State of our Youth

Robot, Grade 8 Science Project, May 2012

In all my years of working with teenagers, I have never been more concerned as I am now. Don't get me wrong, I am not a hater of teenagers.  They have been my passion for years and my career has been centered around these fine human beings. But I just don't like the trend I see happening!

I know part of the development of adolescents is their strive towards independence and thus exerting a sense of entitlement. However, the sense of entitlement I see around me now is ridiculous, for lack of a better word! The majority of teenagers I connect with on a daily basis have no sense of the concept of looking out for the interest of others, especially adults.They are extremely self absorbed.

 I think one of the reasons could be my generation is overcompensating for the mantra voiced by our parents, "children are to be seen and not heard."  I feel this generation has been given too much of a voice. There needs to be a better balance.

 Teenagers today have nothing to look forward to in adulthood. They are receiving every privilege and technological gadget now instead of gradually incorporating these into their lives. I believe teenagers think we are all on the same peer level thus they should be entitled to the same privileges as adults.  They are not mature enough to handle some adult things, in my opinion.

In addition, they have no concept of exhibiting good old fashioned  manners towards others, including adults. Some of you reading this post may disagree with me and that is okay. But, this trend I see happening upsets me and makes me very sad. I wonder how this generation will evolve. They will be the ones looking after us in the nursing homes! What will that look like?

One area that is very disconcerting for me is their apathy towards learning and our education system. I see this apathy on a daily basis in my job. We are basically bribing kids to learn and do their homework. If they don't feel like doing work then they won't budge. They have a lack of interest in learning. Of course I must stress again I am generalizing here. But it is something I see more frequently than in the past generations of teenagers I had the privilege of working with. There is no motivation to work. Many have no motivation to get jobs or earn their own money (I know in our economy right now it is difficult to find jobs). Of course I can guess the reasons why this trend is happening but what will this look like in the future?

How do we reach them? How do we connect with them? How will they connect with others? Is growing up with technology/social networking causing them to lose the ability to communicate in person with each other? Are they losing the ability to think for themselves and problem solve? What will their spiritual journey look like?

Once again, I stress I am not a hater of teenagers. I still love working with this fine group. There are many things I love about this generation. I love their honesty. It is refreshing.  I always know where I stand on any issue! I respect teenagers and thus do receive respect in return.   I am constantly learning.  Anytime I have a computer/cell phone/social network question, I just have to turn to them and they have solved my problem! I love their fearless creativity and individuality. I love their lack of spiritual hypocrisy.  I love their acceptance of every human being. I love their open dialogue about spiritual matters.

However, I have to ask myself, is my generation to blame for these wandering souls who seem lost and in need of more clear direction in their life journey? Have we responsibly offered this generation a better world for their future?