Dear Tweens and Teenagers - I apologise on behalf of my generation!

 
Dear Tweens and Teenagers 

Re: I apologise for my generation

I know this blog entry will stir some heavy opinions so please don't carry on reading if you don't like Justin Bieber.  This is only for Beliebers and fans of Beliebers.  It was brought on by Justin Bieber's current Believe Tour in South Africa and the way I have seen my generation acting on Social Networking sites. I was embarrassed to be part of this generation, a generation who have become so old and cynical that they haven't even realised they are the old, cynical people now who are treating young people just the way their grandparents did and that swore they will never to become like that.  I fear WE HAVE BECOME LIKE THAT! And a generation that at times reminds me of the funny weird people who bashed Lady Gaga!  They all in the same box in my mind.

I can get that we dislike pop music, I can get that we don't like the brand, I can get that we don't like the music or the style! I can get all the dislikes about JB and the likes, but actually this blog is not really about Justin Bieber. It's about my generation and maybe the one below mine too, who have just become old bullies. It's okay to want nothing to do with the guy but what I have been seeing is not okay for me.  My generation has become the generation I despised the most in my teenage years.  Cynical, prejudiced, intolerant and the notion that their way is the ONLY way!  Makes me a bit heartsore to be honest. 

To most the derogatory statements seem funny, but to me it just seemed like a bunch of old bal bullies who forgot what it was like to be young.  I am all for fun, some funny pictures and a bit of harmless bantering. Now contrary to popular belief I am not a hardcore Belieber.  I can't relate to his lyrics or his fashion style, and that's because I am 35.  And I don't get it all myself but my 12year old niece and her friends do and because they do I try to understand. There is a whole generation out there who do get it and we are alienating them, and making them hate our generation.  My niece asked me once: "why do the old people say such ugly things about Justin Bieber?"  The "old people" she was referring to was US! MY GENERATION! 

Are we fueling our tweens reality of cyber bulling?  Which by the way is a MASSIVE challenge they face themselves.  "Listen little ones, cyber bulling is WRONG AND UGLY!  Now just quickly wait here while mommy and daddy like this funny comment about someone i don't know!" What hypocrites my generation have become.  Just remember your little ones are also growing up in this technological revolution and will be wide open for cyber bullying, lets see if you think its so dam funny when it happens to them! And if you will be adding comments like "ha ha ha!" when the fabric of your cute little booboo is being attacked by people 16 years their senior. 

SERIOUSLY! You think calling a 19 year old a c$@; is funny?  You really think that's funny? Sorry i cant see the lightheartedness of it.  I am a mom and as a mom I don't want to be critical of another moms child. It's just a parent code i have adhered too.  Somehow in some weird way i take offense to such things coming from my generation toward the younger generation.  

Now if a 16year old had to come and trash mouth my daughter and rip her too shreds I would kick them in the kahoonas!  But yet that is what my generation is doing to a 19year old boy who is still a teenager and has accomplished more in his shortlife span than we will ever do in our lifetime.  Maybe we just a little bit envious that the generations to come are grabbing life full throttle and making it happen.  

I made a comment on my FB update about TheBiebs and someone replied that he had no intellect!  I had to laugh so hard as this comment was filled with so many spelling mistakes and I thought to myself, I'm sure the Biebs can spell better than you.  

I clearly remember being 16 years old and having the biggest crush on Ali Campbell the frontman of UB40 and sincerely believing I was going to go to Birmingham when i was done with school and marry him.  I remember watching one of UB40's music videos for the first time and bursting into tears when I saw Mr Campbell kissing a girl in the video.  If you dont believe me you can ask my very dear friend, Tracey, she was there to pick up the pieces. And Ali wasn't such a hottie like TheBiebs.  When i look back at that I laugh so very hard and i think to myself how silly was I?  But at the time it was so very real to me.

I remember my mom complaining about some of my friends dress style, especially my goth friends outfits and our music.  I clearly and vividly remember thinking to myself: "were you never young?". Thank goodness my mom and her friends didn't have access to Social Media! She didn't get the obsession and the impact she had when she bought me a ticket to go see UB40 live in the "new South Africa" when I was 16. 

I end off with an excerpt from Jada-Pinkett Smith: 

"Are we bullying our young ones? 

How can we ask for our young people to have a high level of responsibility if we are not demonstrating that same level of responsibility towards them?

This last week, I had to really evaluate the communication in regard to our young artists in the media. I was trying to differentiate cyber-bullying from how we attack and ridicule our young stars through media and social networks. It is as if we have forgotten what it means to be young or even how to behave like good ol' grown folk. Do we feel as though we can say and do what we please without demonstrating any responsibility simply because they are famous? Is it okay to continually attack and criticize a famous 19 year old who is simply trying to build a life, exercise his talents while figuring out what manhood and fame is all about as he carries the weight of supporting his family as well as providing the paychecks to others who depend on him to work so they can feed their families as well? Does that render being called a c$&@ by an adult male photographer as you try to return to your hotel after leaving the the hospital? Or what about our nine year old beautiful Oscar nominee who was referred to as a c$&@ as well? Or what about being a young woman in her early twenties, exploring the intracacies of love and power on the world stage? And should we shame a young woman for displaying a sense of innocence as she navigates through the murky waters of love, heartbreak, and fame? Are these young people not allowed to be young, make mistakes, grow, and eventually transform a million times before our eyes? Are we asking them to defy the laws of nature because of who they are? Why can't we congratulate them for the capacity to work through their challenges on a world stage and still deliverproducts that keep them on top. We all know how hard it is to keep our head above water, even in the privacy of our own homes let alone on the world stage. Imagine yourself, at their age, with the spotlights, challenges and responsibilities. Most of us would have fallen to the waste side before we could even get to a crashed Ferrari, a controversial romance, several heart breaks, or an Oscar nomination at NINE. We WISH we could have had the capacity to accomplish HALF of what they have accomplished along with ALL these challenges they face. But...maybe THAT'S the problem...we WISH we could have or even...we WISH we could."

So to you Tweens and Teenagers I apologise on behalf of my generation and please know we are not all like that!  

Sincerely a 35year old who would have been a hardcore Belieber if she was 16!