THE EARTH SHATTERING CHANGE WROUGHT BY THE INTERNET : TEENS ARE MORE MATERIALISTIC, LESS LIKELY TO WORK HARD, MORE SELFISH

 

There is something happening out there and it's slightly dangerous.

Teens are disconnecting from idea of family in large numbers, due to their addiction to the internet.

Who needs to give thanks or even contemplate honoring parent's efforts when the internet provides you with gratification beyond your wildest dreams, if not the semblance of a community ready to embrace you without the slightest hint of criticism or doubt?

Welcome to generation now, or is it Me?  They are young, they are selfish, they are plugged in.  

Gone are the days when children felt any sense of obligation towards their parents. Forget even that they would source any wisdom or information from their parents.  Let's face it, parenting is obsolete.  Our contribution, beyond labor and a few years of careful And of all things is being taken over by that ethereal, immaterial source of information that is the internet. 

But what has that done to our children?

Simple. It has tuned them out to the word responsibility and in some small measure to duty. Today's youth is much about self appeasement with very little time devoted to hard work, except for those who do see the light.  

And some psychologist say it's the fault of baby boomers for breeding such a bunch.

But let's start at the beginning.  

Sociologists say that teens are taught what is important by how their parents act.  But also the media. And those around you.

Let's look into it a little deeper.  In young teens, and even those a few years over the teens, the "i don't want to work hard that's for suckers" is a prevalent attitude. What is more intruiguing is the fact that in today's teens and young adults, there is a disconnect with having material things and not wanting to work for it.  Where does that come from?

But then, for all of those who have suffered through child rearing, there is an interesting footnote: most teens are miserable.

Aha! There is something interesting in this picture after all. As detalied by a new study "Generation Me: why Today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, Entitled and MORE MISERABLE than ever before" is a headliner that tugs at most parent's heart strings stronger than ever. 

Could it be that these youngin's in their quest to make a break for themselves, realize that they're burying all that is sacred, their family, their affections, their ties, in the name of self determination and assertion after all? What then is their reckoning?

Simple.  When the teens and even the early twenties runs out, so does their ability to supplant true values with the internet's false sense of security.

Op-Ed 

Partial Source: LIfe.Inc   5.2.13