Being a Child in this Decade

The food is plentiful, the education is excellent, and everything we could ask for is given instantly. What could be wrong?

One thing that I've seen is the lack of compassion and care in my generation. Rarely do I see children stop to help others, or Teenaged Drivers following proper traffic laws and such. Rarely do I see kids actually accepting people for their lifestyle or thinking about anyone else except for themselves. Rarely do I see kids trying to make things a little nicer for anyone else.

They never consider other people, and think the world revolves around them. It's something that I've begun to despise about my generation, since I get affiliated with the whole group.

Take this for what it is worth, but I know that I'm not a perfect person. I do things that are beneficial for me. I may be a little self-centered. However, I try my hardest to make other peoples lives less difficult, because not only does it help others, but it makes me feel good about what I've done. When I go rollerblading, I purposely try to make eye contact with walkers and bicyclists, smile, and nod in a nice way. Most of the time, people don't notice, but when they do, I see a small smile on their faces and they nod, giving me a, "I could've made their day!" kind of feeling. It's a feeling that I also get when playing a team-based video game, such as Left 4 Dead, when I sacrifice myself for the greater good of the team.

I feel like I made a difference. I don't know why other kids don't care about this.

(I will say no names to protect the people I refer to and myself)
In grade 11, there was this boy in my Phys-Ed class who, first of all, was extremely disruptive, never had any respect for the teacher, always found some way to cheat in every game, and usually, came to class late and high on some drug of some sort. The worst part is, most of the students thought that he was really funny, making him one of those "popular" kids. This boy didn't get any punishment for his lack of compassion, so I took matters in my own hands:

I fought him.

I felt like I needed to teach him a lesson. I knew that the teachers wouldn't do anything, because they have to "Leave no Student Behind", no matter the consequences. He had to know that some people weren't going to take his guff all the time.

Strangely, I didn't get suspended. I do not know why, but my explanation to the Vice-Principle was exactly what I had said above: no respect, no honour, and no compassion. He understood where my anger came from, but warned me that violence solves nothing.
The strange thing is, I don't think he would change whether I talked to him or not. Why would he do the things he did? Does he have a conscience? Does he know that half of the people frowned upon his lifestyle? These are some questions I wanted answered, but I never had to guts to ask, especially after that situation.

He didn't do anything specific to me; he never picked on me or pushed me around, so why was I so riled that I'd ruin my perfect record? It's because I'd purposely be a nice person, helping others so I felt good that I helped. I'd work decently hard at this, and yet, this kid had no repercussions for only caring about himself.

That is all I have to talk about right now. Thanks for listening.


PS. If you live in Hamilton, Ontario, walk on the Waterfront Park/Princess Point path around 4:00pm-5:00pm and see a teenager in jeans with big silver headphones on, rollerblading around there, say hello to him! He usually goes their regularly, as long as the temperature is nice and his time is free.