Today’s Youth culture.

Alternative youth culture exists outside of mainstream culture, consisting of individuals who attempt to break away ‘from the norm.’ There are currently many subcultures to choose from including ‘goth’ and ‘emo.’ These individuals are generally recognised by things such as clothing style, hairstyle, and taste is music. Youth culture evolves rapidly, what is in today will most likely be out by tomorrow. In my opinion, it is becoming more difficult to be alternative in today’s society and come up with something original. Behavior that at one time would have been considered shocking is slowly becoming more acceptable. When I walk down the street and see people covered in tattoos or with a number of piercings I don’t really give it a second thought. Society may sill hold views about what is considered normal, however boundaries have become much wider over the years, making it more difficult to cross them.

Many young people still look for new ways to express themselves. The problem is, when something new and original appears, it seems to get picked up and turned into the latest trend. When alternative culture becomes mainstream, it is no longer unique and becomes nothing more than a fashion statement.

It appears that various aspects of today’s youth culture are perceived as extreme. I have read numerous stories in the paper that paint a generally negative picture of young people, often labeling them as troublemakers or simply out of control. Take, for example, Christian writer David Kupelian’s article ‘Why today's youth culture has gone insane.’ He highlights a number of the extreme factors influencing the younger generation, however I found some of his statements narrow minded and greatly exaggerated. For example, he writes ‘Ritual scarification and 3D-art implants are big. So are genital beading, stretching and cutting, transdermal implants, scrotal implants, tooth art and facial sculpture”. I can safely say that I have never done any of these things, and as far as I am aware none of my friends have either. I’m not going to deny that there are people out there who participate in this behavior, however it only speaks for a very small minority of individuals. David fails to mention this in his article and instead appears to generalize to the whole youth population, making these issues sound like a common occurrence.

His methods of protecting children from youth culture are also not realistic. He states that “The best solution I know of for accomplishing this is to home school your children, and network with other like-minded parents in your area.” I believe that children need the opportunity to develop socially and make friends, so how is simply cutting them off from the real world an effective solution? Children are not young forever and eventually they have to go out and experience the world for themselves. Young people are always going to try to find new ways to be alternative, one day we will probably look down on the younger generation ourselves and wonder what they hell they are thinking.

references: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=36599