So there seems to be a lot of hate from older generations towards millennials (by the way, if you’re 30-36 you’re still considered a millennial) for being entitled, overly offended, basically bratty pansies. And the apparent cause of it is “political correctness”. Now what Gen Xers and Baby Boomers fail to understand is just how different our world is compared to theirs; primarily with the popularization of cell phones and the internet. Those two seemingly small things have revolutionized our world. I’ve heard people say that racism was never as bad as it is now (which doesn’t seem remotely accurate considering it was only in the ‘60s that MLK was shot for trying to fight for equal rights for black citizens and lynching wasn’t a convictable crime until 1946. Reagan in the 80s was known for not supporting civil rights movements and vetoing bills that would benefit minority groups, racial profiling was an epidemic in the ‘90s, discrimination in the workplace based on race wasn’t illegal until 1991. Racism in America has always been an issue. The reason why it seems to be worse now is due to the fact that we have things like Facebook, where if something happens that appears to be discrimitory it goes completely viral. We now have cell phones that can take videos of entire confrontations to be broadcasted everywhere. Issues aren’t getting worse, they’re only spreading faster. Because of this new era of sharing knowledge we are becoming more aware of issues across the nation and the globe in a way we never have before. With this change also comes an awareness that we haven’t had before. We now know more about mental health and the physical causes and effects (another thing that Reagan defunded). We also now know that there are some aspects of mental health that cannot be helped and that we should be aware of how to treat someone with that mental health issue. Not because of a fear of “offending someone” or creating a “safe space”, but to be a decent and empathetic human being. Political correctness isn’t for safety of feelings, it’s a sign of humanity.

30 years ago children would leave school and go home and any problems in the outside world were left and forgotten. Today children leave school and are left to go on Facebook, or YouTube, various apps, even websites like the Odyssey and anything on the outside follows them. Baby Boomers and Gen Xers did have safe spaces, more so than Millennials of Gen Y’s have today, yet we are the ones criticized for apparently needing one (although I do agree on college campuses we need more alone spaces, living with a roommate and being around people pretty much 24/7 does get real old, real fast.). What we say is now able to be saved forever online, it creates a need for being more conscious of what we say, for our own sake and (if you care, as you should) others.