Recently I have been worrying for the future of the next generation because it seems a lot of them are being cornfed crap on TV. Kids are being brought up thinking that MTV is real life, that wearing skin tight pants is trendy, and that liking someone's status will help out the masses.
When you try to watch a TV show today you have to struggle to find a lesson that will teach something important. I don't care if you know when the best time to GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry) is, but I really want to know that you know at least what state you're in and what the Capitol is.
Now recently, people have started to see the Invisible Children Organization's videos about the situation in Uganda where children and women are being treated as soldiers and slaves for the coup that took power. People all over facebook are up in arms about people overposting about Kony, the leader of the coup in Uganda. Kony 2012 is not the first documentary that the Invisible Children organization has made. The first one I had seen was about a boy named Tony who dealt first-hand with the coup. The story, while it is sad, is being dealt with and it seems people are posting what they haven't looked into much, as usual.
I'm just as liable for that, but I do try to get all my information relatively right before I make a stand on what I believe and why. Nevertheless, as a kid I knew more countries and such than most students do now. The reason is that I had to actually study a map to pass. I'm tired of the world looking at the US with such disdain because we do not know where countries are in the world. Over the course of 15 years of being a student, I have had world map tests in about 7 of those years. Not just one test, but many tests until you got it all correct. In that time, countries have ceased existing, countries have been created, and others have split, joined, or changed names. This video is a little dated, but most of these countries still exist today.
Finally, after bashing into the next generation a little, I will give them some credit. The next generation is a little more health conscious to an extend. While they seem to not be outside and that they have poorer imaginations because of it, they are a little more heath conscious it seems. I mean, my generation grew up watching shows that contained stuff like this:
Nevertheless, I still hope that the next generation will wise up a bit, or they're not going to like the future. Many times during the course of college, I have heard speakers say that this generation or students are some of the biggest proponents of change that they have ever seen. That overhead of 'generation of students' includes a generation from the lat 80s to the mid 90s. We are the change we want to see in the world.
I don't know if the materials that we experienced is enough to create this change, if the media we were exposed to was a better preparation for the world, or if people need to grow up. I don't know these things. What I do know though is that this generation needs to be educated better so we know what the problems are and where in the world the problems are and how to/if the problem is being resolved.
If you hadn't noticed, all these videos came from a show called Animaniacs, a show that combined the nonsense from cartoons (that are even seen today) with useful information presented in a fun way. I still remember a lot of the world countries song and I hadn't heard is for years. Maybe it is time that we stray from reality shows that focus on friend problems and get back to focusing on education, because in the long run, that matters most.
Have a great day!
