We see it every day. The 6:00 a.m., 10:00 a.m., 5:00 p.m., and 11 o'clock nightly news. We hear it on the radio, podcasts, and at the water cooler. We read about it on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media websites and apps: social justice. Social justice has barged itself with elbows out into the forefront of our newsfeeds within the last two years. The rest, well, the rest you know, or at least so you think. Now, we all remember how it started, equal marriage and equal rights for the LGBTQ community. Easy, simple, fair enough, right? I was all for it, being someone who is a part of that community. It was common sense. Things began to spiral out of control after that. Now, I'm in no way calling that the cause for this, that part to blame is uneducated kids with Internet connections and neglectful parents. Now look at your newsfeed today. What is it filled up with? Social justice, and sadly, some of it is complete and utter garbage.
It's time to put the justice back in social justice. I'll do it. I know I sound like an asshole now, but hear me out. Because once I tell you some of this, I think you'll agree it's time for people, to grow spines and not be so soft.
I'm just going to jump right into what bothers me most about social justice. This generation after millennials. I call them the "Coddled Culture" because everyone is a winner and everyone should get participation trophies and everyone is the best. Even though all you have to do is watch any type of competitive sport to know that there is a loser in every sport, in every competition. (I'm looking at you, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Flyers.) That in no way prepares you for the real world. Spoiler alert, you don't always win, and sometimes when you win, you still lose. Overcome and move on. Now, kids today are self-diagnosing mental illnesses upon themselves. I mean, I'm not talking about anxiety or depression, I'm talking about kids putting in their biographies that they "are self-diagnosed autistic." I'll wait. Process that. There are kids who sat down, looked up the diagnostic criteria for autism and thought "huh, this one little thing may be something I do. I guess that means I'm autistic! Time to tell everyone!" I'm sorry but no. That isn't how that works. I work with autistic children as a TSS. To see kids walking around saying this sort of thing while having nothing wrong with them but the desperate need for attention, it angers me and breaks my heart all at the same time. These parents and siblings would be very upset if they heard anything like that. If anyone reading this has claimed they self-diagnosed themselves with autism, I really think you need to rethink yourself and what you claim to have. I promise you that you have no idea what the everyday life of a family and person with autism deals with.
Kids, and it's the same ones who are self-diagnosing, say they have things called "kin types." I'm going to be really transparent with all of you; I'm not really sure what it means. I read what kids say and the only thing I can really come to understand is that they are either bored, have overactive imaginations, or maybe bad parents. Long story short, these kids believe that they are part animal, part cartoon characters, part whatever else they can think of. It's absurd and ridiculous. I can't really explain it because it sounds likes I'm lying to all of you typing this. To see more of what I'm talking about. Go to Tumblr and search #kintypes and maybe you'll understand and if you do, please tell me and try to explain it to me.
One last thing: I'm in total support of transgender and the few subsequent genders that follow, but there is a line, people. There are people out there who have turned space into a gender. Outer. Freaking. Space. They call themselves "space gender." I'm sorry, except I'm really not when I tell you that space isn't a gender. If space is a gender, then Patrick Star was correct in asking if mayonnaise was an instrument. We all laughed and said of course not, mayo can't be an instrument! Except now, we live in a world where mayo is an instrument, and kids believe that they can self-diagnose themselves with major disorder and diseases, be Pokémon type, part Rugrats type, and oh, they are space gender.
Again, I'm sorry, but I'm not. It's time to grow up and have some common sense. Is it harsh? Sure, but I'm only saying what needs to be said. It's time to stop handing out participation ribbons and teach kids values and lessons again. Not that everyone should get a trophy cause they showed up, work for it! We need to teach our kids to stand up for themselves again, not cry and whine about their feelings being hurt because someone has a different opinion than theirs. To teach them that if someone picks on them or someone else, to stand up for themselves or that other kid, not cry that their feelings are hurt and need a safe space.
I'm not saying let's all go around saying bigoted, racist, sexist, whatever else remarks, but we need to stop letting kids be soft and teach them to overcome adversity, rise above, or simply ignore certain things.
