The Black Lives Matter movement, socialism, the evil right, and even “Justice for Harambe” are all messages that my generation, the millennial generation, has screamed to the world. Through Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, and viral videos, many of the messages have been deprived of facts, and yet some have inspired the generation below us. Generation Z has been inundated with one side of the story, and they listen. Thus, we, the millennial generation, might have a bigger impact on the future of this nation than the laws passed by our current or future president.
For example, at the end of May this year, a gorilla named Harambe was shot in order to save a child who had climbed into the gorilla pit. At the time, celebrities and many millennials came out against this seemingly outrageous act. Harambe was spotlighted as people argued whether or not the gorilla’s life could have been spared, because #GorillaLivesMatter. All the while, many of these Team Harambe millennials neglected the fact that a small boy — a human — was saved due to this tragic, yet crucial decision made by the Cincinnati Zoo staff. By the time school started a few weeks ago, millennials had already brainwashed some Gen Z students into thinking it was still most crucial to honor and bring justice for Harambe.
If you’re going to the McCallie game tomorrow, and we suggest that you do, the theme is a black out to honor Harambe. ???
— BHS Student Section (@StudentSecBHS) August 25, 2016
Another example of our impact is in the area of freedom of speech. When I was in school, I got permission on an annual basis to participate in a day of silence to honor the children in the womb who can’t speak for themselves. That was a personal choice, not one forced or even promoted by the school. I imagine if the school advocated that all students be silent for the pro-life movement, there would be a brouhaha. (Yet, if it is about LGBT rights and not the right to life, schools can do whatever they want.) In fact, Huntingtown High School had a day of silence in honor of LGBT equality. This was advocated through the school’s official Twitter page. Yet, because this is the cultural norm for Gen Z, it is completely acceptable. Our generation is teaching the next one that freedom of speech has its limits. If it is not politically correct, then it is banned, but if it is politically correct, it is law.
The GSA brings awareness to the silencing effect of bullying of LGBT students by honoring the nat’l “Day of Silence” today.
— Huntingtown High (@HtownHSCCPS) April 15, 2016
Many of those in Gen Z look up to millennials, so that even seemingly simple comments on social media about a gorilla instills in them a biased passion that neglects the facts. This is happening with more than just Harambe. It happens with the socialist ideology that is hailed as a miracle by Bernie Sanders supporters, it is with the hateful rhetoric by people standing up for a just cause, but instead of protests, they use violence. It is with every liberally indoctrinated word that comes out of the mouths of millennials like Lena Dunham and Kanye West — people whom many Gen Z’ers see as all-knowing and never wrong.
We are impacting a generation that is passionate and wants to stand up for a cause. But, we need to make sure they use as much logic as they do virtue, and that they are equipped with the tools to effectively and civilly fight for the causes they are passionate about. If we do not assist with such, the next generation will be full of Lena Dunham leaders, who simply say what they want and don’t care if they are lying, using hateful yet politically correct rhetoric, or lacking factual arguments. They won’t learn how to decipher fact from fiction through the next president or laws passed by Congress; they will learn these things from their parents and from culture. If we continue to let liberal ideology impact this next generation, it won’t simply be the policies of a leftist president that will endanger them, it will be the ideas of the mainstream in our own generation.
