Take a second and remember what it was to once have been young. Now look at who you are today and how you respond to young people. Are you being the person you needed when you were young, or did you get old in your thoughts and became your parents? It is so easy to say youth is stupid, lazy… If you take the easy route, you are missing an opportunity.
When you were 22 you thought the same thoughts as the 22 year olds of today. The difference today is the medium for communication. This has been an evolving situation since the beginning of man. I am sure somebody complained about cave paintings the same way we are complaining about smart phones. Technology is here to stay and it will be connecting us in ways we can’t envision, just like we couldn’t when Facebook went online. Now it’s something like 6 out of every 10 pages viewed on the internet are Facebook. Once viewed as a stupid thing for students to play with, now the world’s dominant form of communication.
Instead of being nostalgic, embrace the time in which you live. Instead of calling youth stupid, embrace the opportunity youth provides with a completely new view of the world thru the same eyes we all once had. The dreams and aspirations are the same, the mediums are different because the world has changed. Right there is where I got you, you are not upset with youth, you are dealing with the reality that you got old. Sorry, but we all get old and there is nothing we can do to stop it. Being nostalgic and hating youth doesn’t do anything except make you even older than you already are.
By being romantic about our past, we ignore the present. We do not have to fight to maintain our past by crushing the dreams and aspirations of today’s youth. They want the security, the relationships, the good work, and everything else you wanted too. They also think you are old and not current. So while you are nostalgic, they are still young and embracing their time. You will be getting your as kicked by them pretty soon because they are the next step up while you are stuck in your romantic rut.
FYI – when you complain about every kid getting a trophy, the state of education, etc… we did this. Yes, we the old folk did this to the youth of today. When you call the kids soft, you are admitting you made stupid choices and your apathy allowed the powers that be to create what we now have. So while you were asleep dreaming about yesteryear, the world changed.
Instead of fighting. Embrace youth culture. I am not saying you should dress like them or act like them (seriously, please don’t). Just embrace the passions of youth and be the person for them that you needed when you were that age. Imagine if you had more mentors and less detractors? How much more could you have been if you were afforded the opportunity to learn from your elders mistakes? How much easier would it have been if your elders were empathetic at worst or if they embraced you at best? Be that person somebody will never forget because you were progressive enough to embrace their passions and helped them make their way in the world.
Bran Wright