The Youth of Today...

The subject of this rant:

The Youth of Today...

So, this evening me and my brother were doing the usual run to a non-specific convenience store to pick up some "fresh air". As he came out of the shop, he noticed a couple having a bit of a struggle. The girl in this struggle was seemingly the aggressor, she had her hands on his shirt pulling and tugging and he was grabbing her arms. Suddenly she went to hurt him and he through her to the ground, whilst getting pulled down with her. They hit the deck, her underneath him, at which point he managed to get up and walk away before anything else had happened, which was a good idea seeing as me, my brother and another older gentleman was standing on the other side of the road as an audience willing to intervene if it got stupid.

This spurred me on to write about the youth of today. This is just one event of many I have witnessed that shows how disgraceful and disrespectful the youth of today is.

To give a more specific idea of the people I am referring to, it is the youngsters between the ages of 14-25, if not slightly older in some cases, and usually living in built up areas and cities such as London. I cannot speak of those outside of built up areas, but I do know quite a few and they don't seem to represent the same problems in city societies' youth.

In 2008, the BBC released an article informing us that of 190,000 15-16 year olds in England, 57,000 binge drink by drinking 5 or more alcoholic beverages in one session. I'm not 100% sure of statistics in the media, they usually are swayed a particular way to make a point, but being one of today's "youth" and being held as a representation of that, I notice a lot of young people I know between the ages of 14-25 drink too much. As to why? For me it looks like it is purely a lack of creativity and common sense. Disputable as to the reasons for these things, but as it stands, that is what it comes down to. A hell of a lot of young people drink because it is what they perceive as a "fun" time. The reasons being that when you have consumed too much alcohol, everything becomes easier to do and everything becomes funnier. I very rarely drink. I have been drunk, and way beyond other people on occasion, but I have only ever passed out once, and I have only ever thrown up about 3-4 times in my life due to the consumption of alcohol. In the last 2-3 years I have been drunk probably about 2-3 times, and it was only recently that I had a little too much to be in full control of myself. Now I won't deny the fun of alcohol on occasion and how it enhances ones experience on a night out, but I have always, bar one or two times when I was 14 or 15, been sensible with my drink. I can have a  hell of a fun time without alcohol, so why can't everyone else?

Binge drinking is just one of the major problems with today's youth. Another is a lack of respect. I was brought up in what people would consider an upper working class family. I was brought up to respect my elders, respect my women, and respect everyone else unless they have disrespected me, at which point I didn't take huge offence at it and go on a ragefest, I just didn't associate myself with such people. I think a huge part of this problem is purely down to the way they we have been brought up. We started having an influx of young parents who didn't know how to bring up children, hence good, honest, young people are harder to find. Don't get me wrong, I gave my teachers relative hell in school, mostly out of a lack of motivation, not doing my homework, coursework, but I was never an arrogant asswipe. My arrogance is born out of something else and is usually well placed.

This is the nice side of the youth of England, I'm not going to into huge detail on the crime rates, vandalism, car theft, stabbings, assault etc. It is all born out of bad upbringing, which can be attributed to the parents and the parents alone. However, honestly the lack of authority is the main reason for this. When a parent can't hit their kids for fear of "abuse". I used to get the belt and I never committed domestic crimes again. Do I hate my parents for it? Hell no, but this is another argument entirely.

Now with all these things in mind I'll explain what annoys me. What annoys me is that I have to walk around in a society where I am judged before I have even spoken. Where I am considered an oppressor because I am young therefore I am out to cause trouble. I feel oppressed. The bad image that this gives the few young people who have been brought up in the correct manor.

The epitome of bad youth can be seen in The Only Way is Essex. It is a disgraceful program which you would only watch on rare occasions to laugh at the disgraceful, ignorant behaviour of youth. We are not being taught how to live life and be content with the way it is. Kids are taught that everyone is a winner. Not the case, most people are losers, not in a derogatory sense, but in a literal sense. Most youth aren't willing to invest in life as it is meant, to get the most out of their potential, which they have been mislead to believe is greater than it is. They will not all be chiefs, most will be Indians, but they think otherwise. Therefore, alcohol abuse and violence are the only ways to make them feel worth something, when they aren't what they were taught to believe.

Thanks for reading,

East