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The Village Voice

Parents or Enemies ??
The generation of our time is all about drugs, sex, drinking, fighting (mostly jumping), being in a
gang, shooting, killing, etc. But it's all in the way you perceive a black male/female. See you
dont know half of what you think you know. Like lets say for instance my mom has been telling
me Im bad ever since I was three years old, what do you think Im going to be when grow up?
Bad, right? Thats the point its the parents fault because they dont properly teach the children
about life, sex, relationships, etc. Most black parents dont teach their kids the right way, but
instead they teach their kids as of how society perceives black young people which is as wild
black animals. If parents just keep their kids in check and teach their kids about how NOT to act
the way society wants you to act and what it really means to be black.
The modern day black isnt where it's at, black people werent behaving the way they do today,
back then they were not twerking, having sexual intercourse with random people, getting
pregnant outside of marriage as often, wearing revealing clothes and so on. For example gangs
were not made to shoot and kill people in your own neighborhood, gangs were supposed to
educate and inform the youth on how the streets are not a good place to be and also to be
helpful in their neighborhood or community. So what has happened from then to now? Society
has gotten a hold of the youth without the parents even knowing. Technology has developed a
lot sense back then and it has its pros and cons.
One of the pros are that we have easier access to information that helps us throughout our
daily lives, Also through technology we have updated medicines, antidotes, vaccines on
different types of diseases, viruses, etc. Technology also helps people get things done quicker
and better, like me typing this article, if I didnt have the technology to do this article I would
have to write it and that would take much longer.
The cons are of modern day technology are how we abuse it. We get on our phones, laptops,
iPad, etc. and completely zone out everything around us. We stay on our phones all day
scrolling down Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and watching silly videos on YouTube. Thats why
the youth behaves the way they do, because of how they see others behaving on social media
and they think its cools they go and do what they see. The problem is that parents are letting
social media teach their children how to act.
Sometimes parents get so caught up in contributing to our society that they aren't teaching us
how to function so that we can keep up this same society they are working towards. They
working to provide us with things that arent really worth more than quality time. If parents could
sit down and talk to us, eat meals with, go on field trips with us, be more involved at our
schools, and have teach us how to have fun with and without technology more often, I think this
world would be a better place. Because black parents have to work so much, the youth doesn't

get that one-on-one time with parents that creates the connection that they need in their daily
lives. If parents didnt have to work so much to make ends meet, they would have more time
with their children to teach them how they should really should act in society.
So black parents come back into our community so we can change the society and the way the
black youth of today acts in it because all it takes is a little time to cause something big enough
to change the way the black youth is viewed.
-Trevon Ellis

Fear is the Downfall


Whats wrong with this generation? Isnt that the question everyone wants to know? Sure theres
a lot of possible answer, but I think I have the leading answer. Fear. Fear is whats wrong with
this generation. Almost all of our actions are out of fear of something. We make decisions on
things like college and relationships and so on based on fear. We didn't just get this from
anywhere though fear is something you have to be taught, you're not just born with
fear in your heart. I dont believe are parents intentionally taught to be so afraid, but that's what
happened. Think about the idea of college within a black household. Your parents,
grandparents, aunt,
uncle whoever raised may have said something like the following: You have to do well in
school, so you can get into a good college, so one day you can get a good job. Don't you want a
nice house, nice clothes, and a nice car? Well then you need to go to college. See now Im
scared that if I don't get into to college Im not going to have a nice life, even though they didn't
say I'm going to be a bum in so many words that's all I'm thinking about. Oh and to go deeper
here a little more of what you might here: Oh you want to be (artist, actress, writer, singer etc),
well thats not guaranteed. You need a good strong major so you can get hired right after

college. How about nursing, pre-law,


or something else math and science related. So now Im scared pick the major Im passionate
about because I might not make it. Take is one more step
further : You have to pick the right school. Oh you want to go to an HBCU, oh no you cant go
there, you know theyre always having accreditation problems. Oh it is accredited? Well
employers dont look at HBCU degrees the same as PWIs. If an HBCU graduate and a PWI
graduate are both up for a job there going to pick the PWI graduate. So just go to UNCG or
UNCP to be safe. So now I'm scared to go to the school I really want to go to because I might
spend all this time in college just to never get a job. No one should ever say these things to
anyone. Ever! Guess what college isnt for everyone. Do you really want to waste thousands
and thousands (and thousands) of dollars in debt if youre just going to halfway apply yourself to
your classes? College really might not be for you and if youre not sure there are other options,
test the waters take some classes at a community college first, see if you can handle that. If you
want to major in art, do it. If that's what you had a talent for and that's what you have a passion
for then do it. You can't be afraid to pick a major you're passionate about because its easier to
be successful when you enjoy what you do. Going to college should not be out of fear. You go to
college to learn and to develop a career, not just to make money. If you want to go to an
HBCU go they are just as good as any other school if not better. Moving right along,
relationships. We have funny ideas on relationships now. Everyone wants a girlfriend or a
boyfriend, but according to our tweets no one is faithful, everyone wants
to cheat. Guys say that want prosperous long term relationships, that they want to get married
one day, have a family, but they're steady leading 2 and 3 and 4 or more girls on. Girls say they
want a good guy but they turn done the good guy because he doesnt have money, or a car or
whatever for bad guy that cheats, lies, and so forth. Then those same girls wont leave their
crappy boyfriends even though they cheat and lie and so forth. But why, why are we putting
ourselves through guys? Because everyone is a afraid. Guys are afraid to commit to one girl,
that theres something better than what they have. Girls will put up with it because theyre afraid
theyll never find someone, that theyll be end up alone. Why? Sorry parents it's on you again. A
lot of our generation has parents whose relationships didn't work out. We have baby mamas
and baby daddies for parents instead of husbands and wives. We have parents were in prison,
or died in our own communities. Once again this causes guys to not want to commit, they've
never seen their fathers in be in love, and cherish the love of a woman (mostly because theyve
never seen them), and if their mother wasnt good enough for their father to stay, what girl is
going to be good enough for him? On the other side for girls it's that weve had to watch our
mothers struggle with not finding love and being alone, we didn't get to see our how a man is
suppose to love a woman because our parents weren't together so we let men treat us any kind
of way. Then when we do find a good guy we turn him down because he doesnt have a car, or
money and etc. even though were all young and shouldn't expect each other to have it all
together. Problem is weve also seen are mothers struggle financially from being a single parent.
All of this trouble because were afraid to end up like our parents and on top of all that were
afraid to tell each other that.
These are only two example of how this generation is controlled by fear. We have to
realize that first of all these are our lives, not our parents. They had their chances to make their
decisions and they cant remake

those decisions for us because theyre afraid for us. At the end of the day you have to live your
life for you. Yes we should learn from those mistakes but we cant get so caught up in avoiding
their mistakes that we miss out on the best parts of our lives. What was best for them may not
be best for us. Just whatever you do dont do it out of
fear.
-Josephine Grant

The Youth : Raised or Programmed ?


They limit our horizons and tell us were too young to understand. But we are never too
young to make a mistake. We cannot understand something we havent been taught to
understand and we will never know what we havent learned. We only know what weve been
told to know. We are like computer programs waiting to be debugged, encoded, rewritten, and
tested. We give out what we are fed; if there is no input, there will be no feedback. So until we
are properly debugged we will continue to gift you with an error message.
The mass majority of todays people look at [black] teenagers with contempt. They silently
judge us, unknowingly perceive us and inadvertently allow their perceptions to be dominated by
the tabloids. They observe our physical characteristics, foretelling our futures, and as they scold
us in their holier than thou tongue, shaming us and the parents that raised us.
[Being a teenager is one thing, but being a teenager packaged in the black skin that youre
comes with some extra paranoia.]
Hear this: A girl named Fallen was known to always wear provocative clothing and was very
cunning herself. From the outside she was perceived as the schools hussy and was an easy
target. Nobody knew that her mother hated her and never told her that she was loved simply
because her herself had gotten pregnant young by a man she thought would show her the love
she wasnt receiving at home. On the inside Fallen felt the need to search for the love
elsewhere at a tender age, trying her hardest to pull someone in. Shes been programmed to
continue the cycle, and so the cycle repeats itself.
Today to people it doesnt matter because they saw her ready to pop on the street corner,
scolding her as they drive past her and damning her unborn baby. Some didnt see her pain, or
lack of happiness. If she is alive, her new name at the age of 18 is inmate 615478 and she is
facing some type of unfair life sentence for 3 petty crimes and illegal prostitution and has
absolutely nowhere where her child. And at the end of the day still nobodys ever genuinely told
her that shed been loved and that she didnt have to do it because she was worth more.
Instead of using the words rebellious and easy to characterize her, try replacing them with
lonely, inadequate, scared, misguided, self-conscious, and mistreated. Program cannot write
them, they need someone to write them, and write the good things in them for them to function
properly and at the standard theyre expected to. They dont need people who are going to
watch them all day, leaving their errors untouched, they need positive programmers.
-Sharmane Powell

The Youth Today: What You Think You Know


What do you think of your modern-day teenagers? The most popular opinion on your
teenagers today is that we are incompetent, mindless drones who only care about ourselves
and our technology. Everyone calls us the fallen generation, all of the adults only put work into
the children who they feel are worth their time. Society is putting this propaganda into our
heads and our parents do not know how to protect us from societys way of thinking.
Everyones opinion on teenagers is different from our day to day issues. Lets think about
serious issues of a modern-day teenager. The children are acting grown; teenagers are
addicted to social media and technology. But lets think about why, all parents let TVs raise their
children they never take time to personally raise their children the correct way. Then as they get
older, they become teenagers who turn into the perverted phone drones that everyone claims is
ruining our communities. Parents these days are either too busy working to make time for their
children or are too drunk and out partying to remember they even have children. Adults
complain about the society we live in, but then let society raise the future generation.
Think of ways you can improve our generation. Like the next time your child comes
home from school dont sit them in front of a TV, help them with their homework, talk to them
about their day. The next time your teenager gets in trouble dont scold them, ask them whats
going on in their life thats causing them to act out. The next time your teenager wants to go out
dont just send them off or keep them home, go out with them and see whats been put into their
sub-conscience. Step up and take the initiative to do this for your children and the next persons
children. If you dont feel motivated yet just ask yourself one simple question. Do you want to be
a role-model in the making for our generation or be an asset to the downfall of our future.

-Azurah C. Faison

Parental Perspective: No More Excuses !


As a single parent I understand the frustrations of daily life. I understand being too tired to
spend time with your children or so stressed the time you do get to see them that quality time
loses the quality. Todays society has us as parents so busy providing material things, we
provide no guidance and discipline to our children. As parents we are not providing a legacy for
our children we are setting them up for failure. I felt like my parents were evil for beating me all
the time , but as I got older I learned to appreciate the balance and order that was given. Many
of us today were so traumatized by the beatings we refused to treat our children the same
way. Well , I believe we are to learn from our parents ,beatings helped, but we still needed the
conversation. Children are to be seen not heard was the motto, but that wasnt true we need to
hear what is in our babies hearts, so we can speak life back into them. Taking time to hear your
children helps you heal yourself. Our children are a reflection of ourselves. Our parents did good
,we must do better talk with your children, listen to them, and pray over their lives, impart
knowledge. Patience is a virtue and we must learn to be patient and understanding with our
children. Do not let society make you think food, clothing, and shelter is what is needed to raise
a child. Hugs, Kisses, and love is better than fly clothes and video games. Parents are not here
to control the youth, our children are here for Gods purpose and we are here to guide them
through that purpose.

-Anonymous

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