ADULTS: What Is Wrong or Right About Them?

At some point in our lives, we would grow up and be called ‘adults’. If I live long
enough, no matter who I am, where I am from, or what environment I grow up in, I will become
a full-fledged adult. At the same time, I understand that every adult was once a child in a quite
big world. No matter how wise one would be, they would not deny the fact that they were also a
kid full of dreams, stories, and hopes for the future. In this century where there is a wide gap
between generations, the young and old, we, the youth, would often label adults as the ones in
the wrong—and vice versa. For every generation, we have our own views of what is right or
wrong, what is ideal or taboo, or what is exemplary or preposterous. Youths are called the rebels,
and adults are, currently, called ‘boomers’. It is but a matter of who is in the right and who is in
the wrong, but who exactly is defining what is right and wrong?

Those of the older generations grew up in a different environment and way of living, and
this is known as history for the youth of now. The adults, indeed, get to see us grow in a whole
different world, not the one they were used to. The younger ones, however, only know history as
how it is presented, whether passed down verbally or through other mediums. Being exposed to a
world far different from how the elderly used to remember subconsciously makes the them
correct the situation before understanding it. This may be wrong for some, but this can also be
right for others. One argument would be is that they have “lived through” with it, or as how they
like to tell us children; pabalik na kami, papunta pa lang kayo (we have already been there,
while you are still on your way). Yes, they have lived through years with ups and downs, even
back during our great grandparents’ times—they substantially assume how things would end.
While growing up, I was taught that adults are mature and have acquired profundity in society,
they are mature enough to be law-abiding, church-going, and family-oriented, or at least that’s
how they were described. The mere guidance towards the youth may come with superiority,
something that can easily end for the greater good or the worst bad. More specifically, a sense of
superiority may come from one’s age and experience, claiming that veterans know it better than
the newbies. “We know what is best for you”, a line at least four out of five children have heard
from adults. It isn’t entirely wrong as it is neither entirely right. They, after all, have seen the
past, the present, and soon the future. Kids or teenagers do need guidance; I admittedly confirm
that I still need guidance, as we still do not fully realize the consequences of our actions.

Adults who have entered parenthood would want children to have the best we could have,
and that means correcting what they see is wrong, teaching what is most likely correct, and
guiding us to a future that would benefit them more—whether or not they, themselves, have
already achieved it. However, my generation likes to bite back by rebelling through arguments.
We sometimes go too far, coming off as disrespecting our elderlies. We go too far as to point out
“we can do better!” while there is no knowing what could come on the way or what the outcome
could be. We have our ego of being better or wanting what is better, but we are also blinded by it
rather than becoming the best of what we can be. We don’t really listen, we can’t say that we
communicate well, and we don’t hear their advices without having a train of negative thoughts—
and this goes for them as well. Most adults would want to stop any act of rebellion, and this is
what mainly causes the youth to rebel against their dictatorship. The youth hates being dictated,
but we, too, don’t realize that we are dictating others.

That exact sense of superiority also leads the adults to forcing their own idea of a decent
life or country to our generation, the crème de la crème of a future they could have through the
methods they were taught of how things should be. For what this generation wants or how we
want things, a lack of consideration exists. Adults have set the standards for everything, and
clearly some of us don’t want the exact same thing. Most teenagers would even argue that the
elderly are hypocrites of their own lectures; “Always be kind to one another” they become
deceitful, while they act upon themselves to corrupt one another. “This is against the law, all
shall abide” they preach, while those who are the closest to the law manipulate it according to
what is best for themselves, not for the greater good. I could name many more, but the list would
go on. This hypocrisy also comes between this generation from succeeding in changing the
system; most adult-dictated people deny abortion while they simply ignore the children
abandoned in foster homes or on the streets. They deny the legality of divorce while some
continue to abuse or neglect their wives, husbands, or their family. They deny the LGBTQ+
community simply because they grew up with a religion-centered or strict family. In general,
they become dismissive of those that go beyond their norms. Another argument is that they put
blame to others on problems they, themselves, started; climate change, countless crises, political
issues, and many more. Adults would turn a blind-eye on problems that they push to the youth,
then having high expectations for them to reach. Adults are to blame—or would that be the same
as what the adults do, is it selfishly following the youth’s standards?

Most adults are grown-ups who never really grew out from the expectations set for them
when they were the youth, and the new generation are children who are striving to break free
from every expectation that keeps them from having a better future. We live in a generation
where everyone is/are children who refuse to grow up. What is wrong with being an adult? Are
they truly mature? Should they be stripped off of any right? After all, they, too, are children who
simple aged. Adults are not entirely right or wrong, and nor are the youth. Who defines what is
right and wrong for whom? The answer is nobody. Each generation, every individual, we all
have our own definition of what is right or wrong. There is no universal conclusion to it, as how
there is no fixed situation of consequence to any action. The only plausible ‘wrong’ in adults is
their ego, which is the same for the youth. Instead of coming together to understand one another,
they point out the wrongs in each other and take these as offensive. Both sides should start
listening, should start communicating. We have advices for each other, so why not take the time
to hear them out? The present is not for one generation to control or live in, because the present
is and will determine both generations’ future.
REFERENCES/BASIS:

Blackburn, V., (2016). Adults nowadays are the generation of kids who refused to grow up.
Retrieved from: https://blogs.spectator.co.uk/2016/05/adults-nowadays-are-the-generation-of-
kids-who-refused-to-grow-up/

Vail, R., (2014). Five things adults get wrong about their teenage kids. Retrieved from:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2014/10/10/five-things-adults-get-wrong-
about-their-teenage-kids/

Picks, J., (2018). Why Do Today's Youth Seem So Different?

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/raising-parents/201805/why-do-todays-youth-seem-
so-different

Andersen, K., (2018). Forever Young: Why Are Adults Acting Like Children?
https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2018/06/forever-young-adults-acting-like-children/

Baizerman, M. (1994). Adolescents and Adults: why working together seems impossible. The
Child Care worker. Vol.12 No.8 pp. 6-8. Retrieved from: https://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-
online/cycol-1103-baizerman.html

HUMSS 12-A
Andrea Gayle O. Osias