XYZ

Growing up, my father, mother, and extended relatives often shared unprompted “When I was your age” stories, and talked about all the things they felt they “never would have gotten away with.” I always brushed them off as old folks yapping… but lately, I’ve begun to wonder.

I teach, so I’m around children daily, and I see just how impressionable they are. I swear kids coming up now, are exposed to much more than I was at their age… I feel like generation Y (ours), was fortunate to grow up with our society, we grew with the grain, as it were. Computers became a household item, around the time that they were becoming integral to education. Cell phones became widespread, as they became a necessity for young teen. So we grew into them as society did. They were there when we needed them. In a similar vein, radio also became more adult as we did. Nowadays you hear all kinds of topics and language on the radio. As an adult, it doesn’t really faze me, but kids listen to the same radio that I do… and they hear the same things that I do… and in some ways, that really makes me uncomfortable. I may be jammin in the car to Weezy’s "Every Girl"… which really is my jam… ironic no? but then again… there are kids that I teach – that tell me it’s their jam… and I primarily teach ELEMENTARY SCHOOL! Forgive me if I’m “old fashioned” but a song. About men. With rampant carnal desires. SHOULD NOT be “the jam” of a little six year old girl…

I find that kids in elementary school are obsessed with the perception, and presentation of “maturity” – or maybe it’s their parents? I mean, how in the hell are you going to send your child to school in tights and a sweater, (a la Rihanna et al,) while she is still wearing Pull-Ups… NOT CUTE! So many elementary schoolers are obsessed with all things Hanna Montana, JoBros, and HSM. Seriously?? If all these kids are modeling the behavior of High Schoolers 10 years older than them... who are the HS kids looking at? Post-Colligates (NYC Prep anyone)?? I think Disney should do a demographic reassessment… maybe even a morality assessment.

I read an article that talked about Britney’s catchy single “If You Seek Amy” and the author talked about the ramifications of a 6 year old girl singing and dancing along to the song, ignorant of the hidden message (“F-U-C-K Me.”) I laughed for a hott second… but at the same time… that’s really not funny… Side note though: Britney wears bedazzled panties on stage… so as a parent, you need to ask yourself why you are letting your 6 year old listen to her anyway? Britney has kids, she is not for your kids.

I’m not a conservative person in MANY respects, but at the same time, there is something to be said for childhood innocence. I miss it. I don’t know what I miss, but I know that there is something that changed. I know that I can never go back to those moments of sheer bliss… moments like running across the playground, into the wind, filled with the greatest joy. Knowing you weren’t flying, but you feeling like you could... Everything was an adventure, and nothing seemed dangerous… Jade was a stone, a plant or a color. Shade was that cool spot under a tree. I wonder if Generation Z has a chance to feel that way… or does the joy I felt from running in the wind now equate to a new Zac Efron sticker on a lunch box?

The funny thing about societal evolution is, while we experience and live within it, we often forget to look around and see the how it affects others. If Generation Z is on the fast track to Fuckupsville… what’s gonna happen to the generation that follows? Generation AA could be a literal and metaphorical new start... But at the rate we're going… GenAA just might be the kids of the premi-sexual GenZ. Imjussayin’