Youths of America

              I was listening to the radio in my car and I listen to the music that was playing on each station as I switched between them to find a good song to listen to.  Then I started to wonder about the lyrics and words that are used in songs.

            Shit.  Faggot.  Fuck you.  Ass hole.  Bitch.  Crap.  The list can go on.  When I arrived home, I sat down and turned on the television. On MTV and other reality television shows they kept repeating those terrible words.  I switched to Nickelodeon, Cartoonnet Work, and the Disney Channel that allowed children to be children.  I started to wonder about how many children still watch these cartoons and when do they start switching to the rap music and the “older” channels? 

            I walked into town and went to my town’s park.  It was a little pass three on a Friday afternoon.  The children from the middle school were out, having fun with their friends in the park and talking to girls or boys.  I saw high school kids drive by in their cars that had more than one person.  I sat on a bench and took out a book and I watched the younger children hanging out. 

“Hey you!  Fuck off!” one of them yelled at me and another one called me a bit and another one yelled faggot.  Eventually they got bored with me and left me alone but when they told me those terrible things I felt sad for them.  They laughed at each other as they called me one thing after another.

“How old are you kids?” I asked them innocently. 

“Eleven and twelve,” one of them said and then yelled another terrible word at me.  Then they started to talk among themselves. 

            Eleven and twelve year olds yelling those words at someone they do not know.  They probably do not understand how hurtful those words were to some people.  Did they always yell that at adults?  Even their own parents?  What was this country coming to and yes I do mean country.  I’ve traveled outside the country and in many of the places I’ve been to, none of the children were like the awful children in the United States. 

            These terrible words were becoming to be the norm for young children in the United States.  I started to wonder if the adults who wrote the songs or the adults who produce the television show knew how their influences were effecting the youths of America.  If they were on live television and told the country that saying curse words were wrong and that they would stop using it in their songs and televisions, would it effect the youth?  I answered with yes because those songwriters, singers, producers, and so on are the youth’s role models and whatever they do, the youth do.  So if they say, “saying curse words are wrong” then I believe the youth will follow them. 

            They do not know how they are affecting the children in the country.  It’s not the children’s fault or the parents.  Even if parents made them stop watching television or listening to certain music, the kids will find ways to do those things.  So do those certain adults know what they are doing to the youths of America?  Making them yell curse words at people they do not know, make fun of others, and disrespect their parents?  They probably don’t because they do not have children of their own or they just don’t see it. 

            “It’s no one fault,” I remember hearing as a child and to this day I still believe in that saying.  Yes, the famous people are doing things that children will mimic, but if they do not know what they are doing is wrong, then it’s not their fault.  It’s never anyone’s fault but maybe if we took those words out of music and television shows, things will start changing for the youths of America.  Change is a difficult thing but eventually everyone has to adapt to it. 

            All I could do in that park that day was sit back, look up at the sky, and remind myself of how wonderful my life is, even if those kids yell mean things at me.  Those words are not going to change who I am because in the end, the children do not know any better.  Once they are older, maybe they will understand and I can only hope for the best.