This has been something that has bothered me time and time again, and every single time, I just shove it back inside, but I guess I'll just finally let myself go on a rant about it.
Honestly, why must people generalize my entire generation? I'm 17, and now that you know that, you're probably not going to see any logic at all in anything I say, just because of my age. I'm going to say it anyway, though. I'm 17, and I know this might come as a shock, but I don't do drugs. Crazy, right? I haven't even tried pot, even though I've been pressured to. Also, I don't dress like a slut, and I don't have sex with just anyone. I've never vandalized anything, unless you include pencil drawings on desks as vandalism, and I do other things besides sit at my computer. I can attest the same thing for my entire circle of friends, as well. And I'd say I have some intellect too, despite the fact that I'm not so great at math. I'm really into literature though, so do I get points for that? I can't attest the same for my friends on that, though. Which is unfortunate but true. Maybe it would help, just a tad, if our English teachers knew how to use punctuation and grammar properly. Or hell, if they even TAUGHT grammar in school now, since we've never been given a true and proper lesson on it since grade 2. I don't know, it's just a thought. It could help them at least write comprehensible essays, at the very least.
I'd totally hate to burst your bubble, by the way, but people were having underage sex in every other generation too. I'm sure that the numbers have increased, but then again, so has the population. Things are just more out in the open now, because things change. I know that's hard to grasp, and god forbid that any younger generation be different than yours (which likely has its own seedy underbelly), but it has to be accepted. Complaining that we suck won't change the fact that we will be the generation in power soon, and taking care of you when you're old and decrepit.
Personally, I would love it if the world was rainbows and kitties everywhere, and my generation and the ones following didn't have such a bad reputation to those older generations, but nothing I say is going to change that. I know that. What I don't know is why I even bother saying anything at all. Just to be writing this is a pretty big step for me, since I'm insanely shy and have a very low self-esteem.
Besides, everything's on an individual level. It would be so easy for me just to say, "Oh yeah, the grade younger me are all bitches who spread rumours," since they have spread rumours about me. I know that it's only a select few who did though, and I don't have any real issues with the majority of them. Oh, and I only know of three people who have done the "hard drugs", and I go to a high school reputed to be one of the worst for druggies in the city. Not all of us start doing heroin and having sex as soon as we go into high school. On that same note, though, there are some who start having sex in elementary school.
All that having been said, upraising plays a part in it. Likely the reason that most of the people in my generation are so attached to technology is because it's been made accessible to us our entire lives. The first people to blame are those who created all this stuff to begin with, but I'm sure most of us would agree (adults, teenagers, teeny-boppers) that it's a very nice thing, to have the internet, cell phones, mp3 players, whatever-the-fuck else. The second people to blame are the parents who let it get to the point where it controls our lives. I have a major issue with little kids getting working cell phones, for example, but I have honestly seen 7 and 8 year olds with cell phones. I think it's safe to say that those kids didn't buy them on their own, right? And if the parents don't actually make their kid get out and do something with their life, chances are that they won't. If the parents don't raise their kids with good morals, chances are that the kid's going to get into trouble. Then again, it's a fine line to tread, for a parent. You don't want to be too slack, but if you're too strict then your kid is going to rebel and get into trouble just to worry you and piss you off. I get that, though I'm not a parent myself (you see, that's one of the lessons my parents taught me: being able to envision what it's like to walk in someone else's shoes). I get how hard it could be.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that some of us have lives outside of technology, can read and understand Shakespeare and other literature without explanation (and even enjoy it), don't do drugs, and don't have underage sex. Those are the kids you never really hear anything about unless you know them personally, which is probably why it is so easy to paint this entire generation with one brush. Literacy has gone down, it's a fact, but that doesn't mean that kids who are "dumb" aren't good. Every generation has issues, ours are just more known, I guess. At least I hope.
It's very probable that I'm naive though. Honestly, I'm not a preppy goody two-shoes, haha. I'm one of the ones who dresses all in black and manages not to be "emo", who sits in the back of the class, who gets called a "fucking weirdo" far more often than I'd like to admit. I guess they don't know how to react to the fact that I like stuff that's not "mainstream". But that's a rant for another time.
Sincerely,
A Fed-Up Teenager.
C/P-ed my post from LJ.
Thank you and goodnight.
Currently Listening: Hello Oskar by Our Lady Peace
He'll build a bridge then walk around.
Don't ever call him dumb.
He's not that bright,
He's not that bright.
He's just not himself.
Don't ever call him dumb.
He's not that bright,
He's not that bright.
He's just not himself.
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