by Toni Henderson
What’s happening to us? The pride and joy of what our parents thought we would be in this lifetime is a disappointment to us all. I notice it, the transition we are slowly making from greatness to stupidity. In this day in age, we have it all: the iPads, iPhones, Macs, PCs, and as people we feel the need to expand the possibilities through our technology, topping everything we have now with something better. But what happens when the greatness we think is so close is actually inconceivable to even our own minds? We need to take a step back into the evolution process. We need to fix the mistake that was made in the equation we thought would work so well, because something is falling short.
The steps that humanity is taking to achieve this goal is having a backwards effect upon this generation. Although this problem does not fall solely on one thing or one person, this is something that has been brewing throughout the generations of our society, because we are simply a product of what the ages before us have done. The times are changing, but with it, I feel the essential characteristics of my peers curving towards an even bigger dilemma. Morally, mentally, and physically, the use of the mind is slowly going to waste as we lose our purpose to aspire for more, be active in the world around us, and point our moral compass in the right direction through these stages of growth in our lives. And why is that, you ask? The excuse of our progressive nature as humans, and our dependency on technology has made us weak. People today know no other way of communication except through texting, or the use of social media websites. Or even more so that people will refuse to even speak to one another unless you have such accessibilities to technology, and if not, we are silent to one another, and therefore the world around us. But when are we going to wake up and take a step toward the greatness we are still more than capable of achieving?
With technology being both a positive and a negative, today’s generation has found a way to take this gift and change the moral standards that many of us grew up on. We have lost our sense of morality and respect for one another as people. In the slightest of ways, our idea of being morally secure, as young adults is curved. Love, trust, faith, honesty and respect are morals that were never completely mastered in any generation, simply because we are human, but with this generation in particular, the wrongs of humanity are being brought to light by us, and exploited to a more extreme standard. Due to the environments many of us are set in, we are helplessly rendered to the reality of the world we live in, affecting us, and younger ones to come. Therefore sex, drugs, violence and overall stupidity enters our minds and we deem this ok. Our standards are lowered in the littlest ways, meaning the loss of self respect for ourselves, as well as other people.
We exploit our lack of care and moral training on the internet to prove the validity of our thoughts, actions and more, thinking that this is honesty at its highest quality. For instance, no longer can a pure and simple relationship between two people, which is meant to be based off of potential love and growth, be just that. Our generation has skewed the ways of a meaningful gesture and have turned this act into a competition on who’s doing it bigger and better. For example the endless pictures or videos, displaying the lovey dovey ways of two people, that are constantly seen on any form of social media today. Through these little displays that many of us today see in pop culture or social media alone, this deters away from the actual beauty of a relationship and focuses mainly on the attention they may receive from others. On a respect level, young men feel as if courting women and treating them with the respect that many of them deserve is no longer with the times, and therefore, played out. Young women fail in correcting this by demanding the respect they deserve, but instead expose their body to social websites, enjoying the fact that men gawk at their half naked pictures, feeling as if they are showing off their beauty. But when this occurs we no longer play the role of a young lady, but an equal to the dog-like behavior shown in males. Because we are blinded by this sense of difference, we feel we have to show in every way possible, we show this through mere ignorance and stupidity: publicized fighting, texting, etcetera.
Our dependency on technology has made us weak, and we have lost our drive to aspire for more in life. Where is the fight for our right to be educated that our elders once fought so hard for? We have taken this use of technology for granted. This generation has lost the drive to further ourselves to the greatness. Instead, we would rather revel on the simple things in life that can squander our future, but are only fun for the moment. The world’s greatest brain is literally held in our fingertips every day and instead of using it to influence our lives for the better it is wasted on menial distractions in pop culture and everyday life. We are all guilty of it, those born into it, those adapting and those who are soon to come, victims to the wonders of technology. It’s getting harder and harder to convince children today of the bigger picture that lies through the pathway of education. Instead the distraction of social media blinds us and takes control of our minds. We have become lazy and dependent that everything we need to know will be known through our own sources of information. With this, our generation can now be seen as simple minded, unaware of what the world really has to offer and unwilling to expand and work for the success that we were promised in the beginning.
Our generation as of today, has been labeled “The New Silent Generation.” Since the breakthrough of computers and cell phones, we are officially the first generation of children born into an age of technology, and therefore that makes us privileged and unique in many ways. Although with this gift of technology, our sense of mind and self has been deluded by a computer screen and covered up by the ways of social media, and pop culture. Making us “silent” in a sense, we are theoretically closing ourselves off to the actual physical world that we know, simply because we are glued to the world that lives within our 5” inch screens. Through this attachment we have built with this idea of technology, we have formulated a wall of strengths and weaknesses within ourselves and the relationships we may have with others in this world. Strengths being, our ability to adapt to the advancements of technology, and therefore we are deemed as digital natives in this world in comparison to our parents and grandparents, who have difficulty understanding the idea of machinery. As beneficial as that may be to the technological future, we lack many things that our elders worked so hard to build their lives on to be considered decent people in this world.
Because we have programs such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, sites that promote self expression and interaction with one another through the internet, we have left ourselves exposed. Not only do we give away every bit of information and sense of privacy we may own, but weaken our overall image of the type of people we may come to be by leaving this type of evidence on the internet. Do we really want to be remembered by rants, fights, and endless amount of derogatory pictures that we left for the world see? We have no sense of privacy, respect or sense of purpose and because we continue to allow ourselves to be easily influenced by the ways of society. This is a force that can’t be completely stopped by one person, but only the realization of many to make a difference through it all. The rise of technology should not lead to the end of the progression we have made as humans. What a shame it would be to disappoint all of our fallen who have worked so hard to build us up to what we are today. Nobody ever said that it would be easy; they just said that it would be worth it.
The Raven 