Generation HELP!

   If there had been such a thing as internet blogging thirty years ago, I am fairly certain that the parents of Generation X and Y would have written the same thing about those of us who are now entering our thirties, but as I grow older and realize the need for self reliance, I have observed the behaviors of a large cross section of younger people, and wondered where all the initiative has gone.

   In past generations, adulthood, for most people, began around the age of 18.  At that point in the life of an adolescent male or female, it was expected of them to begin developing life skills that would carry them through the trials of everyday life, from being able to pursue a career, to maintaining a household, and developing a well rounded knowledge of their own culture, past and present alike.  This included learning tasks such as basic automotive care and maintenance, cleaning and organization, home repairs, lawn care (both of the yard and the equipment used to maintain it), and survival skills, which would best be summarized as anything taught in Boy Scouts.  It also included gaining an appreciation for the arts, and a general knowledge of their cultural history, which would eventually form opinions and motivations that would drive them through adulthood to become fully autonomous individuals.

   As time passes, I see less and less of this type of self reliant initiative in the younger generation.  What I see instead is an obsession with computers and video games, a lack of interest in learning life skills, and a total abandonment of the need to maintain and care for things that they have earned or acquired.  A sense of self entitlement prevails instead, which retards personal growth and independence, and as a result, the young adult sits back and relaxes in the knowledge that should any challenge or obstacle arise as a result of their sedentary lifestyle, Mom or Dad will fix it because that’s their “job”.

   To magnify on the “computer and video game” thing, let me begin by clarifying that there is nothing wrong with being a fan of computers, gaming, or any electronic advancement that technology has provided us with in the past few decades.  Much like a Rubik’s Cube or a yo-yo was in years past, the video game is a great way to be entertained, as well as learning subliminal skills, such as cause & effect, problem & solution, and honing one’s skills to master a challenge through repeated trying.   However, the problem lies in obsession.  When one replaces actual life skills and goal achievement with those that occur in video games, it creates an artificial sense of accomplishment that tends to replace the need for actual accomplishment and self-satisfaction in the real world.  If the individual struggles in his/her social or academic life, it can be very easy to get sucked into the artificial world of gaming, where it begins to feel like they are actually getting good at something, and conquering their challenges.  But on the contrary, it is all taking place in a world that does not exist.  When you get down to brass tacks, the individual is just sitting idle, staring at a screen, and prodding endlessly at a series of ones and zeroes.  If the internet were to suddenly vanish, so would all their virtual accolades.  In conclusion, when a person spends too much time involved with computer and video games, it slows down the progress they make into adulthood, which is a large factor in why many are saying that age 30 is the new 20.  Many people at age 30 and higher have still not snapped out of the trance, and suddenly find themselves with a wife, kids, and a mortgage, and feeling very much like a child trapped in a grownup’s world.

   Another life skill that seems to be waning in today’s younger generation is taking pride in one’s property.  In my years in the automotive service business, I was appalled at some of the cars I saw young people driving.  These were often brand new cars, less than a year old, and already looked like they had been to Hell and back.  The exteriors were filthy, and looked like they had never seen a bucket of soapy water and a wash mitt.  The interiors were littered with all sorts of trash, ranging from empty soda bottles and cigarette packs to piles of dirty laundry and cupholders filled with spilled drink that had congealed to a viscous syrup.  Typically, the young owners were apathetic about it, and even seemed to have a sense of pride in being apathetic.  As I was in service, I usually would ask them about their maintenance history as well.  Typically, the young people had absolutely no idea what was going on under their hood, and didn’t care either.  They couldn’t check their own oil, change a light bulb, or even put air in their tires.  Many of them didn’t even know where the handle to open their hood was located.  

   When I was 17, I admit, I didn’t know much either.  But I felt like it was my duty to figure it out.  When my parents were kids, their parents always stressed to them the importance of maintaining your property, and taking pride in it.  That meant knowing how and when to check your fluids, how to perform a basic seasonal check up on your car, and also keeping the appearance up, which included washing and waxing it.  This type of pride and care transcended just the household car, and applied to the lawnmower, the bicycle, and any other piece of machinery in the house.  It was all part of being civilized.  At the end of the day, you could recline in your chair, and bask in the satisfaction of knowing that you earned that right to plop down and watch tv, because the lawn was done, the car was clean and up to date, and the house was not falling apart around you.  Today’s generation skips all that, plops down in front of the tv, and squelches the awareness of tasks to be done with the universally accepted phrase “fuck it.”

   Which brings me to another issue; that of the degradation of spelling and grammar.  In days of old, it was an asset to have a large vocabulary, good spelling and grammar skills, and knowledge of proper syntax.  This has all been slowly chipped away at by the phenomenon known as “text speak”, which is slowly reaching beyond the realm of computer and phone text to becoming an actual language.  Phrases like LOL, OMG, WTF, have become commonplace.  Now we see them everywhere, and people actually speak the letters out loud, as if they were actual words.  The odd part is, everyone understands them as if they were.  The term LOL has taken on its own meaning, which can be anything from “haha” to “don’t get pissed at me, I’m being humorous, bro”.  While the whole notion of text-speak can be written off as a harmless fad, I tend to view it as a harbinger of doom.  We have an entire generation who regards language, spelling, and grammar as a useless tool that is only needed to pass a test, and has no place in actual society.  When I read some of the posts on Facebook, I am shocked and saddened by the lack of punctuation.  Granted, Facebook is a simple social plug-in, and does not require structure, but punctuation exists for a reason.  It gives meaning to sentences, and the lack thereof can lead to misinterpretation of the sentence.  Occasionally I slack off when I post status updates, but I always make sure that my point comes across clearly.  That means punctuation, capitalization, and correct spelling.

   Perhaps all these infractions are nothing more than an indictment of our country’s failing educational system.  I would not like to think we are raising a generation of “stupid” people.  On the contrary, I think today’s younger generation harbors some of the best and brightest minds known to man.  However, if these potential genius minds are not tuned and chiseled into fine instruments, we have failed them.  We have an educational system that teaches to the test, rather than truth and relevance.  It’s all about GPA’s, percentages of passed tests, and financial grants, and has very little to do with educating young minds for life in the real world.  Our public schools seem more interested in promoting “anti-bullying” agendas than filling our young minds with not only knowledge, but a thirst for knowledge.  Today’s brilliant young minds are all over the place, and have already graduated high school before they develop an appreciation for the arts.  I may have grown up in the 1980’s, but I knew who The Beatles were, and I had a good understanding of the past when I reached adulthood.  I had an appreciation for all types of old music, and I knew how to work a record player, and drive a car with a manual transmission.  These were skills I would not necessarily need in the future, but it was good that I had learned them.  In today’s generation, I don’t see anything like that.  Kids don’t know who John Lennon was, or even how to operate a VCR or a Walkman, much less drive a stickshift car.  They don’t listen to any kind of old music, it’s only the Top 40 auto-tune artists of the week; whatever the radio tells them they should like.  While some of these interests develop later in life, I just don’t see it in the eyes of tomorrow.  I fear that today’s generation will only be able to look as far back as last week, and will never be able to grab the steering wheel of the nation and say “Okay Mom and Pop, you all can sit back and relax, we’ve got this under control.”