Generation What?

Lately, I've been having in depth conversations with various people about how the world has changed, and continues to shock and surprise me negatively. 

It started a few weeks ago when I realised how depressing everything to do with social media/media has become - Twitter and Facebook have become the grounds where bullies are bred, the papers cite more teenage deaths by suicide, and show parents killing their own children for no reason at all. It's a pretty crazy world out there, and it gets more sad when you see the situations across the Middle East. It's just down right heart breaking. 

I've also been finding out a lot about how younger kids these days know all about things they shouldn't need to know about at their age. I see shows on channels like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network openly parade themes of an adult nature, and it bothers me to no extent to know that my nieces and nephews are growing up in a world where innocence was demolished a long time ago.

I look back to my childhood and teenage-hood and remember how innocent I was. I used to watch shows like Kenan and Kel and Sister Sister which were funny, silly and did relate to the age group I was part of, and nothing older. I watched cartoons that were actually sweet and had good morals behind them. They weren't like the stuff that's on these days that promotes violence and addiction and all sorts of negative emotions. 

I know and understand that with the increase in technology and modern-thinking, people need to move "with the times".. But I don't understand why that can't include preserving children's innocence and child-like ways. I mean, eventually they'll learn about the big bad world. I lost hope with the world a long time ago to be quite honest!

I was watching some Bollywood films as well recently and I was pretty gob-smacked with the type of dialogues that were in them. These were derogatory, sexual, disrespectful dialogues that people find okay to laugh at and to then quote later to groups of friends and family. (I have a good sense of humour, don't get me wrong. And I will laugh at any "that's what she said" type of joke, but there's a limit to those as well!) I mean these movie-themes are packed with adult references which let me tell you, aren't very subtle either, as well as promoting arrogance and the lack of chivalry, etc. In fact, Bollywood has lost its charm. There was once a time where I'd wait months on end to watch a new Shah Rukh Khan flick - and now that's turn to pure dread and just boredom really. There's nothing that challenges this new norm. There's nothing that is "different" - or at least less vulgar and less ridiculous. I dislike the whole "masala films" genre anyway, but it seems like as time passes by even movies with supposed serious themes have to have one of those very very disgusting item songs. And what are item songs anyway? A half naked woman, dancing around a crowd of guys, sometimes with a bottle of alcohol, with nothing but shame and the idea that women are just there to be stared at and to disrespect. On top of that, these songs are blasted through radio stations across the world, reaching high up in the charts - their videos, also being paraded around TV channels and eventually getting in to the minds of the younger ones. They grow up thinking that it's completely okay to look at women like that, in an indecent and perversive manner and pick up derogatory language and curses that they feel is completely fine to use. To top it all, some parents laugh it off - saying that "oh my child is so good at these kind of impersonations!" 

I digress though. The point of these thoughts are that where once social media and the media in general were a good place to just "virtually mingle" - it's now become a dangerous and frankly scary place to let children and in some cases, adults venture in to. I'm actually not sure whether the "real" world or the "virtual" world is more scary at this point? I know and understand that you can't really hide from it - as much as you try (I've deactivated Twitter and Facebook more times than I have fingers and toes!) as it's pretty much all around you. You go to a shop to ask a question - and more often than not you get the standard reply, "have you checked our Facebook/Twitter page? All of our answers should be listed there".. Forcing you to properly close off any human contact you could have had. They may as well not be there, or have those big headphones around their heads like drones. Human face-to-face contact has pretty much dissolved. If you want to talk to someone, you can do so via email, whatsapp, text message, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn.. (you get the gist), before actually seeing them in person (I keep digressing).

It's worrying to know for instance that there are groups of people out there whose soul purpose is to make other people's lives a misery by name calling, bullying, cyber-bullying and so forth. Most of these people, mind you are young adults who honestly have nothing better to do. But these people hurt others intentionally, leading those who are emotionally more sensitive to go as far as giving up their lives. I mean why would you want to be so mean and so absolutely stupid? On top of that, why aren't their parents watching what they're doing (in both cases), or why aren't they introducing some type of parental control?

One thing I can't get my head around at all is how parents these days feel like they have no ability to say anything to a child any more. Why is this unfilial behaviour accepted? I mean if my dad was still here and he told me not to do something, I'd leave it and never think about it again. I do the same with my mum now! And in fact, I let her make so many of my decisions (although she doesn't like to). When did children become the parents? And when did parents start feeling so helpless? Why is there such disconnect and when did it become okay to be so disrespectful to your parents?

As time passes I am more sure that I was born in the wrong century. I find that I am more traditional than I was when I was younger, and in fact I find it so difficult to digest these new ways and these new behaviours that have suddenly become okay to observe and adopt. It's very strange, as I don't remember being this way whilst at university (although, I'd never want to be that person again to be very honest). I find myself perplexed by all of this, all of the time.

Rant, officially over.