Why Blame Us?

What has always puzzled me is when the commentators and pundits of our day discuss the culture that we live in today. I was watching television today and a news commentator was discussing how terrible it was that our children are being engulfed by our culture of celebrating celebrities.

My main question was, "Why is he blaming the people of my generation for the very culture that his generation helped to create?"

I was also thinking, "When did Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, and Lindsay Lohan become the ambassadors of my generation?" Why is it that when we must discuss the youth of today, we have to bring up these three individuals all of the time?

The beauty of my future career choice is that I get to spend my time with young people. They are constantly being picked apart by the politicians who believe that tests scores are the only measure of a person. They are constantly being judged by the adults who came before. They are constantly being doubted.

Are these commentators blaming our generation for the problems of today or are they really trying to cover up the real reasons for their questions? Isn’t it true that the world is a much worse place now than it was 10 years ago? Are we really the problem or is it that they are ashamed that they could not provide us with a better world to raise our children in?

Many of the kids of today have problems that these commentators would not even believe. These problems are real and go way beyond the simple problems of being liked by their peers or doing well in English.

Many of the kids of today have to deal with the sadness of only having one parent. Most of the time, this parent is not there because they are too busy working to make ends meet which forces the child to raise themselves.

Many of the kids of today have had to combat life-threatening illnesses. In addition, they must deal with taking prescription medicines whose side effects are worse than the illness that it treats.

In closing, I have a message for those commentators who just love to bash my generation: Focus on yourself before you start judging us.

We have plenty to do with solving the problems you created. It's getting old hearing you complain about how terrible we are for listening to our Ipods and singing lyrics that including “Bringing Sexy Back” and “Money Maker.”