When you walk into a busy city, you’ll see people driving to work, people talking on cell phones, using their computers, and listening to music.
People walk past each other with nothing more than a passing glance. Let’s go to the same street in the year 1950, children are playing, people saying hello and talking to each other, carrying but a briefcase. As you can see, society has changed, and is still changing as our days continue. The very morals that America was built on, have been lost.
The media and fashion send a message that lead to terrible behaviors among people. Is society really changing for the better? Let’s rewind a bit to the year of 1950. The average family has children who respect others, and honor is a value that is kept close. Dinners were eaten at the table as a family and time spent together was fun.
Kids played with their imaginations and created entire world’s withe something as simple as a cardboard box. People greet each other on the street, and shake each other’s hands.So, if that was 1950, what are we today? I’m glad you asked. In the year 2012, we are almost the exact opposite.
Family has lost most of its values. As today’s society is consumed with technology, so is the entire family and in turn, threatens necessary family bonds. Divorce rates have jumped from about 385,000 divorces in 1950 to over 8,203,000 divorces in 2009. Nowadays kids never go outside because most kids care more about video games.
People no longer greet each other as much on the street, but push their way through.It’s terrible to think that just 62 years ago, America was a friendly society. Teens are becoming more involved in drinking alcohol and smoking. In fact, 72% of teens drink alcohol multiple times before graduating high school, and even worse, 37% tried it by the 8th grade.
And, 44% of teens have tried cigarettes by the end of high school. Is it that “following the heard makes you cool” making these statistics dangerously high? Or is it because of the message the media of today sends? Music revolves around drugs, drinking, partying all night, etc.Movies and TV shows glorify being arrested and drinking/smoking. Every four in five teens arrested are also high or drunk at the time, is this society that we want? What about the fashion? Where people used to walk around in professional suits, and teens in polo shirts and slacks, you now see pants exposing underwear and showy clothing.
Fashion industry has designed a “perfect body” that everyone wants. This in turn gives a bad self-image on our teens and adolescents. Of course, companies like Dove have started “real people” ads which feature the “average” person.But that’s only a few companies; we need all of them to make a point.
We cannot stand for people walking around thinking that they have to be a size 0 or super “buff”. Today’s society should not have standards, we are all different and telling people different can make them feel bad about themselves. Another issue of today’s society is technology. Yes, it has brought upon great medical and security advancements, but it has also brought a new type of terror.
Cyber bullying is a major issue among today’s people.Cyber bullying is where someone terrorizes and bullies someone else online, where they can have an anonymous presence and won’t get persecuted. More than one in every there teens have been bullied online. In the year 1950, you wouldn’t have to worry about people posting a picture of you online that is embarrassing.
You didn’t have to worry about rumors spreading at lightning speed through the Internet. Now, over half of America’s teens have been bullied online, and about the same amount have bullied others online. How can society change in such of a harmful way?And why are we just standing by and letting it happen? More and more people are trying to do better for society, but is it really enough that the statistics of today are so out of hand? It seems that technology has changed society for the worse, but technology is not all to blame, it’s the way we use is and frankly, I think were using it for all the wrong reasons. We all need a reality check, society has changed, and it is still changing, and it will change again.
Are you going to let the bad pass by like nothing? Or are you willing to do something About it?
