The human race might just become extinct by the time the next generation turns to adults.
No, I’m not implying that a meteor is going to strike the Earth. Neither am I saying that another great pandemic will wipe out the entire human population. I’m talking about the behaviour of young people today.
I find children nowadays absolutely distasteful and shallow. I probably sound like an old grandma with nothing better to do than to criticise the world in spite of her senility, but ultimately, it’s true. These spoilt creatures are truly revolting. Imagine whining and throwing a tantrum just because you can’t get RM50 for your allowance. What happened to having gratitude for any small amount?
I know that as the generations go by, children are becoming more and more pampered as their family’s standard of living improves. I am no different. After all, our parents just want the best for us, right? Not to mention, we would all treat our kids better if we could. To some extent, this “pampering” is rather normal. “Then why are you condemning the current generation?” you may ask.
I think that parental love must have its boundaries. We can’t expect to treat children like ‘royalty’ while nurturing great individuals at the same time. Time has repeatedly proven that a spoilt brat is no different from someone who feels entitled and shows no gratitude. If Ah Ming can’t take “no” for an answer to going to Sunway Lagoon this week, how in the world is he supposed to handle it when things don’t go his way? Will he throw a tantrum if he is rejected by a girl in the future? Or if he fails to get into the university of his choice?
Then, there is social media. More and more children are getting on social media platforms when it’s pretty obvious they should not. The internet and social media are making children lose their innocence, in a sense. On top of that, they are adopting bad habits that they see online and deem as “cool”. Recently, I was told that a 12-year-old was caught vaping in the school toilets. Vaping? At age 12? Don’t even get me started on the utter nonsense they call lingo now. All in the name of being “cool”.
Although I’m not that much older, I distinctly remember that my primary school days were filled with playing tag, pretending to be the latest Marvel superhero, and talking about the last Ninjago episode that just premiered over the weekend. Now, conversations among young children are very different. “Did you see her post? She’s so ugly. I hope she will just stop.” I understand bullying has existed since the dawn of time, but this is a new low. Kids these days are losing their humanity and a sense of respect for others.
Not to mention, children are becoming more and more anti-social. Social media has played a role in this, but I believe there is more to it. To start off, more and more children are not eating meals with others anymore.
Eating with a computer or iPad screen in front of them has become so common, that it’s going to impact the future. Imagine going out with a friend and, as you eat, your friend pulls out their phone and starts watching a video on it. How would you feel? In fact, this is already happening today. How often have you sat in a coffee shop or mamak, only to see whole families glued to their phones? Or, parents giving their small children a gadget to watch a video so that they don’t have to entertain the little ones? Is this not just disappointing? Also, what are we teaching small children if we do this?
So, take away humans’ social ability, our humanity and our general sense of right and wrong. What do you get? Lifeless creatures who show no sympathy, no empathy and no sense of kindness or care for those around them.
Yes, we may still be around for 50, 100, 200 years, if global warming doesn’t wipe us out first. But we may lose civilisation as we know it And for what?
To give the younger generation an avenue to express themselves, Twentytwo13 has a dedicated space called Young Voices. If you are a young writer (aged 17 and below) and would like your article published on our news website, send your contribution to editor@twentytwo13.my.
