From Dickinson Parent ENews: "With a healthy dose of irony, Laura Stone '12 (left) and Susan Higham '09 pose with a "No Dumping" sign that was dumped in the Conodoguinet Creek."How often are we bombarded by the media telling us horror stories about the 16-26 year olds' being selfish and self absorbed? We see the crazy drunken parties where mammallary glands are all the rage. We hear about kids quitting jobs just so they can sleep in and have no qualms about such behavior. Are these stories accurately depicting our youth or is it just more sensational reporting?
My experience with people in this age range finds them to be incredibly giving and focused on the important things of life. If they do partake in some of the type activities described above, it is only as an escape from their normal life routine, not the other way around. In many ways, I believe this generation does a great deal more kind and thoughtful acts than when I was growing up and attending college.
Take for example, on a Saturday afternoon in south central Pennsylvania, a group of college students from Dickinson cleaned up a creek that happens to be used as a dump by some people. Now, I can honestly tell you this is not how I spent my college Saturdays!
My daughter was involved but all she really told me about it over a telephone conversation was she and some friends were headed to the Creek. I thought it was for a picnic or an outdoor party. But as you can see, they worked very hard doing some nice for the community as well as for the local environment.
I would guess that many of you out there have similar stories to share and would agree with my assessment of the fate of today's youth. Why then is the media so quick to make them out as useless contributions to society? Why can't they write columns and tell about events such as the one described above. I've got a good idea. Let's all email the TV stations and newspapers and complain and make the suggestion to start giving us a more accurate depiction of our wonderful and caring children. Spoken by one very proud, empty nest Mom.
