Echo Boomers: Making a difference
In Psychology, we have been talking about the Echo Boomer generation and what scientists have found our distiguishing traits to be. Our generation has already been noted as one of the most over achieving generations ever. Here is what studies have reported:
"They have been heavily programmed. The kids who have had soccer Monday, Kung Fu Tuesday, religious classes Wednesday, clarinet lessons Thursday. Whose whole lives have really been based on what some adult tells them to do," says Levine. "This is a generation that has long aimed to please. They've wanted to please their parents, their friends, their teachers, their college admissions officers." It's a generation in which rules seem to have replaced rebellion, convention is winning out over individualism, and values are very traditional. They are also the most diverse generation ever: 35 percent are non-white, and the most tolerant, believing everyone should be part of the community"
The rest of the article is here, and I honestly thought it was very accurate.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/01/60minutes/main646890.shtml
In Psychology, we have been talking about the Echo Boomer generation and what scientists have found our distiguishing traits to be. Our generation has already been noted as one of the most over achieving generations ever. Here is what studies have reported:
"They have been heavily programmed. The kids who have had soccer Monday, Kung Fu Tuesday, religious classes Wednesday, clarinet lessons Thursday. Whose whole lives have really been based on what some adult tells them to do," says Levine. "This is a generation that has long aimed to please. They've wanted to please their parents, their friends, their teachers, their college admissions officers." It's a generation in which rules seem to have replaced rebellion, convention is winning out over individualism, and values are very traditional. They are also the most diverse generation ever: 35 percent are non-white, and the most tolerant, believing everyone should be part of the community"
The rest of the article is here, and I honestly thought it was very accurate.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/10/01/60minutes/main646890.shtml
For example, think of all the songs out there about pleasing our parents. Simple Plans song, "Perfect" is a perfect example. (no pun intended). The songs starts off with:
"Hey dad look at me, Think back and talk to me, Did I grow up according to plan?, And do you think I'm wasting my time doing things I wanna do? But it hurts when you disapprove all along, And now I try hard to make it, I just want to make you proud."
"It's all these people talking about how great technology is, and how it saves all this time. But, what good is saved time, if nobody uses it? If it just turns into more busy work. I mean, you never hear somebody say, "Well, you know, with, uh, the time I've saved by using my word processor, I'm gonna go to a Zen monastery and hang out." I mean, you never hear that."
That is a quote from the movie "Before Sunrise" - which was made in 1995 - and I think it hit exactly what our generation has become. Looking back at the article, it says that our generation is over achieving, multi tasking, technology driven nuts! And that is precisely what the quote above is referring to. And where does it get us? Nowhere.
And furthermore, that is why were called the "NOW" generation - because everything has to be fast for us. Seriously, if I'm at a grocery store and the check-out person is ringing my items up too slow, I get really frusterated. I just want to scream at them to hurry up!
But, there is another quote from "Before Sunrise" that I feel it is necessary to quote because it leads me right into my next rant.
"I hate, I hate that 300 kms from here there's a war going on, y'know, people are dying, and nobody knows what to do about it, or they don't give a crap, I don't know. I hate that the medias, you know, they are trying to control our minds.You know its very subtle, but you know, its a new form of fascism."
And that is what's going on in Uganda right now. There is basically a war going on and nobody knows or they dont care! So, for anyone reading this who doesn't know the situation, this is it in a nutshell.. There are a group of people called the LRA [Lords Resistence Army] who want to overthrow the Ugandan government. And I can't fill in all the between details because I dont know them, but I know that for the last 20-or-so years they have been kidnapping innocent children between the ages of 8-16 [I think] from the town of Gulu to train them to be Geurillas. The kids [also known as 'Night Commuters'] have been commuting two miles every night to a safe town. In the morning they have to commute back to make it to school. They live in constant fear for their lives. Like I said before, I dont know all the details but this is a serious situation going on right now and almost nobody knows about it! It was rated number ONE in the top 10 least talked about stories last year! The lead actor of Hotel Rwanda, Don Cheadle, has become an activist for Afica because after filming the movie, he has taken notice to how bad things are getting over there. Well, make of this what you will but I strongly encourage people to find out what's going on and try to help, in whatever way possible. Dont forget to pray, and maybe donate to some organizations helping the cause if its an option. Search "Invisible Children" and your sure to find some stuff about the situation. Dont ignore this any longer. This is our generation, let's DO something to make a difference....
