Youth is not a Failure
Introduction
In today’s world of social media, it is very common to compare youth with the earlier generations in terms of physical fitness, commitments, hardships and what not. We are usually referred to as a ‘lazy generation’ but each of us is fighting our own battles, in our own way, by making the most out of what we’ve got.
So, no, we are not lazy. On average we spend 7 to 9 hours in school or any educational institution. Where we multi-task on a daily basis. We give quizzes, we have labs, we have workshops, presentations, societies, sports and much more. So, in a 13-hour working day, if a person spends 7–9 hours in school keeping up with the rigorous academic and co-curricular schedule and at home is a little reluctant to take out the trash or do the dishes, it cannot be termed as laziness.
Moreover, compared to older generations most of us have at least a bachelor’s degree. Thus, we may not be experts at house chores but we have tougher educational pressure and competition.
ADDICTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA?
Sure, I agree that most of us are on our phones more than on the field and that we are guilty of those “I’ll do it later” that turns into never. We may not be as physically active but one thing that the older generations don’t seem to get is that when we’re on our phones, we’re not always “slacking off”, social media is not just a platform to upload selfies but it is the latest model of working, education, awareness, and is a necessity to survive in the dynamic world market. A lot of the time we’re reading books, or working on a project, preparing for an online test, watching DIY’s to pick up new skills. So, in case you are someone about to label a kid “lazy” try considering that we spend more than half of our day at school, where we keep up with quizzes, lectures, assignments, projects, presentations. We aren’t addicted to social media, we are just squeezing every ounce of benefit that we can from it, because let’s face it, none of us can survive without technology in this era. We may not walk miles to go to school but we do walk on thin lines to meet deadlines for piles of work and we are just as stressed as 1950’s asylum patients.
So, the little time we spend being cozy in our blankets watching Netflix, it is rightfully deserved. Quite Frankly, let us stop comparing the old and the new generation because we are not them and they are not us. It is unfair to ask us to meet the expectations of the past when we are faced with completely different challenges and have a zillion times more dynamic and variable environment.
The world has changed, get used to it.
ARE WE REALLY PHYSICALLY INACTIVE?
During two non-consecutive years in the early 2000s, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) required participants to wear an accelerometer that tracked how much they moved throughout the week. Using this data, the Johns Hopkins team analyzed a sample size of 12,529 people across five age groups: children aged 6–11, teens aged 12–19, adults age 20–30 and 31–59 as well as older adults 60 or older. The staggering finding? The teens proved roughly as active as seniors.
NON-ENGAGING IN OUTDOOR GAMES
I also think that another reason that children might not get out as much as the fact that parents have become increasingly more protective of their children. My parents when they were kids would move around on their own, hang out, take buses, but I am not allowed to do so. No blame to parents because the world has obviously become more dangerous, however, this limits us to getting out of the house and doing many things on our own. Yes, my grandfather played cricket every day with his friends and was extremely fit in his days, but he wasn’t living in a dangerous neighborhood, hate crimes weren’t peeking, and he wasn’t giving 3 quizzes and 2 presentations every week.
Moreover, mental and physical structure usually matures by the age of 18, and the little to no opportunities that we get and exposure is concentrated to our university life where most of us have crossed 18. Therefore, if I want to be a gymnast it is very hard to develop bone flexibility at the age of 19 then it would have been at a younger say 9 or 10 years of age. And at such a young age you are not capable of taking decisions, you need a system, a productive and healthy environment.
There is a very strong focus on ‘grades’ which require us to sit behind our computer screen or text books for hours and hours rather than allowing a balanced physical and mental exercise ratio.
BEGGING:
Another thing which came as a shock to me is that our generation is blamed for being a failure due to the increase in the number of young beggars in our generation compared to the previous ones. Yes, begging truly is a curse, but does it really mark the failure of our generation? In many countries, begging is an organized business with the mafia controlling the key locations where they deploy their lackeys (beggars). Children for the sake of filling their stomachs are trapped in this dangerous game, getting out of which is as difficult as leaving a cult or a gang. These kids are forced to beg as they have to submit a specific amount by the end of the day or they face harsh consequences. Therefore, begging is not a choice, it's not a self-inflicted failure, it is forced by the lack of a just and equitable economy.
Therefore, begging is not the failure of youth, it marks the failure of our system.
UNEMPLOYMENT
Again, the blame of being unemployed and a victim of subjective poverty lies on the shoulders of the deprived themselves. We are not self-sufficient, we are not making the most of our degrees, we like easy money, we lack the will to work hard and work consistently. These are a few reasons given by older, more “hard-working” generations for the youth of today. However, are we too blind to look at the economy of today? We are not unemployed because we are lazy, we are unemployed because our system has failed to provide industries and markets at the same rate at which our educational units produce engineers, doctors, managers, etc. More than 100 people fight for one position, most of us are at times ‘over-qualified’ for the job.
Thus, once again, unemployment is not a failure of the youth yet the failure of the entire system.
CONCLUSION
Our youth is not a failure, it is just different from the previous one. And success is a relative term, the definition of success itself evolves and we must evolve with it. Like I said, that we cannot fit today’s youth into the frame of unrealistic and outdated expectations of yesterday. We are living in a more competitive world and need a lot more than one skill to prove ourselves. In light of all this, we are doing well and deserve more credit than what we usually receive.
