Editorial: Time for youth to pull their heads out of their Apples

I will preface this editorial by saying there are some amazing youth in this community. There – a kind word has been spoken. Now let’s move on to the point. Many youth here are entitled little whiners who need to pull their heads out of their Apples and other spots where the sun less frequently shines.

Some youth in this community spend lots of time exercising their thumbs creating tweeted dramas that would make Shakespeare take note, little 140-character acts of tragedy and comedy on how boring it is in Morinville where there is never anything to do and nobody cares about them. Oh-Woe-Is-WE.

Meanwhile, adults are actively trying to create stuff for them to do. Problem is youth either do not give two farts in a twin hula hoop about said activities or are too busy texting and tweeting about their exile in boring old Morinville to notice.

A perfect case in point was this past weekend’s Morinville Music Mayhem show at the cultural centre. Now this was not a case of adults fetching in some harmless and safe music act to please the little youngsters and keep them off the streets; it was a bass-pounding 110-decibel metal show in all its hair twirling glory. Granted, metal is not every teen’s thing, but it sure as hell is something that should have been of interest to more than the seven people who had bought tickets by mid-afternoon Thursday. Those low numbers a day before the event prompted a desperate plea from Morinville’s Youth Worker A.D. Richardson, dropping tickets to just $5 a shot lest the whole thing be cancelled.

An impromptu concert was held at the high school at lunch time Friday, resulting in some perceived enthusiasm but no real action. In the end, 40 tickets were sold – and only 18 of them by youth in this community. Many were bought by adults who did not want to see the thing cancelled for lack of sales.

That Richardson busted her backside for weeks to make this happen when youth have told her they wanted some concerts is bad enough. Add the fact she called in plenty of favours to get the acts for free so that every single dollar could go back into youth programing in Morinville, and you are left with a double slap in the face to a woman who has put heart and soul into doing stuff for youth in this community.

EPIC FAIL – as young people frequently and ungrammatically proclaim. Youth in this community have failed to support a woman who is working hard to do right by them, failed the adults working hard to support her and to support her endeavours, and failed themselves in providing a shred of evidence that another nickel of money or moment of time should be invested in giving youth in Morinville less to whine and complain about on Twitter and Facebook.

Oh, look! There’s another adorable cat photo with a clever saying someone posted on Facebook. Sorry, I’ve got to go now.

-SD

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2 Comments

  1. Today’s young parents and children are a product of what my generation (40+) created. Some people have taught their kids to be individuals, but at the expense of society. Learning when to put the group or the individual first is often missing.

    Other people resented the rules their parents had for them, so they rebelled by not enforcing discipline at home. You can’t always be your kids friends, but to many young parents, that is unthinkable. Thus, we have almost two generations that have become “empowered” and “individualistic,” but at the expense of not knowing how to act in public or respect people.

    I don’t fault the youth of today. The vast majority are great people and citizens. But for those who are like The Krew, I fault their parents – my generation. You can’t expect kids to function successfully in society if their parents don’t guide them or provide a good role model. It takes caring, mentoring and, heaven forbid, the occasional failure to learn. It’s never too late to start the learning.

    I encourage Ms Richardson to continue her admirable efforts, but I think she must try get both the parents and bored youth more involved or let it go. It takes a responsible family and caring community to teach a young (and old) person how to act and amuse themselves. Many of today’s youth are bored because no one they care about gives them the most important things they can give – their love and time.

    Giving something without earning it holds no value unless you have an appreciation for others. In the spite of giving back to the community, I hope that one of the kids in town who knows The Krew (and someone does) will step forward and turn them in. It’s the right thing to do for the individual and the community.

  2. While I agree with you Brent that some of the blame may lie with the parents of the individual(s) responsible the majority, if not all, of it HAS to fall squarely on the shoulders of those involved. People must be held accountable for their actions, and giving them an out such as laying some blame on their parents doesn’t help them learn. I hope someone steps up and does the right thing here. I’m sure someone knows who did this.

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