FREE ESSAY ON GENERATION-X

GENERATION-X

Davis 1 Tommy E. L. Davis
Hunter
English 102
February 8, 1999
Generation X
The generation I am apart of is called "Generation X" and we are known as a sex crazed
and drug-happy one, (that is what the generation ahead of us said.) I believe if that
there ever was a generation as such it was the baby boomers; ever hear of Woodstock? They
want to stereotype us and ignore to what we have to say. For some reason when we do what
they did as teenagers we are bad but when they did it, it was "experimenting." The
problem I see with my generation is that no one takes us seriously. 
I had a very positive experience at a young age, because I was separated from children my
own age and the family environment. I was placed in a group home at the age of twelve,
right before I was set in my ways. I had a chance to sit back and reflect on the problems
of the times, I was also taught how not to be like everyone else in my generation because
we were thugs and hoodlums. 
A prime example of the difference between our generations is the concept of what
"culture" is; the baby boomers think that what is culture to us, is not really "culture"
and that their idea is right. The word "culture" has been reinvented or improved upon as
Raymond Williams, a British cultural historian says. He discusses the word's different
uses, but similar 
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meanings as they become recognized by society. It is a given fact that classic music like
Beethoven's reflects culture, and that dramatic art like Shakespeare's plays, or
paintings by Picasso are high "culture". I know that these well-known artist are a part
of culture, but is that because they are traditional and not because of the content of
their art. If it is the content what makes them more talented than today's stars such as
Madonna, or Snoop Doggie Dog? Is culture like wine? Does it need to be aged before it is
thought of as true culture, or is it because the next generation just appreciates it
more? 
The book Reading Culture calls us the "scapegoat generation" because we are blamed for
all that is going wrong in the American society. I like the quote from the president and
used by the baby boomers' generation ahead of us, "Do as I say, not as I do," as the
motto in teaching us. They thought they could tell us to be good citizens and when we
found out how bad they were they could just respond "Oh well I was young and stupid."
That may be, but we are now the so-called young and stupid ones and it's our time to
learn things on our own. Yes, the young generation of today exhibits extremely high
levels of violence, drugs, weapons, and bitterness. All that is true, but when everyone
asks why, the answer is always the same: "It is the television, or it is the music these
kids listen to today" well that could be true, but we did not make this society. It is
what was taught to us. There used to be a commercial on television about drugs. In which
a dad walks into his son's room with a box of weed and asks his son, "Where did you learn
to 
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do this?" The son's reply was, "You, I learned it by watching you." That is how I feel
when the generation gap question arises. As I stated earlier, I had the opportunity to
change my ways as a young child, but a lot of kids do not get that chance. Rather then
helping children get out of trouble, society only stereotypes these problem children and
traps them in a world of increasing anger and brutal punishment.
Whether the problems of today's generation are due to the past generation or how we
address social issues today remains uncertain. The problem does, however need to be
addressed and solved. Until we can work together as a society, we are on the edge of
failure. There will always be the sense that the older generation does not understand
what we go through, but that will always be there as long as there are parents and
children who want to test their limits. So it does not matter who started it, we just
need to fix the problem before the next generation has the same problem.