Face-Off: We’re more active than we may look

Many people, including our current crop of teens, feel like our generation is lazy. Just because things in the world have changed drastically from the last generation does not mean this is true at all. In fact, we are more active than one may think.
With the advances in technology today, we take advantage of what the world offers us. Because we spend more time on our mobile devices and laptops, this does not mean we are less active. The changes in this specific era, particularly technologically, have grown dramatically compared to other generations; therefore, this technology is taken advantage of.
The advances in technology have forced our minds to be more open about new ideas. Our minds are more active than ever before. Every day, people think of new ways to make technology and communication more interesting and complex than it alreadyis, which is hard for older generations to comprehend. It is completely unfair that someone would argue that our generation is lazy because of the advancements that we have been handed, including technology and new ways of communicating. Technology has made it possible for everything to be in arm’s reach. If anything, this has made our brains think outside the box more than ever.
Everyone seems so quick to compare generations to each other in terms of laziness, but what they don’t think about is how the world has changed as a whole. The world is perceived as being less safe than it was when our parents and grandparents were growing up. Because of this, parents are more protective of their children and want to make sure they are safe at all times. Most parents drive their kids to school or a friend’s house for fear that they will get kidnapped otherwise. If it were not for the scary events that cause this fear in parents, I’m sure all kids would be walking or riding a bike to their destinations.
In our generation, more campaigns to get active have been promoted than ever before. First Lady Michelle Obama works with the Let’s Move! campaign to raise a healthier and more active generation of kids. These programs that promote a healthy lifestyle get more and more people on their feet daily.
In this era, you are expected to have good grades in every subject, play at least one sport, and get involved in a leadership position or club. If that isn’t a lot of work, I don’t know what is. The amount of work and studying that students go through to get a good grade on an exam or the SATs in high school is ridiculous. The amount of pressure there is for students to be successful in school on top of extracurricular activities should be admired.
Laziness is not the adjective to use when describing our generation. Not only have we been active physically, we have also been active academically and creatively. Every generation is different depending on what is offered to them, and everyone is quick to judge this as laziness just because it is a change from what there used to be. In no way, shape or form is our generation any more lazy than the last.

–Hayley Fahey
Freshman journalism major

Printed in the 12/03/14 issue.