The problem with our generation is that we don't think.
We don't think how much our words have the power to hurt people. We don't think before posting things online or on social media accounts. We don't think posting questionable pictures could prevent us from landing our dream job down the road... Most of all, we don't think about how actions have consequences.
It is one of the oldest sayings in the book... your actions have consequences. We remember being told this as a young child, we experience this in our every day lives, so how come when it's behind the screen of an iPhone it is any different?
This problem has been evident in national news, most recently at the University of South Carolina, when a student wrote a racial slur on a campus study room whiteboard. This student didn't think that she would offend people to the magnitude that she did. She didn't think twice before posting this on her snapchat story, even though it could be taken as controversial. She didn't think about how this post could potentially get her expelled from college. She didn't think about how her actions have consequences.
So the question I have is, why?
Why can't we learn from the mistakes of others? Why can't we realize that a picture or a video has the power to ruin our lives? Why can't we realize that in the process of the destructive media storm, we are not only damaging our own reputation but that of the university we attend or the organizations we are a part of? Why, as a generation, can't we get smarter about this?
Maybe it's because we are the first real generation to be born into the digital age. Maybe it's because it's a lesson that our parents and role models have to teach us without every really going through it themselves. Maybe it's because within the past few years it seems that every one of us has an iPhone chock-full of social media outlets just waiting to be posted on. Maybe it's because rather than experiencing a situation by ourselves, it has become instinctual for us to take a picture of something and post about it instead.
But in reality, while some of these statements may have validity, it is time for the excuses to stop.
Stop and think how by posting this one picture, we could extremely hurt, anger, and upset innocent people. Stop and think how if we post this video, we could be expelled from school. Stop and think about how this one post could prevent us from achieving our lifelong goals.
It is time for our generation to realize that it is necessary to stop and think about the potential consequences of our actions and ask ourselves, is it really worth it?
