I was making breakfast with my roommate and she mentioned a hometown story of hers that sounds all too familiar: husband cheats on wife, they get a divorce, the kids are torn from their parents. We see it in our own families and sometimes if the story escalates and abuse and violence come into play, we see it in the media.

Too many parents are abusive, unfaithful, alcoholic, and lazy…and we wonder why children follow the same behavior.

We wonder why suicide rates are so high. We wonder why the divorce rate continues to escalate. We wonder why the millennials are lazy or under-aged drinking in high school. It’s simple – the parents are acting like children, so as a result, the kids continue to do what they see their parents doing.

Parents who lead, discipline, and teach their kids right and wrong while reprimanding them for their actions have become all too rare because adults have become selfish. If something requires them to lose some sleep, they don’t want to deal with it. If they don’t want their kids to “hate” them for disciplining them, they won’t do it. If they aren’t disciplined themselves and can’t put the drink or pills down for the sake of their kid, then what kind of love and character is that kid seeing. Selfish love and lack of character.

That’s why there’s been an increase in school shootings. That’s why abortions still exist so prominently. That’s why suicide, depression, and bullying continue to exist. The majority of my generation doesn’t know what good character looks like – it was never exemplified to them by their parents. The majority of my generation doesn’t know what love looks like. Real, sacrificial, selfless love. The love that isn’t easy and convenient. So instead they think love = selfishness.

My generation isn’t lazy on their own. They aren’t abusive, aggressive, impulsive, or unfaithful on their own. The adults paved the path for them. They left a legacy of violence, crime, laziness, and immaturity for their children to follow up on. Love, leadership, and character are lacking in our adults today, and because of that, I’m surrounded by a generation of broken, lost, and hurting humans.