The Impatience of Youth
It has been said that humans spend the first half of their lives understanding the generation before them and the second half understanding the generation after them. Every age group has its own beauty, and youth is still exasperating. Impatience develops during adolescence. Most young people begin to believe they are old enough. They think and behave on their own rather than being influenced by someone with more life experience. Today's older people who sit at home constantly moan about today's kids. They have become more rude and impatient (Fish, 2015). That age when the youth showed due reverence to tradition and age is long gone. What we have today is an iPhone generation that is selfish and defiant. Technology has proved to be a turning point in their lives. Most of them spend time in computers and smartphones, either chatting with friends they probably have never even met or playing games. Once they concentrate on their devices, they cannot perform their chores, neither can they be available to run errands.
A Rudderless Generation
The youth of today are a representation of a rudderless generation without any cause to live or ideals to live by. Most of them suffer from compulsive irreverence which is seen by increased rejection and rebellion of parental authority and defiance of established norms in the society (Amato & Booth, 2009). When slightly provoked, they contact law enforcement agencies or take to the streets and vandalize property in the name of agitating for their violated rights. When they grab the headlines in newspaper on news bulletins, it is always for the wrong reasons. It is a generation that values the use of drugs and most of them are drug addicts. Hard work is avoided at all costs and are always looking for ways to gain something without necessarily working for it (Chiarot, Nietzsche, Hobbes & Calvin, 2012). Visit any correctional facilities in any country and it is no surprise that the majority are the youth. Their crimes range from petty crimes to more serious crimes. Robberies in shops are conducted by the same youth who do not hesitate to hit the streets when one of them is shot. Today, it is no longer about the anxious youth facing a hostile world but rather a hostile youth facing an anxious world.
Influence of Society and Elders
Coming to think of it, the modern youth is not solely to blame for the rot. Humans are at a flux (Chiarot, Nietzsche, Hobbes & Calvin, 2012). The increasing riches especially among developed nations is making the youth restless and wired towards instant rewards. Parents give their children money for everything they need instead of providing only for necessities. As a result, the youth grow up without the need to work hard and earn their own money. In countries where corruption is rampant, the youth feel their future is being halted by a few greedy people at the helm of power (Amato & Booth, 2009). Such cases provoke them to go on the rampage with the hope of ensuring transparency and social justice in their respective countries. Today, moral vigor, ideals and basic virtues are unconvincing and are treated coldly with this next generation of leaders. Whatever the elders say or propose is met with resistance and critical review. According to Chiarot, Nietzsche, Hobbes and Calvin (2012), nothing is taken at face value anymore and questions have to be asked before they consider anything from the older generation. Political and social values proposed are thoroughly reviewed and when they realize rampant corruption, differences in promise and performance, and vested interests being frustrated, they automatically become distrustful and demand for immediate change.
Education and Independence
The youth is majorly composed of students whose major grievance is that what they learn and the realities they face are quite different (Chiarot, Nietzsche, Hobbes & Calvin, 2012). A lot of time, money and effort is spent studying in institutions of higher learning but the reality is that the education is irrelevant to the real life. It is only natural that they feel those in charge do not know what they are doing and that they should have say in their future since they are the ones who learn (Levine, Dean & Levine, 2012). Hence, they cannot tolerate teachers with who come to teach them things that are not applicable in real life. In fact, they consider themselves independent and capable of taking care of themselves. If we examine the youth, it is apparent that they are not to blame for their state of mind. The elders, who should guide them must carry a large share of the blame. This old generation of today are hypocrites and lack integrity (Amato & Booth, 2009). The elders have not been a great example. When issues of corruption, violence, defiance and assault are mentioned, the elders never miss. It is this nature of oppressive and unjust authority that makes the youth react emotionally and feel some level of correctness in their actions. In fact, the intensity of their emotions feels them with hatred and makes them become violent (Fish, 2015).
Embracing Change and Understanding the Youth
In conclusion, access to the rest of the world was closed and life was easy. Today, these windows and doors have been opened. People can see economic powers, democracies, military and political powers, revolutions and uprising and equality. Seeing these things make them emotional and at the same time hopeful. They feel that it is not impossible to change their positions. Unfortunately, most of them take the radical route of achieving their desires. These traits will be passed to the coming generation and the world will be a difficult place to live in. Each generation is always more innovating and smarter than the previous. The current generation seems to be smart at defying authority and creating chaos (Fish, 2015). The future does not look bright, particularly with increased wealth in nations, advancements in information technology and knowledge of human rights. The method of criticizing, slandering and making faces at the youth is also not helping build a better generation. They are more misunderstood than people think and it is time to accept that the world this generation will inherit will be exciting. What people need to understand is that this generation of the youth will face more complex issues and that condemning and finding fault in them is easy. What needs to be done is to understand them and be prepared for a new world. As human beings, we are generally resistant to change, something that the modern youth has done. It is time to accept that change has to occur, even if it is perceived as negative by the older generation that prefers a more disciplined and well-mannered youth.
Works Cited
- Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (2009). Generation at Risk: Growing up in an Era of Family Upheaval. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
- Chiarot, J., Nietzsche, F. W., Hobbes, T., & Calvin, J. (2012). An innocent generation: How a lack of guilt is destroying America's youth.
- Fish, E. (2015). China's millennials: The want generation.
- Levine, A., Dean, D. R., & Levine, A. (2012). Generation on a tightrope: A portrait of today's college student. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
