Where's this earth going? I look around, and just want to be sick. I could name very many problems, but I'm going to start with the one that you see every day in the morning, before you go to school: Us. Don't say, "no, not me." Yes, YOU. Right there, reading this. It's us, it's you, it's me, it's your friends, and your family. By "us" I mean the new generation walking school and mall halls, right now. The teens of the world. Right now, the earth seems to a very grim fate. And with each tick of the clock, we hurt it further.
What do I have to do with us? You may ask. We're just kids. We shouldn't have to worry about this. Maybe right now you're just a kid. Not only are you a kid, but you are kid growing up in an age that no one has ever faced. You're growing under the 1st black president, and you're growing up where gays and people of other religons aren't forced into the corners. Even as we speak, people are debating giving gays rights. If you look around in your own group of friends, you'll see people that have different skin colors, and different religons, or maybe no religon, at all. America's promise of everyone being accepted is finally true to its word, in the most part.
Yet, with the good, comes the bad. We live on the brink of danger, all the time. After 9/11, things changed. No one could touch America, we thought. We were too high up. Our pride was crushed, and our mask of safety was snatched off frightened faces. Suddenly, the threat of war and bombs was very real. Since them, Americans truely have changed, realizing that maybe they could be touched on their high mount. Today, we live in a bout of tension and shakey trust. We're living in a time where material goods can break or make a kid. Maybe it's a way of hidding our fear. Or maybe we've gotten greedy. Either way, the lore of material goods have slowly lead our attention away from the things that do matter: life.
Alot of kids simply don't care. Who needs homework when they could be playing outside or surfing the net? Not them, of course. They don't care about dropping grades. All they care about is having fun right at the moment. What they don't see is the rejection letter, when they apply for colleges years later. What they don' see is a life full of unskilled, tough, cheap labor that they'll work at for the rest of their lives to keep up with barely-paid bills. In their eyes, everything will come to them. No, it won't. Life isn't handed to you on a sliver platter. Doing work and working hard will pay off later. It's what any adult will tell you. Sometimes, they know what they're talking about.
You can take this another step. Let's imagine the same kid, now a hard-working adult. They don't care about the politics, or the enviroment. They let it slip further and further down, until it's impossible to even try to get back . Rather you want to see it, or not. One day, we will be in charge of the earth! Somewhere, some kid hanging in a mall will be the next president. Others will be CEO's, athletes, and other leaders.
Are we intellegant enough? Yes, yes, and yes. No one ever said we were stupid, In fact, people have spoken quite the opposite. How many times has someone said that we were smart, very smart, but just not motivated, in the least. There's a different in not being able to do the work and flat-out not being motivated to do it.
Try this one on for size. We aren't living up the potential we can. 1,000 years later, or even 2,000 years later, what do you want to be known as? Do you want to be known as the generation how screwed up the earth for good? To be known as the lazy, careless villians? Or do you want to be remembered as the generation who pulled themselves together, and worked hard to save this earth? The hero, who maybe not stopped but at least slowed down the process of destruction?
Hopefully, I've given you something to think about. When you look in the mirrior, don't see yourself as a teenager. See yourself as the future. And work, finally work, to make that future bright.
Not registered?
Create an account