we channel their new-found idealism towards something that is positive, so that they know their priorities, contribute to society and at the same time attain success for their future? Not an easy question to answer, nor an easy task to undertake. Whatever it is, we would have to, I think, tend to them with hikmah and patience, for idealism can so easily turn to rebelliousness and that, as we all know, is not something anybody wants to deal with. :)
May Allah bless our youths and help them attain and maintain their felicity and grow up to be mujahid in HIS cause and a blessing to the world as should be - Khalifah fil Ard..a rahmat to all!