Opinion

The representation of generations- Oh how they’ve changed

No good story can honestly be true. I know many teenagers who are amazingly positive people and do amazingly positive things. A whole generation can’t be inherently bad. But when we’re expected to be, when we’re portrayed as brats, it gets harder for us not to be. We start to feel that we can miss-behave as it’s already expected of us and we are bound to get away with it as it’s so common now. Not saying that this is a general rule but…

The media has influenced everybody, even if you fail yourself to admit it. Elderly people, teachers, parents and even shop owners have now had to address youths in a stricter fashion. Why? We are no different to the teens that lived 50 years ago. The only thing that has changed has been the society. We haven’t changed that, we have changed with it. The government is to blame for the change there. If we are not to adapt with it, we wouldn’t survive, get a job, car and a mortgage. A prime example of this is University places. The amount of pressure that goes into University applications is unreal. Some universities have as many as 15 applicants to 1 place. Now what’s that teaching us? Competition, we learn that we have got to be better than anyone else, at any cost. Now normal, level headed youths would think ‘yes I must study harder to get higher grades’. The minority might take that the wrong way, become stressed and turn to drugs to relive that stress and forget about higher education completely. It happens. The need for money is also tremendous. The pressure to make sure we get our loans and accommodation is so burdening. The government is saying we need to go into further education to get better jobs, then they put us through all that when applying, we work hard (mostly) whilst we are doing our degree then what after?  ‘Oh sorry, I don’t care if you have got a degree, you have no experience in this field of work’. This is a tricky one. What follows heaps of hard work, then a ‘no’ in spite of it all? Aggression and quite probably, in some cases, depression. So we end up getting a job in Tesco’s, spend it all on drink, and sit there with your slightly deranged friend with your degree certificate in your lap. That is a rather drastic outcome, I know but cases like this are common.

Another thing that students have been degraded to in these times is that we are only allowed in the little corner shop one at a time. How pathetic. Many have signs restricting entrance to young people. (Ok this probably doesn’t really apply to Uni students but still, it’s worth mentioning…) Some only allow two young people in at a time. It doesn’t matter how you look, speak or dress, the only criterion required is whether you’re a young person. Is that fair? We wouldn’t treat adults in this way, so why treat adolescents like this? To say that young people are saints is wrong, because we’re not, no one is, but this misrepresentation and stereotyping is not doing us any favours. How are we meant to feel towards the government after all of that? No wonder there was riots over University prices.

However I do not feel that this generation can blame the government for everything. Young people have been slapped with the label of being a danger to society, and are treated accordingly. The small minority who behave antisocially shouldn’t influence the way young people are viewed. I believe that if a child feels cared for he will care for others, show respect and behave in a decent manner. Parents who don’t take good care of their children are raising children who don’t care. Parents should devote time to their kids helping them to cope with the different phases of growing up. The root of antisocial behaviour is with parents who fail in their duties, and I hope the government will do all it can to improve the quality of parenting.

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