I will guarantee that if you log onto any social media site right now, within 10 clicks, you will find someone who is offended by something. It seems as if no one can take a joke, no one wants to take responsibility, and no one can muster up the courage to simply move on from a post they deem "unacceptable," before posting a snide comment about their feelings getting hurt.

When did we become like this? Some may say our generation is the first group to openly discuss how each and everything affects us. However, I blame social media as the downfall point for all generations involved. As much as I rely on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to keep me "informed" throughout the day, I truly believe that these sites are making us weaker as people. Instead of being a free environment to share our opinions and stories, social platforms are now a place for fighting, attacking and overall whiny behavior. If someone is not happy with your opinion, they take full use of their keyboard to tell you. We have become a society who likes to make sure everyone knows our feelings on everything.

Personally, I keep my own opinions about politics and other sensitive subjects away from social media platforms. I do my best to post generalized things—pictures, shared articles and the occasional "Happy Birthday!" But doing this does not stop me from seeing all of the feelings all over my newsfeed. Just the other day, I was reading an article about depression versus cancer. Naturally, I have been conditioned to scroll straight to the comment section to see the uproar of opinions. I kid you not—there was one person with cancer and another person with depression fighting over who has it worse. Instead of wishing each other luck and moving on, these two used their limited amounts of energy to tear each other down via the Internet. Personally, this made me worried for the future. Is social media truly tearing us down as a society?

Sadly, social media is not the only culprit for our overly sensitive minds. From "winter celebrations" instead of Santa, no Valentine's Day boxes in elementary school for the chance that someone will receive fewer cards, participation medals, excessive rewards, and the recent "need" of free college, I really think our society has some growing up to do. I respect the beliefs and opinions of all people and cultures. I like learning about different ways of life and seeing how other people live. However, I still think people should get to live the life that they think is right, and practice the values they believe to be true without people constantly being offended by it—simply because it is different from the way they live. As long as our values do not hurt others, break the law or instill fear within the community, there is really no reason others should have hurt feelings. Being so cautious and offended all the time helps no one flourish—it simply tears us all down. I challenge you to just step back when something makes you "sad," accept that not everything can be the way you want it to be—and just go do you.