Drive_Thru_Life

Drive Thru Life Every generation faces new expectations. Expectations from our youth changes in time as well as what is expected from parents. This can includes the social enviroment; life style changes, peer pressures, technilogical advances and what is considered to be the home life. For parents, what does society expect that they should be able to give their children, down the to how children are disciplined. Should a parent demand respect from their child, or wait for it to come' Have we as parents taught our children how to respect others' Young adults today want what I have termed as the "Drive Thru Life", many of our young adults want homes, new cars and all of the amenities and don't understand that it takes hard work, planning and time, they want it delivered when they ordered it, just like a "McDonald's" drive thru. I believe that todays youths face many more decisions and pressures than were presented to the generation before them. What caused this change in our youth of today versus the youth of the 1950's. In the 1950's, television was just becoming part of the everyday life, when television was watched in the 1950's it was usually done with the entire family. Father's were the breadwinners of the home, while mother's stayed home taking care of their family. Young adults at that time were gaining more freedoms but still remained respectful to adults. Erika Cox, Life in the 1950's, 1997 . Today it is a rarity if the entire family can eat a meal together. Our youth are spending much of their time at home but what are they doing' Texting, instant messaging, emailing or watching tv with their friends. Are our youth today gaining more freedom because they have learned to be responsible young people or out of necessity, most families require two incomes in the home to make ends meet' Many of our youths are being given freedoms that they are not prepared for. Without adult supervision they are left to choose what they look at on the internet and what they watch on television. I believe that they should be given freedom to choose but, there are many very violent and sexually explicit websites and television programs for viewing. On impressionable young people they could believe that this is acceptable behavior. I had the opportunity to speak with a small group of young adults aging from 14 to 26, we talked about some of the things that they deal with. Their responses ranged through a wide gamut of things from zits to relationships. Girls not even wanting to leave their house because of the way that they look, their pressure to succeed. Boys talking about relationships with girls, parents and their pressure to succeed. It seemed like all in this group wanted to be perfect, all had cell phones (receiving text messages as we talked), all have access to a computer, all have televisions in their rooms, each one has a Facebook account and only a two had participated in an organized sport. All swear that at least at one time that their parents hated them, when I asked them why, the response was usually they wanted me to do....dishes, clean the garage etc. All admitted to being disrespectful even hateful to at least one of their parents, their reasons ranged from 'I always talk to her like that or because they made me mad'. In reality they all seemed to be a pretty self centered group, that always expects their way and to get what they want, somebody will get it for them. In their defense, I will say that they are an intelligent group of young adults that seemed to be very kind hearted. It is obvious that the structure of life at home has changed immensly in the last sixty years. There is less and less supervion of younger children at home, but you do not only have to worry about what they learn when they are left unattended, but what they learn from other children. Children are curious by nature, it is very difficult for our youth to have good examples when the media presents many undesireable idols. According to The Merchants of Cool, many of the characters portrayed on tv are crued, loud, and obnoxious, because market research has been done and that is what young adults are watching. With lifestyles of the family changing and families becoming more mobile. It may be difficult for children to develop relationships, as well as their parents with trustworthy adults that could be the additional eyes on our children. I also feel that it is important for people young and old to have face to face interaction with other people. This will help our children to work with others, learn how to handle situations that may be uncomfortable. This is all part of social interaction that needs to be learned and it is part of a constant ongoing process. It seems our youths people skills are regressing. With the various methods communication, texting, instant messaging and email, a child can be pressured without their parents even knowing that there is a problem. It seems that it is easy for them to coordinate a group kids in a matter of minutes, which can be done for good or bad intentions. I have seen the effects computer bullying on two different young adults, neither of their parents knew of the bullying that was taking place. Unfortunately, neither of these young adults knew how to stop what was going on around them and both took their own lives. Of course, the computer did not end their lives, but the massive amount of people that received these messages was devastating to them and the feeling that everyone around them felt the same way as their bully. The internet has made leaps and bounds as to what it can provide, the information that can be available to your fingertips in a matter of seconds. With everything that is good there seems to always be a way for it to be manipulated into something that can be hurtful if not used for it's intended purpose. Peer pressure has always been a part of life for an adolescent, with the new methods of distribution of information, the pressure can be applied to an adolescent from everyone at the same time. With the peer pressure to drink, do drugs and to be sexually active at a very young age compounded with what the media portrays as acceptable the youth of today are overwhelmed with the pressure to conform. My concern is that eventhough technology is wonderful it has it's downfalls. More children are exposed to things far earlier in life than they should be. The new technology could be robbing their youth, children don't always want to go out and play with their friends, therefore, they lack exercise which can contribute to being overweight. Children can become geniuses via the computer but end up socially inept. In conclusion, it would seem that there are so many factors that contribute to the difference in the generations of youths. The ever evolving media, with the images that they portray to the youths of the world seem to be unruly and disrespectful. Parents of today whether it be by choice or necessity do not spend as much time with their children as before many times leaving them to their own devices. Parents don't have the time or diligence to enforce rules which help children learn respect and discipline. Many households only have one parent which makes parenting even more difficult. The youth of today are left to chose their own devices which can be texting, internet and what they see around them as examples. Most of these devices were developed with good intended purposes, the educational achievements made through the internet are impressive to say the least. But, the number of ways that these new devices can help children torture each other seems to be unlimited. Eventhough the youth of today are faced with so many pressure whether they be real or unfounded I still have faith that there are many that will make the transition to adulthood as productive citizens with much to offer us all.