Many people have sour assumptions about our generation. They think we have too many tattoos, dye our hair weird colors, listen to mind-numbing music that has no deeper meaning, and can't go a second without using technology.
While these things may be true, our changing styles, looks, ideas and trends are not making us worse people. We have the power to make the world a better place and by having a fresher outlook on life, we are doing just that.
The older generations believe that the world will fall apart when we are old enough to make important decisions because our judgements are skewed and let's be honest, they think we have absolutely no idea what we're doing. But they have created a huge double standard that we need to try our hardest to get rid of.
A young adult shouldn't have opinions on important political topics because what could they possibly know about anything involving the government? They're too naive and unexperienced to make intelligent views on these ADULT topics. Who do they think they are trying to form opinions on mature issues that don't even affect them? But seriously all these teenagers care about these days is the internet and how cool it is to consume underage alcohol. I mean, please! They're going to be in charge some day?!
They want us to grow up and act mature but at the same time think we're too young to be forming opinions about the topics that matter.
But sooner rather than later, we are going to be in charge, and the older generation needs to understand that the training wheels are going to come off and they will just have to watch us pedal on our own. They were once our age and their parents and grandparents were worried about how they were going to handle the real world too. It's the oldest story in the book. You'd be lying if you said you never see younger kids act differently than you did at that age and get queasy thinking about them being adults one day.
I'm not saying that we need to stop this never ending cycle. I'm just saying that it would be pretty cool if we weren't judged so harshly and looked down on so condescendingly.
In our great grandparents' generation, slavery was still alive, women were not granted the same rights as men, and being gay was something that could be prayed away. We've come a long way since then, but it is up to us to continue making the world a better, equal, and safer place.
Our job is to yell, fight, scream, and not give up. In a few short years, people our age will be leading the country and our job is to prove to the older generations that we are not hopeless and we can create a better place for the future generations to grow up in. And maybe after we're done doing that we can ease up on the next generation that will have power and understand that before we know it their training wheels will be coming off too.
