As a young person have you ever taken the time to see how you are being portrayed in the media? If you have, then you would be aware of the grim picture that is being painted of you and your generation. Generation Y and Z are seen as spoiled; the result of the hard working, optimistic and wealthy Baby Boomers who, while living off the back of WWII went through some of the greatest social change of the modern era, such as the rise of human rights, the role of women in society and greater equality among minority groups such as gays and those of different racial backgrounds. As a result, these Baby Boomers bought homes and sought to make life as good as possible for their families, being able to provide higher education for their children and making a move away from hard labour and corporal punishment. That's where we come in.
Having taken the hard work of the Boomers for granted, we are now seen to be lazy and impatient. The “want it now” generation. Personally I think this has been blown way out of proportion by the media, if they had it their way then every single youth would be a rebel, caught up in teenage drinking, drugs, sex and violence. They would never own a home, have no respect for the elderly, would be a late night drag racer, cyber bully, planker and an overly obsessive Justin Beiber fan. But is this an accurate representation of what the youth of today really are? And are you happy with this description? Cause I'm not. I think that this stereotype is formed off of a minority, it's a generalisation of our generation. Yes each of us may be guilty of a couple of these traits; I have even had a go at planking myself. But on the whole, I think this negative picture of today's youth needs to shift. Instead of the media dwelling on negative stories and images of youth, maybe they should focus on the much more common positives. I see youth as a widely diverse group of people, with different skills and abilities waiting to be explored and shared. A vast number of these people are strongly motivated and extremely tech savvy and given the opportunity have something important to impart into the world.
I think this fits as one of my first blog posts, because personally I think it sums up the reason why Hello Noise was created. It's to challenge the stereotypes created by the media about youth, it is to show that we do have something to impart into the world and it is an outlet to share this voice. If you are passionate about something, then write a blog post about it and email it to us and we might post it for you; If you think there is an issue in society that needs addressing, we want to hear it and it could get covered by one of the writers here. Don't let your voice or opinion go unheard and don't let the media or anyone look down on you because of your youth. Be the example, share your passion.
Read more by Brayden
Read more by Brayden
