People have never been so connected globally in history as they are in this current generation. Social media platforms, travelling, the media and several other sorts of devices have been developed in the past decades and they have increased our connectivity. But the problem which I believe is dominating our current society, is the fact that these devices have not entirely helped us become more positive, tolerable, kind and loving towards each other. In fact I think it has done the opposite. I see this issue from the perspective of a teenage girl who is being brought up in all these changes, so my views differ from the average 60 year who is probably against the new generation.
Firstly, the idea of being a successful, inspirational and strong person has been confined to how much money a person makes. A lucrative career is more desirable than a person’s heart, morals and intentions. Growing up, majority of us teenagers scroll through Instagram and Facebook and look at pictures of supermodels and celebrities receiving or purchasing items from expensive high-end brands and in our opinion, those are “goals”. But is that really what our goals should be?
Another thing that boils my blood is that in school every single thing we do, every subject we choose, all the work we do, every extra curricular activity we join, all of that is for us to get accepted into our desired university. Now I completely and utterly support the idea of getting higher education and getting as many qualifications as possible, but why do we not do anything for ourselves in school? Why do we necessarily not focus on things that we enjoy doing, even for self improvement? I am pretty sure that we go to university for our own self improvement and it is the time for us to explore. It is just upsetting that many of the people I see and talk to really don’t do anything because they want to – it is because they “have to” or it will look good on their CV or college application. This is pretty good for a better economy, since unemployment will drop, assuming that a college degree will make employability easier, but do we really just want apathetic people who are just doing what they’re doing because they have to. I just feel that that is going to cause a lot more unhappiness.
Moreover, the hate and intolerance that we see today is disheartening. I don’t know if this has been the case in the past, or if we talk to each other a lot more and we hear everything quicker than before, but I see more hate and intolerance everywhere. There are so many negative thoughts and everyone is always so ready to spread hate, that it’s just disappointing. Hate towards Muslims, hate towards women, hate towards the LGBT community, hate towards anyone who isn’t your friend, hate towards anyone who is doing better than you. Hating has become so easy that everyone has to hate something or someone. This may seem like a trivial issue, because we say everyone has their own opinion on who they like or who they dislike, but large scale hate, can lead to large scale problems. If we all hate each other, we will not stand up for one another, there is no longer any support. We sometimes forget that although we may have big or small differences, in the end we are all human and if we do not support each other, then who else will. It would be so much better, if we all believed that kindness and understanding is the backbone of society.
Although I may sound negative towards this society, I strongly believe that things always have the opportunity get better if we try.