“Man, my mom used to be so strict!”

“I would have never gotten away with that at that age.”

You may think this is normal when talking to your friends or other people’s kids, but what is it truly doing?

When I was little we did not have much and my parents were young. It was natural that I had parents who were still learning. A couple years later with my brother, my parents had gotten the hang of things. By the time my parents had my sister a decade later, they were a lot more relaxed. Technology has changed, the culture is more cautious than it was in the 90s, and as my mom likes to say, she’s tired.

Times have changed and it is important for us to take that into consideration when we see younger generations. Your grandparents have no idea what it is like to worry about your cell phone dying because it wasn’t as necessary in earlier times. I personally don’t understand why kids today can’t understand curfews. Coming home when the street lights came on was natural.

Maybe today’s kids aren’t going outside as much, yet we are experiencing the most earth friendly times right now. Maybe today’s kids don’t play in the dirt, but they will understand technology better than any previous generations. I am tired of people grouping together a whole generation and complaining that today’s kids are rude or unconnected to the world. My little sister is the kindest person I know. She is smarter than I was at her age and she cares about others over herself.

For those who believe that every generation gets worse or isn’t as good as their generation, I have an idea for you: do better.

Parent better.

Teach better.

If you don’t like what you see in the next generation, fix it because nothing changes without action.

Don’t sit and complain, but instead show other generations what else is out there.