IN K [ [ ] L I N G S
Crown Point High School Crown Point, IN @InklingsCPHS November 30, 2018 Vol. 83 Issue 3
Read about ways to stay healthy during holidays page 6
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“The Gift of Giving” pages 8 & 9
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“AAU Sports Provide Collegiate Opportunities” page 11
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EXPECTATIONS OF
YOUTH IN AMERICA Top 3
Youth aspire to affect change in future BY LINDSEY BAEZA MORGAN TAYLOR co-editors-in-chief
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n times of tragedies like natural disasters and school shootings, it’s hard to stay optimistic. Despite this, teens still strive to develop the skills and find the tools to make change for the better. Although with pressures and expectations from older generations, this empowerment isn’t always easy to find. These criticisms about the youth’s alleged shortcomings has been experienced firsthand by sophomore Sara Letting’s from her own family. “It kind of seems like my whole entire family is telling me (younger generations) are poorly affecting America, like my grandparents, my father, my mother. They all think that phones, technology and all of that is ruining the old stuff. They think that we are less educated because we don’t act like they did back then,” Letting said. “They’re not used to it. They don’t understand the modern stuff of today so therefore, they think that everything is going to be bad.” Concerning the topic of the youth’s access to technology, freshman Eliza Surdzial agrees that the older generation is critical. While she thinks technology has made things simpler in ways, she argues that
the older generation ignores that technology has also made things more difficult. “They think that since we have all this technology and access to media that we automatically have to be better. What they don’t realize is with all this technology to our access, life’s gotten as hard as it has easier,” Surdzial said. Older generations are also critical of teens’ ability to finance their own education and unjustly count on them to fix the economy according to Surdzial. “They expect us to be able to easily not only make college but also pay for it when in reality the amount of work at minimum wage, the usual amount of money high school and college students make, needed to pay for college has only gone up,” Surdzial said. “The economy is hardly as good and functional as it used to be, and not only do they blame us for it, but they also expect us to be able to make it work when we don’t really know how. They aren’t helping us and are only making things worse with all the pressure they put on our shoulders. That pressure is causing us to grow too anx-
Issues Teens Feel Expected to Influence
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ious, too doubtful and too depressed.” Despite a perception that the older generation is setting overly high expectations for them, other adolescents do not understand why they are not working harder to create a new tone throughout the nation. Junior Kirsten Robinson recognizes the outlets there are to make this modification. “Where we are as a generation, it is unacceptable that we aren’t changing the narrative. With the resources we are all surrounded by, if someone isn’t doing something to change the issue that they want to, they are being lazy,” Robinson said. “There are many programs, tons of social media initiatives and multiple rallies to eradicate the issues that many people feel strongly about.” Robinson expresses the notion that not all teens are willing or wanting to make change. While some may not have an active role in influencing the future, sophomore Chase Hadu believes there are people that can. “Obviously the people that
ate Tide Pods aren’t probably going to change a lot, but there’s actually people in our generation that could create change because we have a lot of brilliant minds,” Hadu said. The strengths of today’s youth are embedded in their own desire to create change freshman Kadyn Smith adds. Smith states that problems in the country can be solved if citizens begin to speak up. “Most issues in the United States can be fixed by the willingness of people. Most people believe in something that is for the greater good and because of this if someone says the right things, the issues in the U.S. can stop,” Smith said. Even if the younger generation has ideas on how to resolve issues, others sense there are still many pressures placed on them. Smith thinks that since youth is placed on a metaphorical pedestal, it is adding to the stress caused by the high expectations set. “The younger generations are supposed to change the world,
All of the Above
Changing Job Market Sustaining Resources Financial Resources Crime and Violence Climate Change Political Climate Economy
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Crime and Violence
3 Sustaining Resources
see youth in america on page 3 *out of 201 students polled