Youth Of Today @ MindSay 
Think back to your own childhood. Did you grow up in the 50s? Remember how appalled the grown-ups were with Elvis Presley and how they said rock and roll wouldn't last? What about the 60s? Were the adults as a whole thrilled about mini skirts and go-go boots and long hair on guys? Or maybe the 70s fits you better, with its war protests and mainstreaming of the hippie culture. But how did your parents react to your new extracurricular activities? Let's not forget the 80s, with big hair, ripped jeans, and valley girls. Parents were up in arms about the negative effects of video games and music lyrics on their children.
Hindsight is 20/20, and we can all look back and see a bit of ridiculousness in our styles and trends. But did our desire to stretch our boundaries and assert our independence make us stupid? In the 50s, we legally ended segregation in schools. In the 60s our space program allowed us to reach heights never before possible. The 70s brought us floppy discs and microchips and test tube babies. Even the "me" decade of the 80s had its gems in medical advances, DNA research, and higher percentages of women with college degrees. These positives came from the same people who were criticized as teens and young adults for their stupid styles, trends, music, and hobbies.Were you one of those people? Next time you have a disparaging opinion about the youth of today, hold your tongue and think about what it was like to be the youth of yesterday.
The youth of today aren't that much different than we were in previous decades. They have hopes and dreams not only for themselves, but for the world as a whole. They have ideals and morals that may not always match our own, but different does not have to equal bad. Until recently I had a poor opinion of today's teenagers. But now I have a teenager of my own, and through my teenager I have met many others. There are certain things about the youth culture of today that I can't stand, to be honest with you. They have big stretched out earlobes, asymmetrical haircuts, facial piercings, listen to dark music, they're loud and boisterous, and spend way too much time on the internet. But after looking past those things and actually getting to know these kids, I have found that they are hopeful, aspiring, proactive, optimistic, and dare I say, intelligent. We aren't giving them enough credit. They are more aware of the world around them and how they can positively affect it than any other generation I've personally known. They don't just want to help themselves, they want to help each other. There will always be exceptions, but don't assign the exceptions to the entire group.
I'm excited about the next generation, and I think they have a lot to teach us. Will you be willing to learn from someone who wears a nose ring and has bed head all day on purpose? If not, you may be missing out on something profound.
I love talking to elderly people, er, listening to them. They have so much to say! I babysat tonight for a VERY energetic toddler. She's a cute kid, but she has too much fun and doesn't like to go to bed then, lest she miss out on it. She chanted the toddler swear equivalents "poo and pee" repeatedly. her great grandma came for a while at the end, and when the little girl was finally in bed, we had a grand discussion of her youth and youth today and it was wonderful just to sit and listen and to compare with the way things are and were. So much life knowledge and lessons all available to young people today but so often we see older people as obselete, or just get too wrapped up in our own lives to talk to them and see that the fundamental portions of human life and nature really haven't changed, the packaging is just a little different. There's lots to be learned outside of school, and if we can learn from the mistakes and experiences of others then we'd muck up a lot less in our lives. Perhaps all of that time spent rushing around can be conserved by doing things right the first time, eh? And perhaps that can be done by spending some quality time with a senior in your neighbourhood?
I'm sorry, I'm rambling, for that I appologise. Pay me no mind, I'm rather delirious by this point.
Hot Codez SUCKS LIKE HELL!!! I couldn't find a single Bad Religion song, let's not even BEGIN to talk about Youth Of Today. Geez.
