Ahhh, the battle between old vs. young. That age old mindset that continually divides Americans thanks to people, who like Susannah B. Lewis, just don’t get it ya’ll.
Adults have been raining down their negative judgments on the youth for as long as the media has perpetuated this story.
They demonized kids who wanted to listen to rock and roll, or the “devil’s music,” as well college campus protesters in the 60s who didn’t want to see their fathers, brothers, friends, and fellow classmates to be shipped off to a fruitless war only to come back in a pine box.
They’re irresponsible. They’re stupid. They’re selfish. This is what they say, while studies show that there are damaging consequences to demonizing our youth. The accusations against our youth are nothing new. What is new is the petty things we use to pick our youth apart.
Nowadays, it’s selfies.
Lewis, who is a Christian author, posted a 3-minute rant on Facebook in Aug. 2016 criticizing some girls, who appeared to be teenagers, for taking selfies in a T.J. Maxx.
“I’m confused by the youth of today,” she writes.
Basically, she complains for an entire three minutes about how the “gaggle” of girls, who looked like they should be in school, were posing for selfies in the store.
Were they supposed to be in school? Maybe, but maybe they were on their lunch break. Susannah, however, didn’t stop to ask them or tell them about the importance of being in school.
She just made her judgment about them and continued seething over their photo taking.
In her video, Susannah mimics their movements over and over again for comedic effect while judging this group of teenagers.
“I thought let me just go over there an end this really quickly, I said ‘Hey girls do you want me to take a picture of the three of ya’ll?'” she said.
The girl politely said “No ma’am,” but that wasn’t good enough for Susannah.
Although she appreciated this one teen’s kindness, she went to insinuate that most kids don’t have any manners these days. Is that true or is that what angry Facebook rants tell you?
In Susannah’s mind, it’s true although these teens didn’t offer her proof of that.
“I guess the point is I just don’t really understand the youth today,” she says in her video. “Maybe I really am an old ma’am cuz I don’t understand standing around in a discount clothing store taking photos looking like a possessed Tasmanian Devil.”
It seems as though her point was to judge, gossip, and spread negativity.
These kids weren’t somewhere getting high, they weren’t shoplifting, they weren’t hurting people, and they weren’t being mean or cruel to others. They were happily taking pictures of themselves.
They are teenagers. Teenagers who are discovering how they feel about themselves and their bodies and their place in the world.
Shouldn’t we applaud kids for having a positive self-image of themselves in a world that is constantly telling girls they aren’t good enough?
That seems like something Susannah doesn’t understand either as she likened herself to Jaba the Hut in the video and was seeking the validation from her viewers for her appearance in the beginning of her rant.
Maybe these kids were being overly narcissistic.
Did she stop to talk to them about it? Did she ask why they were taking so many photos? Did she stop to tell them how appearances aren’t important and what really matters is what’s on the inside and how you treat others? No.
More than 2 million people viewed this video and those 2 million people left with the message that it’s OK to judge and point fingers and demonize our youth and put them down because they grew up with different technology and media than the generation before them.
What chance does our youth have if the adults who are supposed to be teaching them right from wrong show them that’s it’s OK to condemn instead of leading the way with kindness and compassion?
We can’t say that our youth doesn’t have a unique set of challenges and issues that previous generations have. Sexting cyber bullying… that stuff is scary.
But do they have more problems or are they more sinful than the adults today? Probably not.
“We are all broken, youth and adults alike,” writes Mike King, President of YOUTHFRONT. “We can only be made whole by the work of God in our lives. We all desperately need each other in order to truly be the faithful people of God.”
So, maybe you should seek to understand than judge before your create more negativity and harm than the simple act of taking some fun photos.
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