Over past generations we have made numerous technological, medical and ethical advances. We are now more encouraging of equality, accepting of change and we understand the importance of diversity. The improvements we have made are legendary. But with acceptance comes increases in sensitivity. It is necessary. An essential part of embracing innovation and in turn, moving forward, but my question is, have we become too sensitive?
I can't even begin to count the number of times I have laughed at a Facebook or Twitter fight between two people who have no idea what they are talking about, but simply felt the need to share their opinion. And don't even get me started about the election. I avoided social media for three days out of pure annoyance for the countless out lashes and rants that uneducated users felt the need to announce. Here is some truth for everyone. A man was chosen for president. He may not have been your choice, but we are a country, and we are all in this together. If you would like to leave the country because of it, please go ahead. I am a firm believer that we are only as strong as our weakest link, and if you are unable to accept something you cannot change, you are not as strong as you think you are.
Last month I wrote about the entitled generation we are living with today, but I also think that oversensitivity plays a role in fueling this "the world owes me something" attitude. I understand not wanting to hurt an 8-years-old's feelings, but not encouraging friendly competition deprives kids of working their hardest. It takes away their chance to push themselves to obtain a goal, and can even take away their ability to identify their strengths. How can a child recognize that they are a top notch writer, or an excellent soccer player, if every kid in their age group gets a prize. We are praising children for talents they do not have in an attempt to keep them happy, and we wonder why we have a generation of kids who expect a reward when they have done nothing to earn it.
I hope that people read this and understand that if a 21-year-old college student can see this, then oversensitivity might be an issue in our society that we need to address. If you disagree, that is fine as well. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. See how easy that is?
