Thursday, August 4, 2011

The Younger Generation Is Awesome

I know I can never be friends with someone who utters these words, “The young people nowadays…” always followed by some compliant about the younger generation.

This person is either living in an idealized world of their own making, completely out of touch with reality or they simply don’t remember their own youth, or both.

In the space of just four weeks, I’ve met several young women through Twitter that are the very personification of fantastic. They are kind, caring and spread good vibes through the Universe. They are much like my daughter, Vanessa, who at 26 is, I’m pretty sure, the best young woman I’ve ever known.

My son is also an admirable man, though he’s now past what can be called the “younger generation, “ however the other young men in my life – my nephews – qualify and every one of them is a quality human being.

I like myself, now, but I’d be lying if I said I was like any one of these terrific young people at their age. I believe my generation and those older than me could use a refresher course – maybe a mental video of their younger days – to understand that not much has changed, in reality.

Except, of course, that the young people of today face much more difficult times and expectations of them than we did all those years ago.

Because of constant exposure to the media, they know about stuff we never had a clue about at a very young age. You’d be hard put to find anyone over the age of 8, who hadn’t heard the words “rape” and “murder” repeatedly and any multiple of other horrible concepts. I was addicted to Law and Order, when I had a TV, but, come on, anyone who lets their kids watch it is either irresponsible or crazy, and I know some who do.

So, given the chance to vote on whether the current generation of teens and twenty-somethings will make a mess of the world, my vote would be – no more than we did, and perhaps they’ll do much better. Let’s hope so.

6 comments:

  1. Great post! Too true about what they are exposed to now compared to even 20 or 30 years ago. Information overload. I agree that there's definitely a lot of great young people out there.

    KatesReads

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  2. This is great! Sometimes I feel like I'm disappointed the older generations and hearing this makes me feel better. I have always tried to be the best I can and refused to be lumped under "them young kids."

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  3. I agree with you completely. Plus, every kid/teen is different. I DO feel, though, that some of these kids need more discipline--but adults do, too. I also haven't watched anything crazier than a PG-13 movie in five years, and even that was an eye-opener. Did you know that "The Grudge" has a PG-13 rating? It scared the crap out of me, and I'm 30 years old!

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  4. Great post!

    I've just awarded you the Versatile Blogger award!! Check out my blog to accept the award!!

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  5. I love this post. I adore young people, especially teens. My daughter is nearly 17, and she is one of the BEST people I know. Her friends, too, are excellent, good, giving, creative, intelligent, involved human beings. She was talking about an art school she's interested in researching that's set in an area that's less than urban. "I'm less likely to get raped there!" she said. She was sort of being funny, but when she said that, I was stricken with the kinds of fears she has, that her generation has.

    Anyway, I'm babbling. I'm sorry.

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  6. Elizabeth Marie - Your comment hits home. When I was growing up, I had no consciousness of that fear and many others these kids have to deal with. I so enjoy spending time with my kids and the other youngsters in the family. They are refreshing and interesting. Thanks for stopping by.

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