Every morning of every week day, I ride my bus to the local high school. My sister accompanies me too. Once the bus arrives outside, we walk inside to the cafeteria. We sit down for fifteen minutes at a table and eat our breakfast and chat before the first bell rings. We talk about almost everything because we get along so much. One topic that always seems to resurface between my sister and myself is how immature the younger generation of kids is getting. When I look around the cafeteria every morning and most if not all are disconnected between reality because of all the hardships they face everyday. The sad part is that they don’t even realize it.

Its amazes me to watch them because when I look at them I wonder, Did I act that way when I was a freshman? When I think back, I don’t remember ever acting like the kids who are entering into high school every year. It’s easy to spot them. They have all their “friends” around them, and they all walk around aimlessly in the halls, none baring a backpack or proper apparel for school. Girls and boys follow the latest trends. It’s sickening to know that nobody marches to their own beat anymore. It seems like they have to travel in packs for protection and for the overall look of having more friends.

The big problem that really aggravates me is what’s in the way of these kids future. It’s their past. Almost every kid in this generation is poisoned by their past. They are forced to grow up in a society that’s not teaching them any morals of living a successful life.
For example and the internet is a big role in the deterioration of a child’s life. What’s being broadcasted to the younger generation is poisoning their images of happiness and success. Once they watch TV, turn on the radio, or browse the web, happiness is quickly portrayed as looking good, having friends and living a reckless life style. The ever so popular Jersey shore is a perfect example of how TV affects the younger generation. 4.8 million People view Jersey Shore every Thursday, and most of these viewers are in their teens. The show is influencing young kids because they watch the partying, sex, and fights, and feel like they can relate. Kids look up to these people as a role model, and I don’t think they even realize how fake the show is.

The music this generation listens to is absolutely a disgrace compared to what our parents listened to. It’s all about partying, drugs, drinking and love. It lacks souls, rhythm, and true meaning. Young kids shouldn’t be listening to this stuff because they feel that acting this way is cool. The music of this generation is hypnotizing and is only sending out negative messages to its listeners.

The biggest trend that this generation needs to overcome is Face book. Some may say its great way to reconnect with friends, but teenagers have taken over it. It’s been turned into a place where teens can post inappropriate photos, and brag to their friends. They create a false impression of themselves that others are so gullible to believe. It needs to be stopped because to many younger kids are following the cycle of creating a bogus personality to impress their face book friends.

Besides the TV shows like MTV’s Jersey Shore, and the social website of “Face Book” I see another main role in the way kids act now a days. It’s bullying. Kids are pressured by their peers to fit in, so they go to extreme extents to be accepted. Whether it be with drugs, violence, or retaliation, kids try to create a social status. They don’t realize though, that those people they call their friends aren’t their true friends. They may be there now, but five years from now they probably won’t even remember your name. When you enter high school, the only thing you should be thinking about is getting out. In my opinion you don’t need friends to help you get through things. That’s what your are for. You entered this world on your own, and you’ll leave on your own, and anybody you meet along your journey you have to decipher if their worth keeping around or leaving in your past. Teens are too naive and they get hurt that way. Parents need to teach their kids at a young age, an acceptable friend from somebody who is there for one thing.

Another big difficulty teen’s face is their misconstrued view of love. Many kids get caught up in the ever so deceiving game of high school “Love”. Kids actually fall in love at the age of sixteen. I find this hard to believe because at the age of sixteen, love should be the last thing on your mind. But because of all the garbage in today’s media that’s all they know.
The only solution that I see to this colossal confusion in the world is simplicity. The only way to solve this unacceptable problem is to rid our society of technology. What’s lacking is the innocence and what’s taking it away is the strong hold that technology has on everybody’s lives. Its created worlds were people can’t even talk on the phone any more, they just send a text. Were music that’s degrading and inappropriate is acceptable. It’s destroyed this generation but it’s not too late to turn it around.

I look back on the way people use to live and I’m envious. A simple lifestyle freed from all the clutter is what I dream of. If everybody realized this, the world would only become an improved place. People need to let go of their hectic lifestyle, and stop to recognize the true meaning of life. It’s not about fitting in and being accepted. Life should be about making a difference by being different.