Our generation is infamous for our ability to twerk, autotune music and spend too much time on our phones. Veterans of youth dictate that girls our age wear our shorts too short and boys wear their pants too low. Overall mannerisms are considered shallow minded and lazy.

But it’s not just older eras that delineate our futility; we do it to ourselves. On the Internet every day, posts about “what society has come to” plague social media sites. On any given scroll through a Facebook newsfeed, one can read about how old fashioned society preferred Marilyn Monroe’s curves to today’s unrealistically-thin weight expectations.

One can also read comparisons between present–day artists like Miley Cyrus, who “sexualized her way to fame,” compared to the pure, untouched talent of musicians like Seal and Led Zeppelin. When did it become “cool” to dissociate with our age group and trends?

Since the day we were born, we’ve lived in this systematically corrupted, morally incorrect era. Yet there are many students in the school who are progressive thinkers and positive contributors to society. Maybe it’s because, like we’re told, our age group thinks the most of ourselves despite proving the least. But maybe it isn’t.

The divorce rate right now is much higher than it was in the mid–1900’s. There are posts saying that love was truer in the past because our grandparents knew what love was and pushed through fights to maintain longer–lasting marriages. Instead, we should see these posts and think about how far womens’ rights have come and the societal liberation our country has experienced. New legislation, in keeping with the increase in gender equality, permits more divorces and more routes for women who would normally be trapped. Women, as well as men, now have the ability to free themselves from “eternal” relationships that could have been “eternal” mistakes.

In upper middle class suburbs like Buffalo Grove, it isn’t uncommon for parents to help pay for college. At this, older generations may scoff, and why wouldn’t they? Our elders worked summers throughout high school to put themselves through college, and kids today have it easy. Or do we? College today can cost upwards of $40,000 annually, more than most students make from working all four years of high school. Additionally, stakes are higher.

Numerous studies report more competitive university admissions that can be attributed to a more competitive job search. No longer is it enough for a student to maintain decent grades; students now must achieve high marks, immerse themselves in extracurricular activities and frequently contribute to their community. A high schooler’s inability to pay him or herself through college while maintaining high grades and extracurricular involvement is not a measure of laziness, it is a measure of his or her willingness to work hard.

Our existence in a technology based society does not make us greedy; musicians’ new styles of music doesn’t make them untalented; and someone’s generation doesn’t determine who he or she is. Enough with the self deprication. If we don’t take pride in ourselves, how do we expect others to give us the respect we deserve?

BG Editors Think…does our generation get too much criticism?

58% say YES

41% say NO