Issues and Challenges Facing Generation Y

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Issues and Challenges Facing Generation Y Generation Y’s entire foundation seems to be made up of issues and challenges. Each issue is unique and poses a different threat for the generation, some are physical, some are financial and others are environmental threats. Our reliance on mood altering substances and the media are two of the biggest challenges facing Generation Y. However, upon closer examination each individual issue can be linked back to a singular root, low self-esteem. Low self-esteem is a massive piece of our generation. This characteristic tends to be overlooked until catastrophes such as those at Virginia Tech and Columbine occur. Some argue that we are just a bunch of whiners. In reality however, Generation Y is a generation that is seriously unbalanced. We are ‘wanters’, not whiners. We have needs and wants that are difficult to satiate. Some may feel that we need constant pacifying to be satisfied when really it’s all about us obtaining what we want and what we need. It seems to be that if this need or want cannot be fulfilled we turn to other things. Some fill this lack of fulfillment with ambition, sex, drugs, alcohol and others with consumerism. This constant desire cannot be healthy. Many people see our generation as overly confident and sometimes cocky and I would agree that our generation does have this feeling of entitlement, but it relates back to that want factor. Our generation, to put it bluntly, is spoiled. Our parents, our teachers, our games, our media have always given us attention and praise. For some, this goes straight to their heads and their egos explode. Others take the praise and run with it, they learn from it because “[t]here is tremendous power in optimism and confidence”. (Eri... ... middle of paper ... ... drugs. Generation Y is one of the brightest, most ambitious generations yet and I hope that doesn’t get lost in the world of drugs. Generation Y needs to focus on what needs to be changed instead of what currently exists. What currently exists is a broken system, if that is all we see it will never change. As the future generation and as the world’s future it is our job to fix this. We need to change this notion that everything we see and hear is believable because it’s not. What we see and hear are someone’s personal opinions and those opinions are typically biased. Whether they are swayed by politics or greed they are no longer trustworthy. We have to take that into consideration when we watch the television or when we read a magazine. These people want your money or they want your vote and half of the time they could care less about your personal well being.

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