Changing times demand new attitudes
TIMES have changed. In the days of old, people finished work, left their worries at the door on Fridays and played outside in the sun.
Now, we stay indoors and never seem to stop working.
Generation X, in their young days, led very simple lives. It was seldom that both parents worked and the children were, thus, taught morals and all those good things.
Generation Y, our own, was born in the time of the technological explosion and became one with technology. We were born into difficult financial times and high inflation, meaning both parents now worked.
Left to be taken care of by nannies and other carers, my generation didn’t exactly learn all there is to wellbeing and goodness. If the youth of today has morals and appreciation, then clearly I misunderstand the world as it is.
My question is simple: how can an immoral, apathetic and selfish youth appreciate something besides themselves? The answer is simple.
It cannot begin to do this. In a world where youths encourage drugs and expletives, vandalism and rape, it is insurmountable that a group as large as this can change overnight.
In a world where their role models are the kind of people who bash the ones who are different, drink, smoke and exploit the female gender for what they believe it to be, a toy, how is it possible for them to try to wrap their already warped minds around something like Youth Day, where people fought and some were even injured or killed for something they didn’t want.
Observing how disinterest and disrespect is so rife among those who are young and are to take control in just a matter of years, I fail to believe that the people I see around me will make an impact, a change for the better .
I see those younger than me with every type of technological invention possible, glued to the screen, supposedly socialising with people, while ignoring those around them. These same people are laughing and finding it good and well to be drinking alcohol underage, abusing all types of drugs and chemicals, and openly exploiting their sexual promiscuity.
Yes, virginity is an old and stale term, but the only reason it is stale is because of how rare it is that the one you meet is still regarded as pure in that sense.
This all leads to a peer pressure scale that could easily break any chart, no matter how high it measures.
There are still the select few who see the world with bright eyes and an optimism that not even cold-blooded murder for a cellphone could kill, but they are quickly being flushed out by the overcoming mass that is the negativity of the majority.
And, as the youth, we are supposed to see Youth Day as empowering because people as young as us were able to think freely and fight for what was right. How idealistic and theoretical the world can be.
The youth of those times were fighting for education. With youths today simply skipping class or just not wanting to study, they are throwing away what their “brothers and sisters” fought so valiantly for.
With a world that is slowly but surely going to the dogs, it leaves me in awe how ignorant people can be when it comes to something as important and vital as education.
What has the world come to and how have we let it spiral so quickly out of control? Generation Y fails to recognise that if they just put away the technology for a moment and stopped updating social media for just a few seconds, that they wouldn’t die.
They might even feel more comfortable in their own skins!
I turned off my cellphone for a weekend. I spoke more, saw more things and actually felt free. The best part was just how easy it was to do!
How can the youth appreciate Youth Day? By simply taking time out, time that is usually wasted, and realising that getting to know people is fun.
The world is our oyster, no matter how small we are now, and soon it will be our words, our values and our legacy that someone in the next century or two may want to follow. It is time to stop the apathy and ignorance and see ourselves as unique, not understated.
Times have changed, yes, but we need to make that change a better one.