When did we become our parents? Not the responsible-and-mature part – the let’s-criticize-the-younger-generation part. Articles about a “self-centered younger generation” have been a staple our entire lives. How can we repeat the same thing without seeing any irony?

“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.” – Socrates, circa 450 B.C.

In “our day” – a hateful term that suggests we’re kissing death – a generally right-wing government drafted young men to fight in Vietnam, a problematic war. We questioned that. And in questioning that, we questioned other things because we were on a roll – things like social inequality, women’s rights, disabled rights, poor people’s rights and a slew of other “that’s just the way it is” standards our parents passively accepted.

We got uppity. We were difficult. Adult after adult talked about a new generation that lacked respect, lacked work ethics, lacked the ability to play well with others. They hated our earrings, our long hair, our bell-bottom-muslin-shirt-Jesus-sandal fashions. Criticism came loud and often in editorials, living rooms and parent-child arguments. We were so bad that they named the problem: the generation gap. No parent-child problem since the 1970s was so honored that it got its own name.

We swore oh-so-many years ago that we’d be different, that we would view youth through new eyes. But we didn’t. Boomers today who criticize the younger generation en masse are simply wrong.

Maybe my cohorts forget, but compare the old and new versions:

Today’s version Old version
“Kids bury themselves in cell phones. We’ve created a generation of zombies.” “Get off the phone. I’m expecting an important call.” (Response: “I need my own phone line.”)
“There’s no school discipline. A bunch of thugs know they can’t be touched, so they do whatever they want.” “Kids question all authority. They think we can’t do anything right.
“When I was a kid, we played outside all day. Video games are destroying today’s youth.” “Turn off that TV now. It’s a beautiful day. Go outside and play.”
“We have a black president, for God’s sake. We have equality. Black kids are just whining.” “I don’t get it. Everything was fine. Even under separate-but-equal, colored folks had all the opportunities whites had. Why all the protests?”
“Women can be whatever they want. Still, their most important job is motherhood.” “Burning bras? What do they want to be – men? … as if motherhood and homemaking wasn’t enough.
“Kids today are lazy and disrespectful.” “Kids today are lazy and disrespectful.”
“Helicopter parents must let go – kids need to make mistakes. That’s how they learn.” “Colleges are hot-beds for protest. They’re destroying the country with left-wing ideas and liberal professors.”
“Son, which button do I push to listen to phone messages?” “Mom, do you have a stamp? I have to mail a letter.”
“Kids spend all their time on the Internet.” “He says he’s going to the store, but who knows where he is half the time?”
“Girls today show too much skin. They look skanky.” “Hot pants? Mini skirts? Girls today show too much skin. They’re asking for it.” (“It” being sex crimes.)

 

The younger generation always leads positive social change. Without 50 years of quiet status quo acceptance, they have the energy, desire and prerequisite naïveté to move the world forward, and focusing on annoying habits only masks the good within them.

Fellow boomers: Let them improve the world. Help, guide and salve wounds when they lose a just battle. They’re us – minus 50 years of passive status-quo acceptance.

© Smithtakes.com