I am 23 female and I live in the UK. I am writing from my experiences from the UK. I am a child of immigrants too.
I have mixed view of things you will see as you go along why i think the way i do.
Every generation has it own struggle ,its own problems; its own trauma . Every generation is grieving
1939-1945: that generation lived through world war 2 today they still grieve for the loved ones loss
The 1980s generation lived through the aids epidemic
So many examples
For my generation it is covid 19
Every struggle is valid and should NOT be dismissed.
I hate this whole fight of my
" generation had it harder than yours"
I hate how our politicans and the media have created the boomer v milenial war. Dividing generations so irresponsible and we need to be looking to the future.
The answer really is It depends on what kind of young person you are whether you are a minority , LGBTQA , disabled etc and your social class as well.
There are pros and cons to each sistuatuon lets start with the pros .
The pros and cons are divied in to social, economic , class etc
Social Pros of being young today
- Young people today in the UK are more freer to explore same sex relationships and gender identity.
Celebrites , youtubers coming out is helping young people feep it is ok to be that way.
Generally the UK is accepting same sex relationships
Long time ago in the UK such exploaration or conversation was forbidden.
My parents come from a country in which homosexuality is illegal and gays have no rights. My parents think such laws are ok.
Homophobia still exists but being young LGBT in the UK it is lot than better than other countries.
If you are a person of colour and lgbt then life is very hard for you as such communites dont except lgbt people .
- Mental health: Young people are having more honest converations about mental health thanks to social media and celebries.
Previous generations it was taboo to talk about mental health/illness.
Personally i think if the older gerneration properly discussed mental health/illness and sucide in a non judgemental way i think we wouldnt have such a broken generation like we do .
- Young people today in europe, america and canada travel way more than older generations . My friends and people my age do backpacking.
-Women my age in the UK have more choice. We still have long way to go which is why i am a feminist.
If woman wants to be a doctor or a professor or business enterpruner she can be . In the UK more women go to university than men
Long time ago i would have been expected to be some house wife and a baby machine.
Socially we are more freer than previous generations . If you come from immigrant parents from the 3rd world like i do then you can understand why i make this point.
Social Cons
-Social media people are being judged harshly if they think differently
I see online black conversatives get called uncle tom or coon just because they have a different perspective from white and black liberals
Young People who posted something silly years ago are now being judged on that. No one is perfect and people change
- Online bullying and online sexual abuse has led to a lot of sucides amoung young people look at poor amanda todd
I have had conversations with young sister about how can she keep safe online, i warn her about certain websites she should avoid and i watch what she is doing on her laptop when we are downstairs watching tv.
Economically pros
- The internet has created opportunities for people sell products online through ebay and amazon
This never existed for previous generations who had to use a market stall to sell stuff
- Netlfix has allowed opportunites for peolple from all sorts of people to get involved in making films and share thier ideas. Look at the documentaries on netflix they have a range of interesting topics which is not seen on mainstream tv
Cons
-Every job demands ridicious experience even entry level
It is expensive to train employees and goverments are too lazy to invest in the young . Employers see no benefit to train young employees.
- Automation /AI is growing means less people will be needed to do certain jobs in the future.
Automation effects every industry.
Retail: self checkouts
Maunfacutring : robots doing the repetitive tasks in making stuff
Fianace: AI systems can process and analyse large amounts of data.
HSBC is cutting thousands of jobs and moving it online
Sex robots soon sex workers will not exist
- Irresponsible politicans ( nigel farage/donald trump) and the media blaming immigration for job losses
immigrants have more experience than young people which is why they get the jobs always.
-Increased retirment age means competiting with older people for jobs.
- Globalsation. Countries should trade together but every country should have thier own maunfacturing as well.
Economically young people are worse off this is due to poor decisions made by politicians over the years. Other factors are to blame over population , ageing population
In the UK if you are well connected , went private school and oxford or cambridge university then you can be anything. Finance , law , media , , ,politics tend to be dominated by those who went to oxford or cambridge
If not life will always be difficult and you will struggle. UK truly is a classict society not a meritrocracy.
Imcompentent people in jobs they should not be in all because of thier connections.
Work hard is a myth .
Personally i think parents are to blame. Parents have no idea and more importantly dont listen to thier chidren.
The same parents that get upset when thier child ctb they are same parents that never listened to thier child or sought help.
They blame this website( shawn shatto), the iphone but never look at themselves
I tell my younger sister she can tell me anything espically matters relating to mental health.
I look out for my sister
Parents have failed to teach young people how to navigate the world.
My parents taught me all about prayer and living it all to jesus. My family believe in everything happens for a reason.
I do believe in a god but i like my problems fixed and managed.
My parents never taught me how to cope and be an adult and dealing with this confusion in my life.
The biggest reason why i am going to kill myself is because adulthood and ageing absolutley terrifies me.
If i was helped to live, find a purpose and be adult i would not be here on this forum