iYers Future Bright As Cell Phone Screens
Aelyn Thompson
Staff Writer
Cell phones buzz as teens laugh or write in their notebooks within their career exploration class, looking at odds and technology use of potential workplaces.
Monotonous voices of teachers and helpers remind kids to look at the job openings and how easily or challenging that job could be for them.
New perspectives from older generations are shutting down huge dreams, forcing kids to keep their hopes in the box, and do “something logical.”
Nowadays, kids have smaller dreams, and they’re not reaching for the stars; no more astronauts, no more presidents, just a doctor or an “I don’t know what I want to do, probably business.”
Instead, teens are forced to make choices based on job openings and the odds of being able to provide for themselves.
“I’m going to school to be a computer programmer,” senior Tyson Mooers said. “But of course, I still wish I could sing and play piano for the rest of my life.”
What’s holding teens back? Entertainers could either strike it rich, or find fulfillment in doing what they love, or both.
Teachers at Waverly and around the nation are charged with the task to market a book explaining “Generation iY”. This piece of literature, written by Dr. Tim Elmore, talks about how this generation of students is “lazy and unmotivated to make a difference.” Counter points within show lacking parenting styles, and how children live in a “digital” ghetto.
iYers don’t really believe that the blame lies entirely on them.
“We are fit to our time and era, other generations hold that against us because they had their own era that was so much different than ours,” freshman Mary Morton said.
During Waverly’s freshman orientation in August, there was a full slide show presented by the administration, calling cell phones and computers “appendages” and how kids cannot function without them. All the while, many parents are browsing Facebook and texting as much as or more than their offspring.
iYers believed there was some accusations, that administrations do not really know real reasons behind a phone that’s always in their back pocket.
“The main reason I bring my phone everywhere is because my parents tell me to.” freshman Emma Rosecrans said. “It’s a communication thing, not a necessity.”
Other parents encourage this modern generation’s adaptation skills and new knowledge of this era.
“With all this new technology, it came great responsibility and this made the new generation have to change with that,” Waverly parent Russ Kraft said. “The new technology allows access to information for homework and projects straight away, eliminating interruptions of phone calls and such.”
Even with all these pros, every debate has another side to it.
“With the overuse of phones and such comes the lack of personal communication and patience,” Kraft continued. “They’re [teens] so used to getting things right away, if something takes more than a few seconds, they get agitated and want to stop.”
The opinions of this generation can take on a Jeckyl and Hyde, Dr. Tim Elmore made points on both the good and the bad of iYers. Teens may not know how to make cornbread like Grandma can, but they can throw together a Powerpoint in a pinch.
Teens of this day and age still have dreams as big as the baby boomers did, but are past generations extinguishing the fire that burns as bright as their cell phone screens?
iYers are set out with the task to remove their bad reputation, and show how brightly they can shine, whether it be singing the next Billboard topper or finding a cure for cancer, using the skills they’ve acquired, with or without their “appendages”.
