I truly believe that school, exams, and how completely fucked the world is right now are some of the biggest causes of the rise of mental health issues in young people today.
No it’s not “nerves” before my exam, no it’s not “being lazy” when I don’t want to revise. It’s the true fear of letting yourself and others down, it’s the lack of motivation for so little reward, it’s the fear of debt and the lack of sleep, the little things eating away at us. We’re the generation that want to change the world, but lose more power each day due to the media pretending we don’t know what we’re doing, claiming we’re the laziest snowflake generation and that we don’t know what’s going on in the world so we can’t have a say. Yet their actions are the reason we're in this mess.
If you truly believe that we 'don't know what we're on about', try pushing for schools to teach mandatory law and politics in schools so we know what’s going on in government, who’s in charge and who makes what policies. Teach a more multicultural curriculum, admit to our ancestors mistakes and teach kids how they can help. Show us the impacts of climate change using proven scientific evidence, and teach us how we can make a difference, even if it's small. Try showing you care about the environment that you screwed up and we’ll have to fix. We’re scared and afraid of our own future on this planet, and the only thing we can afford to worry about is the test next week. The mocks next month. The exams next year. So how about listening to your kids, helping them, talking to them, rather than putting them down and tell them they’re not doing enough.
Teachers need to listen as well as teach, and sometimes teachers need to be taught a lesson themselves. Pressure put on kids to succeed, to choose what to do with the rest of their lives at so young an age. Teenagers are expected to push themselves so much further than any generation has ever had to before. We have to compete for grades with exams getting harder every day. We have to compete for jobs to afford to live while getting an education. We have to compete to look good online against every other guy or girl with an instagram account. And anyone who says that social media pressure is “stupid” and avoidable, for so many people it isn’t. For so many teenagers, that social media presence is everything and more. Likes on a photo equate to success. And that’s what it all comes back to. From aged 10 we’re tested again and again and again, made to compete with our classmates for the top grade. And then again, to compete nationally for the best grade. It doesn’t stop. It feels like it doesn’t end sometimes. It does, it does end. But it’s so hard to get to an end we want, and end we deserve.
My generation will change the fucking world if you let us. No we’re not just “skipping class to protest”, we’re exhausting our rights to protest for our future, not yours. Your future is already set in stone, mine is not. So don’t blame us for trying, at least we are. We’re fighting for better lives for our children, and our children’s children. And the things we want are achievable. Equal rights, BLM, climate awareness, sustainable clothing, free and better healthcare and education, more focus on mental health, LGBTQ+ rights.
Greta Thunberg is my generation. Malala Yousafzai is my generation. Emma Gonzalez is my generation. Amika George is my generation. Milly Bobby Brown is my generation. Desmond Is Amazing is my generation. Alicia Garza is my generation. (Google them. They’re amazing)
We’re trying, are you?
I wrote this post on my old blog a while ago, and what with recent events I decided to edit it and repost it on here. I couldn't be prouder watching all my friends on social media continue to fight the big fight, our fight, regardless of what the world thinks of us. it gives me faith for the future and shows me I have the right kind of people around me (mostly). I truly believe it is this generation that will change the world and start to fix all the broken parts of modern society to create a better future for everyone, no matter what race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, age or belief.
I've linked some amazing charities and informational pages below, feel free to check them out, continue to spread awareness and donate if you can.
All my love,
Megs xoxo
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