I think this is something good for us all to ponder.......delete if you
think you need to.



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>Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 22:34:14 EDT
>Subject: Fwd: Food for Thought from a teenager
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>Date: Thu, 5 Aug 1999 19:32:52 EDT
>Subject:  Food for Thought from a teenager
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> Food for thought
>                           Written
> by Marcy Musgrave, junior at Texas A&M University.
>
>                     Originally
> printed in Dallas Morning News, Sunday, May 2, 1999.
>
> I am a member of the upcoming generation - the one after Generation X
> that has yet to be given a name. So far, it appears that most people are
> rallying behind the idea of calling us Generation 'Next.'
>
> I believe I know why. The older generations are hoping we will
> mindlessly assume our place as the next in line. That way, they won't
> have to explain why my generation has had to experience so much pain and
> heartache. "What heartache?" you say. "Don't you know you have grown up
> in a time of great prosperity?" Yeah, we know that. Believe me, it has
> been drilled into our heads since birth. Unfortunately, the pain and
> hurt I speak of can't be reconciled with money. You have tried for years
> to buy us happiness, but it is only temporary. Money isn't the answer
> and it is time for people to begin admitting their guilt for failing my
> generation.
>
> I will admit that I wasn't planning to write this. I was going to tuck
> it away in some corner of my mind and fall victim to the whole "next"
> mentality. But after the massacre in Littleton, CO, I realize that as a
> member of this generation that kills without remorse, I had a duty to
> challenge all of my elders to explain why they have allowed things to
> become so bad.
>
> Let me tell you this: These questions don't represent only me, but a
> whole generation that is struggling to grow up and make sense of this
> world. We all have questions; we all want explanations. People may label
> us Generation Next, but we are more appropriately     Generation
> 'Why.'
>
>           "Why did most of you lie when you made the
> vow of 'til death do us     part'"?
>
>           "Why do you fool yourselves into believing
> that divorce really is better for the kids in the long run?"
>
>           "Why do so many of you divorced parents
> spend more time with your new     boyfriend or girlfriend than with
> your own children?"
>
>           "Why did you ever fall victim to the notion that kids are just
> as well off being raised by a complete stranger than by their own mother
> or father?"
>
>           "Why do you look down on parents who
> decide to quit work and stay home to raise their children?"
>
>           "Why does the television do the most
> talking at family meals?"
>
>          "Why is work more important than your own family?"
>
>         "Why is money regarded as more important than relationships?"
>
>
>         "Why is "quality-time" generally no longer than a five- to
> 10-minute conversation each day?"
>
>           "Why do you try to make up for the lack of
> time you spend with us by giving us more and more material objects that
> we really don't
> need?"
>
>           "Why does your work (in the form of a cell
> phone, laptop computer, etc.) always come with us on vacations?"
>
>           "Why have you neglected to teach us values
> and morals?"
>
>           "Why haven't you lived moral lives that we could model our
> own after?"
>
>          "Why isn't religion one of the most important words in our
> household?"
>
>         "Why do you play God when it comes to abortion?"
>
>         "Why don't you have enough faith in us to teach us
> abstinence rather than safe sex?"
>
>           "Why do you allow us to watch violent
> movies but expect us to maintain some type of childlike innocence?"
>
>           "Why do you allow us to spend unlimited
> amounts of time on the internet, but still are shocked about our
> knowledge of how to build bombs?"
>
>           "Why are you so afraid to tell us "no" sometimes?"
>
>            "Why is it so hard for you to realize that school shootings,
> and other violent behavior, result from a lack of your attention more
> than anything else?"
>
> Call us Generation Next if you want to,but I think you will be surprised
> at how we fail to fit into your neat little category. These questions
> should, and will, be asked for the generations that have failed us. You
> have pursued your selfish desires for years, but now is the time to reap
> what you have sown. Some rude awakenings, like the Littleton
> massacre,have
> occurred and probably will continue until you can begin to answer our
> questions and make the drastic changes to put us, your kids, first.
>
> Time is running out, for in a just a few short years, we will be grown,
> and it will be too late. You might not think we are worth it, but I can
>     guarantee you that Littleton will look like a drop in the bucket
> compared to what might occur when a neglected Generation "Why" comes to
> power.
>
> Thanks And Have a Great Day
>     Scott Clifton
>
>  >>
>