Phoenix Abbo, a brilliant musician and personal friend of mine, recently posted a status on his Facebook page. No, he was not whining about a recent break-up, he wasn't passive-aggressively attacking someone online, and he was not posting a collage of "the year's best selfiez". He posted this:
(*Note: This is merely an excerpt of his status.)
"...why are us kids in this generation so ridiculously over-worked, over-scheduled, over-booked, etc.?
We're just about involved in every event ranging from art and sports, we have FAR more homework than what our parents had, everyone has to take every AP class, be in an honors program, be in a community service program and make at least A's on their report cards. There is literally NO time for us to just hang around, sit and be creative, or to just have a bit of leisure time. The pressure to make your record look amazing so you have a chance of getting into a good college is just unbearable. We're kids for Christ's sake, we should be having fun and be enjoying our short-lived youthful years, not tolerating enormous anxiety levels in front of a computer past midnight due to a technical difficulty on an online application.
This has ruined the innocence of each student (or in my school at least.)
Upon getting new schedules today, some people were actually surprised that I was taking the regular version of a certain class instead of AP. I have absolutely nothing against those individuals, but it just comes to show how much this ridiculousness has infected us. Today's students have been taught that you must take the absolute most difficult academic choices if you want any chance of success in your future.
Once you get accepted into college, can you take a breath? NOPE. Unfortunately, the cost of higher education has inflated more than anything else in the nation, and our generation is paying that price. Now you've got to apply for EVERY scholarship humanly possible online and spend more hours stressing in front of a computer for rewards that you don't even know you'll win (unless you're lucky enough to have rich parents)..."
Dilemmas that our generation faces will be a common topic for discussion. More posts on related subject matter is in the works.
Stay warm, bloggers.
Unfortunately so..there's probably so much to say on the general topic of overwork in this society, and yet none of it seems particularly worth saying. It just is, just messed up as much of the world happens to be, and really always has been. That might just be my fairly colossal disappointment with the world talking, though.
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