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Are Teens in Today's Society in Over Their Heads?

Are Teens in Today's Society in Over Their Heads?

  • It just seems as if nowadays sex, violence, drugs is becoming an addiction for today's youth. It's as if it is more important what we possess than who we are, or so it seems to be. I was at the library today and I overheard this one elderly lady saying she was glad she'd be dead before "the deadhead teens of today run the world", and I just found this beyond insulting, but in a way she was right. Just the materialistic society in which we live in, and I guess we should at least feel fortunate; for all we really have to ponder are the vain philosophical aspects of modern living, but this is what bothers me most just the vanity of it all..it's all about me and what I own. What happened to all the values such as self-control, respect for others,courtesy and even true and intimate love? It seems as if these are all losing out to the instant gratifications of material possessions and superficial outward beauty. These kids can't be older than 11.. and just looking at what they do is sickening. I don't see anything wrong with name brands and having nice clothes, I'm guilty of this as well, but these are the sort of people who will grow to be very superficial and think that they need tons of expensive clothes to be happy. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT2q-iCi8wM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3XdC3C6o4E What's happened to simply joy? It's becoming harder and harder to actually meet people who aren't shallow, superficial and it seems as if us, as human beings don't really care about all of the important values in life such as true love, respect etc. Most people just act as if they don't need any of these values in life particularly love and self respect. If they have a flashy car, designer clothes, video games etc. that's all they need in life to keep them happy.. but what about all of these IMPORTANT values that we take for granted? This society is insensitive, materialistic and shallow, and the only thing that is keeping me sane are the few one or two people that mean something to me. Funny thing, they come for free. I don't feel at home in this shallow world, I'm like an alien trapped in a strange planet. And I just want to go home. I don't know where that is anymore...I myself am a teen, but even I'm embarrassed by this.

  • Answer:

    At least there are a few people in the world who question it's culture. I would say You are right in just about everything You said. I could talk about this subject for ages but I'll try to keep it short. Today's culture is VERY based on material possesions, but that is nothing compared to the values that people have these days. I would be lying if I said that what people consider "values" are not materialistic. I think that the problem is that most people don't do enough thinking about what their values are. They are taught the usual values like be nice, respect your parents and elders, work hard etc. but those are only a few of a very large number of values and most people don't even know what they really mean or act upon them. Answers are pushed on to people when they should figure out the answer themselves. A lot of people these days are driven purely by physical acts like sex and drugs. Again people don't think how they can ruin their lives. Many people think sex is love but love is something completely different. They think drugs are the only thing that can make them happy because they don't really know what true joy and happiness is. People commit acts of violence out of greed, frustration, jealousy or all of them. They don't care what effect their action can have on others, they don't care about knowledge and reasoning, they are unwilling to accept that sometimes they are wrong, they have no manners or courtesy because they and very few people care about it. I don't think it's just kids and adolescents, I think it's culture as a whole. But as always there are exeptions, but I can only think of one. When I was in grade 7 I had a teacher that was always talking about morals and values, he used to have a what he called a "philosophy circle" every firday where we would all sit down and talk about values and how we live our life. One day he actually got down on his knees and begged the class not to become materialistic and insensitive like his generation and do you know what my classmates did: they laughed at him. I couldn't belive that they could be so insensitive. I think he was the one that made me think about this. But the thing about him was that he didn't just preach about it, he showed it in everything he did. Like You I don't see anything wrong with having nice possesions and clothes but I think You should wear clothes that represent You and that You like, Instead of just what's fashionable. I think appearance is for expressing Yourself so if you just wear what everyone else wears your not really being true to Yourself. Don't get me wrong just because everyone likes something doesn't mean You can't like it too. Just be true to Yourself, I know that sounds very common and meaningless but most people aren't. You are right when You say it's becoming harder to meet people who aren't shallow and superficial but there are people out there who aren't(no matter how rare they might be).Well this is getting really long so I think i'll wrap it up. Summed up I would say yes.

Laura -RMCF at Yahoo! Answers Visit the source

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*sigh* i know what you mean! But i'd be contradicting myself if i said i'm not materialistic sometimes :S There are definitely others who feel the same way. Including my older sister. You're not alone.

Yes Indeed! 2 Timothy 3:1-5 describes some of their character today. But you do not have to follow the crown, just be yourself and encourage others to change. John 17:3

Mike S

I'm a teen too and I find it sad how people get now. If you don't have sex, drink or smoke up to a certain age (like 16 or so) then they don't want to be around you and find you as a worthless outcast. Sometimes I still wonder if there's still even good things other than what I'm seeing too. Where I live it's kinda bad and you see a lot of groups that are up to no good. I can't really stand the US to think about it (I'm American) since it's all for the $$$$ and brain washing people.

Nini :p

It's so sad. It's actually almost impossible to find a true friend or at least a friend who would be loyal, nice and not take away your partner or be hypocrite towards you. These girls would do anything to take your man even if he lives in far away country and he's older than them (trying to get his contact information). I do not trust anybody. Teen boys and girls are such a horde. They have no respect and they try to make these rarely good ones looking bad. It's always happened to me. They think you're a stranger if you don't hang out with them, drink and so on. For example, also being untouched is nowadays "a shame". One of my classmates claims that who did not kiss a girl till his 15th year - the highest grade in our country, is like loser or something. They have no idea, but they're just full of stereotypes against other races, religions and nationalities. And when they grow up, they stay complicated materialists with prejudices. These teens do not understand the meaning of true love, I agree. They hug somebody and next week another one. Nobody waits to meet the right person anymore. If I continue writing, I'll probably write next 4 hours. So I'll stop here. I'll just add that now intelligent and "adult" teens are not taken seriously because of the neanderthal horde majority.

Well, the loud manipulative messages that are being broadcast to them through pretty much every medium, over and over portrays that exessively shallow perspective of the world which you spoke of. naturally many people fall in the trap of following the messages as truth and valid, and as something desirable. There is a tremendous amount of hidden mind manipulation within many sexual presentations disguised as regular sexual attraction. The viewer is being mentally stimulated, all the while mistakenly thinking it is simply sexual attraction and only physical. The methods to free oneself from these unwanted influences are written in a recent book which I mention in the "Sources" section at the end of this answer in addition I have a yahoo group on sexual addiction at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sagessolution

Awake Sage & Author Omid Mankoo

I understand what you mean. To me life right now seems like a cliche, because it seems like everybody is doing the same thing. I mean everybody is wearing apostle, or whatever clothes are in right now. I miss just hanging out with friends, and going places with them instead of just going to the club, or just looking for guy's. It's all really annoying. That's why I'm glad that I'm leaving middle school. All most teens care about today is sex, money, clothes, and dumb stuff. I wish life wasn't like a cliche.

Liz

First off.. your line about drugs being addiction for todays youth.. yes that can be true, but honestly for me, drugs have change my life for the better, and I've never had problems with addiction... Anyways Yes, it's sad that many people just care about materialistic things but inside those people that just care about those things are lost. They don't know what makes them happy so they just go out and buy things and try to make money to make them happy... but you will NEVER have enough. I feel just like you! This world is so sad. So corrupted by money. It's all people think about. We grow up learning that money will get us what we want and make us happy... but it won't. Money can help you in life, but there is so much more to live for! I mean, yes I want to have nice things, but I wouldn't sacrifice that for friends and having meaningful bonding moments with them. When you have friends and relationships, that you are very close, you naturally begin to not care about having a bunch of stuff. You will want to spend time with them... and honestly, it is so beautiful to be so open and honest with your bestest of friends. No amount of stuff or money can ever compare. I think when people realize this, and start caring more about others, they'll see how much they've been missing and will pursue relationships. Seriously... right now, I feel like crying of how truly amazing bonds of friendship and love are, and how deep they go. When you are with the ones you love, in that moment in time, when you are in extreme bliss, you see just how fricken beautiful life is. Hopefully sometime in life, others will discover how precious love and friendships can be, and won't dwell so much on material things. and another thing.. those saying that it's impossible to find a decent friend nowadays that is so untrue. yes it may be hard to find your friends that you bond with, but when you do it is wonderful. And there still are many good people out there that aren't superficial. You just have to keep looking, they're out there!

euphoric(k)

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