We Are, We are: The Youth of the Nation

An excerpt from P.O.D.'s song "Youth of the Nation"
 
Last day of the rest of my life
I wish I would've known
Cause I didn't kiss my mama goodbye
 
I didn't tell her that I loved her and how much I care
Or thank my pops for all the talks
And all the wisdom he shared
  Unaware, I just did what I always do
Everyday, the same routine
Before I skate off to school
 
But who knew that this day wasn't like the rest
Instead of taking a test I took two to the chest
 
Call me blind, but I didn't see it coming
Everybody was running
But I couldn't hear nothing
 
Except gun blasts, it happened so fast
I don't really know this kid
Even though I sit by him in class
 
Maybe this kid was reaching out for love
Or maybe for a moment
He forgot who he was
 
Or maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged
Whatever it was I know it's because
 
We are, We are, the youth of the nation
 
Who's to blame for the lives that tragedies claim
No matter what you say
It don't take away the pain
 
That I feel inside, I'm tired of all the lies
Don't nobody know why
It's the blind leading the blind
 
I guess that's the way the story goes
Will it ever make sense
Somebody's got to know
 
There's got to be more to life than this
There's got to be more to everything I thought exists

In today’s society it seems that the childhood phase is threatened by a rise in moral and ethical corruption. Sexual predators, school shootings, and the increasing presence of violence and indecency in the media contributes to a potential loss of innocence among the youth of the nation. Life has changed drastically from earlier decades when children, and more specifically teenagers, were not regarded as the punks we are today. Courtship existed on the girl’s front porch on Tuesday nights, rather than the backseat of an Expedition after a Friday night football game. Though this may be an extreme example, it is true that our childhood differs drastically from those of our parents and grandparents. I am reminded of how my grandma always used to say that my dad would ride his bike around freely by himself and whatever time of day throughout their neighborhood and she would not feel worried. Today, my grandparents still live in the same house on the same street, but her feelings have changed; if she was raising a little boy in the 21st century, by no means would she let him out of her sight after dark in Schenectady. So while so much about our society has changed in the last fifty years, we as teenagers have not experienced anything different. We are used to this changing, tumultuous society, so we are not fully aware how much of our innocence has been deprived.

In college, based on one’s personal decision, either all innocence can be stripped away completely, or we can use the independent atmosphere to strengthen our own morals and ethics. Cobb argues in “The Ecology of Imagination in Childhood” that “plasticity of response [to environment] and the child’s primary aesthetic adaptation o environment may be extended through memory into a lifelong renewal of the early power to learn and to evolve” (Cobb, Bump, 711). If someone wants to stay downtown nude all night, hyped up on crack cocaine hours before a final exam, who is going to stop them? Regardless, college presents the opportunity to mature greatly into some sort of responsible adult – but again, only if you choose to. In college we can change and evolve just as much as when we were taking our first steps and speaking our first words.

When I went home for thanksgiving, I was content beyond words to be back. I had about forty to fifty former Country Day seniors over to my house Wednesday night, and we all basked in the glory of coming back to Funkytown (Fort Worth). We never realized how much we could miss it. And while it is comforting and pleasant to be home, we probably will not learn and evolve as much during this important phase of our lives than if we were somewhere else. According to Cobb, “what a child [wants] to do most of all [is] to make a world in which to find a place to discover a self” (Cobb, Bump, 713). As much as I and my friends might like to transfer to TCU to be back home, we’re not going to do any further self-discovery because we have already sort of extinguished that place in our learning environment. Austin and UT present the next step in self-discovery through everything we do in this class to develop the sense of place and memory. So, while much of our childhood is compromised upon coming to college, there is much benefit to be reaped from the different experience and the change in environment.