What does it mean to be young
today?
Bob Choi
"The young generation
of today is not like what we used to be. They have no respect for their parents, they are lazy students, they are rebellious and have no regards for
the authority. Mark my words: If this trend continues, mankind will
perish within a few hundred years!"
This sounds
familiar, right? It might well be something we would have said. But alas, it was a paraphrase from Socrates, ancient Greek
educator/philosopher born 450 B.C. who was regarded as the founder of western
philosophy!
The "younger
generation" he mentioned were our great grand grand grand grand grand
grand...parents! I don't have to tell you that Socrates erred on his
prediction of the imminent demise of mankind. We, by most measures, are doing just fine. What we are suffering is in fact a generation gap in perception...a
genetic "disease" that has passed on from ancient times.
Once we
acknowledge this, we can start to understand the youths of today.
If we want to
understand people who were born in the 80's or 90's, we need to look at a few
facts:
1.
They
are not as money-driven as they
were. Well-paid professions (doctors, lawyers, accountants,
bankers...) don't hold the same
appeal to them as they did to us when we were young.
2.
If
even some of them are money-minded, they realize there are other ways to get
rich other than scoring high in school exams. You can become ridiculously rich if you can do something very well such as placing a small ball
into a small hole from far away (GOLF!) or making silly jokes on stage in front
of an audience (STANDUP COMEDIAN!). You don't need a degree to do this. Need I say more?
3.
Youth
today are as smart as any of the youths who came before them, and they have the
opportunity to excel in areas other than traditional academic pursuits. They grow up with the Internet and can take full advantage of the new
media and many are able to create careers that are non-traditional, but just as
rewarding.
4.
They
distrust authority because the "authority" has so far failed to earn
their trust.
If we try looking
at the youths from this enlightened angle, we will begin to see the "big
picture" and who knows...we might even take some lessons from them.
If we wish to educate our children (and grand children), we must first
educate (re-educate?) ourselves: be open-minded enough to examine our old
beliefs and values in light of the world today; be brave enough to accept
changes that are natural or inevitable; be humble enough to admit that we don't
have all the answers and often make mistakes.
And always bear in mind that our children are by and large a reflection
of what we are and how we conduct ourselves. The future belongs to them.