There is no doubt that the new generation is different than the previous generation. There is no doubt that by belonging to Generation X, you get certain perks like internet, instant gratification, world of entertainment at your tips. There is also no doubt, like every good thing that bears a bad side effect, the youth 2.0 is suffering from a certain hangover.

 

I am talking about two things in particular – Attention Deficit Disorder and a sense of entitlement that seems to be like an epidemic among the youth of the day.

 

George Bernard Shaw mentioned that youth is wasted in young people. He might be on to something. A different way of saying it could be youth of today may not be able to handle the rapid changes and the consequences that bear. The youth of today wants everything right now. While there is nothing wrong with that attitude, a certain amount of shallowness comes with that attitude. I mean if you want everything faster and right away, where is the role of good old fashioned hard labor that you are supposed to put it in? Social psychologists inKorea mentioned a very interesting phenomenon after studying youth inKorea, and it also holds true for other countries across the globe. They found out that the youth of today thinks that their previous generation has put in a lot of hard labor for which they have not reached due benefit in due time. That’s why there is a sense of entitlement among the youth ofKorea. They feel entitled to have a lot of things – money, fame, love, gratification all in one quick convenient package – without putting in the hard labor. In a sense they don’t want to be like their parents or previous generation who has put in a lot of hard labor without reaping much out of the situation. Youth thinks they are smart worker and definition of smart worker today is doing less and getting more in return.

 

Now this is kind of alarming. The more youth wants to find short cuts (Read: Smart) to get to Point A from Point B, the more they will lack in depth and good old fashioned values like putting in the hard labor and waiting for good things to unfold.

 

Another problem is now that they have virtually a million things to do at the same time – chatting, driving, eating, texting virtual friends, meeting real friends, playing – the era of multi-tasking at all time is truly on. But the problem is multi-tasking has two serious side effects. It makes you impatient because you always feel like you need to do something else when you are doing something. And it makes you shallow, because you are not really able to focus on one thing to truly learn or enjoy it. Hence Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) sets in

 

Living it fast and hard seems to be the mantra of the day. Somewhere along the line the good old choice of taking it slow and smelling the rose along the way is lost in a crowded place somewhere in a place with internet 24-7.