• The Plague Amongst The Youth

    Although I am only fourteen years young, I can look around me, and it seems as if people of my age group have lost all common sense. This is not acceptable, since the children are the future. As of right now, the future doesn’t look too bright. It’s not entirely the youth’s fault though, what with advertisers pushing products on young adults that they don’t need, or maybe even want. Also, the perception of “cool” amongst teenagers has drastically changed into something it shouldn’t be. I hope that readers of this paper can be enlightened on the current situation, if they haven’t been already.
    First off, I’m going to start with the matter of cell phones. Cellular phones are a great tool, and most people now take them for granted. They give you the ability to broadcast your voice over to another person from almost anywhere in the world, given that there is a tower nearby. But now, cell phones have evolved into more advanced things, to the point that they aren’t just a mere talking device anymore. This can be for better or worse.
    As long as talking is the cell phone’s main function, it is perfectly acceptable and can be labeled as a cell phone. But, when there are so many things that are added to the cell phone that it actually clouds the phone function, that is bad. Such devices should be labeled as PDAs (Personal Data Assistant) or something of the sort, rather than being distributed as cell phones. Today it looks as if the cell phone is added onto the features, rather than the features being added onto the cell phone.
    Another problem with cell phones these days is that they are being sold as texting devices. Companies keep making improvements to a phone’s text capability, instead of paying more attention to the cell phone’s natural ability. This has corrupted the youth in being obsessed with texting. I don’t see as many young adults talking on the phone as they are texting, and it should be the other way around. When did using your mouth to talk become, “out,” and using your thumbs to do so become, “in,”? Also, texting has downgraded teen’s grammar and punctuation skills, which does not hold a bright future for them.
    Appearance is another thing that young adults need to clean up. When they don’t show an expected level or professionalism in their dress, they miss out on a lot of opportunities. For example, if a teen shows up for a job interview with anything less than business casual clothing, they can bet that they’re not getting hired. It is important for the youth to learn what is acceptable, and what isn’t.
    I personally like to wear colors in my clothing that help me stand out, because I like to be unique, but the designs on my clothes aren’t offensive. A texture on a shirt, or maybe even a logo that represents something about the young adult is fine. But, anything that represents any sort of gang affiliation is not. Anything with chains is also not acceptable. These young men and women need to be prepared for the real life after high school, and wearing inappropriate clothing will not help them prepare.
    One of the most recognized hardships for our young adults is drugs, alcohol, and smoking. These shouldn’t be used, for they can ruin lives forever. Many teens nowadays are subjected to these things. Drugs are not, “cool,” no matter what anybody tells them. Our youth needs to be severely informed by their parents to not use these. Sure, they might think it feels good for a moment, but there are many health issues associated with taking or using these, and other substances.
    We are in the information age, and because of that, computers are becoming more and more apparent in families’ homes. They are even showcased at our youth’s school, for they are a great learning tool. The young adults can be shown an ever-expanding database of knowledge at the touch of a few buttons. But, there are many dangers that the youth can be exposed to during their time on the internet.
    Social networking sites give young adults the ability to be prone to sexual predators. One mistake is giving out information they shouldn’t and their lives could be ruined. Also, pornography is widely available on the internet. This increases the chance for our youth to accidentally or intentionally stumble upon such things. Although they may think it’s stupid, they need to be warned of the dangers that the internet has to offer.
    The next issue I’m going to tackle is love. Now we must ask ourselves, “What is love?”. It can usually be divided into two general subjects: romance, and lust. Romance is, of course, the love that involves marriage, dating, holding hands, and other “gushy” parts. The other subject, lust, is more of the non-emotional love. It involves everything that isn’t romance. This is usually where young adults are often confused, and the mix up the two definitions without even knowing it.
    Going into romance, there is the issue of under-aged dating. I am a believer of knowing when a certain individual is, “the one,” but it’s harder for adolescents between the ages of twelve and fifteen to actually be in love; more often it’s lust. So, these young adults should generally avoid dating at their age. I’m not saying they shouldn’t though, because who knows, it could be love after all.
    Transitioning into lust, we can now discuss sex. Sexual intercourse should only be performed if you are able to bear the weight and responsibility of a possible baby. That being said, it automatically crosses out under-aged sex, because younger teens couldn’t possibly be able to support a child. The problem here is that sex has transformed into being something, “all the cool kids do”. This makes under-aged sex more abundant. It’s a clear fact, and abortion rates are going higher and higher.
    A platform that has a large influence of the demographic of young adults is music. Young adults listen to music daily, and label it as one of the most important things of their lives. It helps them relax or keep calm during hard times. But, some of this music of today is not good for our youth, as it sends messages to them that they do not need to hear, or influence them to do things that they might have originally not wanted to do.
    Most of today’s modern music has the focus around sex or drugs. This kind of music can strongly influence the youth’s actions. It may make them think that sex and/or drugs are the right thing to do, when they are not. There is not nearly enough music today that sends the right messages, such as romance. It is hard to fight this, because of the fact that this kind of music is very easily accessible by young adults. They can simply turn on the radio, and it can come blasting out into their ears. There needs to be far more awareness in what our youth listens to.
    The youth needs to learn that an education is very important. The first eighteen years of their existence can be the most crucial years in life. High school sets that path that they will travel for the of rest their lives, whatever that path may be. But their education should not only stop at high school. It is important that today’s young adults get a college education, as it will help better our society in general. But, with rising college prices, it seems harder and harder to achieve.
    Above all, young adults these days need to learn respect. It seems as if respect is a long lost idea that has faded away. There is hardly any respect for parents, teachers, and elders in general. Also, the youth today are much too prejudicial, and that can get them into bad situations, such as violence, which is another big problem today. Fighting is most definitely not the answer if you want something, as words should be enough to suffice. Obscene language will not get anyone anywhere either. It is used far too often in modern speech, and it makes an induvidual look unprofessional.
    Again, it seems like common sense has been lost on the youth’s culture. Young adults aren’t being educated enough on what is right or wrong. Because of this, it may ruin their lives, although it may have not have even been their fault. Parents need to educate their children on this, and the children should sit down and open their ears and eyes. The plague amongst the youth is spreading, infecting societies, and ruining the world.