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Today's Ticking Time-Bomb Youth

9/14/2011

2 Comments

 
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Demi Lovato's so-called "fat" photo
What the heck is going on with today’s youth?!! It appears that this generation is one of violence, self-destruction and cruelty. There are ticking time-bombs. If you follow pop-culture media, you might have heard how thousands of young people sent attacking personal messages to Disney-affiliated singer/actress Demi Lovato, 19, via the social-networking site, Twitter, telling her she looked “fat” at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards. What made this attack especially heinous was that Lovato has suffered from an eating disorder. On the same site, Lovato’s pal and fellow Disney alum, Selena Gomez, received death threats from jealous fans of her current boyfriend, pop-star Justin Bieber. Bieber fans also sent violent messages to Esperanza Spalding, the recording artist who won “Best New Artist” over Bieber at the Grammys in February. Threats from today’s pre-teens and teens cannot be taken idly. Over the last 3 years, reports of suicides and deaths resulting from bullying in all forms (physical, mental and cyber) have been constant and rising. Bullying has also been linked to self-injurious behavior and eating disorders. Early sexual behaviors, teen pregnancy and substance abuse remain issues amongst adolescents.

Some might not find the above examples concerning, but I find them alarming because of the nature of the bullying attacks; systematic, violent and deliberate. Their violent endeavors aren’t the only thing that worries me. In the midst of promoting this site, I’ve come in contact with a lot of people between the ages of 13-17. Many of them seem to be in crisis. In one week, I came a across a 13-year-old who was concerned about her boyfriend’s distrust of her after her miscarriage and 2 older teens struggling with self-harm, eating disorders and depression. Collectively, these problems are nothing new under the teen sun. However, they seem to be more intense than before. Parents are typically automatically blamed for negative youth trends, but considering the mass affect, they can’t all be poor parents. I’m not an educator, youth counselor, teen or parental figure, so I have no direct, experiential theories on why these behavioral patterns have developed. Any ideas, folks? 

2 Comments
Chris
9/15/2011 07:17:45 pm

With the experience I have raising little people and all the ones I've been around to see grow.. More often then not the problem I see is that some family member/friends have spoiled them in some way shape form or fashion leading the child to believe it's entitled to anything and everything it's heart desires.
That or the child has learned that some sort of violent response gets them what they want, be it material, recogniton, or just plain and simple cruel amusement.

Reply
Crystal W.
9/17/2011 04:17:43 pm

Media gets a bad rap for a lot of things, but I think it might sometimes have an influence on societal trends, particularly among young people. For example, flip through the channels on the tv for a bit. Chances are, you'll see something like the following: murder, murder, murder, teen pregnancy, pointless drama, "adult" cartoon, murder, murder... you get the idea.

A forensics program is fine every now and then, but can you imagine what it must do to someone's perception of reality if that's what they watch all afternoon when they get home? It's similar to the explaination given for the statistically high domestic abuse rates among military and police personel. A violent job or atmosphere gradually desensitizes a person to violence until it seems almost normal.

Trouble comes when teens are raised by their peers and favorite tv shows instead of their parents. Parents need to be open in discussing things like sex and violence with their teens. More importantly, they need to live and act in such a way that their teen isn't afraid to come to them for help.

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