Many people criticize the younger generations of today for being impatient, demanding, and self-centered. In the Internet era, it is difficult not to imagine today's youth as anything but individualist, consumerists with poor grammar due to text technologies and instant messages. But, are today's youth really lacking compassion?

Compassion is fundamentally consideration, kindness, and concern for others. With celebrity blogs that post everything they can find, no holds barred, about the A-listers people want to read about, it's difficult to make a case for the youth of America actually being empathetic towards other people's situations, particularly when their main concern seems to be self-gain. It seems as though the paparazzi have no boundaries or concern for the well being of others, as is evidenced by the recent Britney Spears news coverage. While Spears unravels in the public eye, it's hard not to ask yourself, "Where do we draw the line?"

It seems that this is clear evidence of the lack of compassion in today's youth. And because of the media attention on these boundary overstepping groups, I often find myself wondering: what is my generation compassionate about? For a group of individuals with so much to say, and such easy ways to voice our opinions, thoughts, and concerns (especially via the internet), can I point out one major cause that has compelled us to move forward?

And then, the thoughts begin to pour in. Although we are the generation of internet techies, we are also the generation who is working hard to educate ourselves about the dangers of unsafe sex through sexual education in public classrooms. We are the generation who has focused on rallying the near non-existent presence of the young vote in America prior to movements such as the MTV Vote or Die campaign. We are a generation striving to become involved in dictating our own futures.

We may be self serving as individual members of this generation, but as a group we are also undeniably moving towards a greater acceptance for diversity, a greater belief in education, and a stronger global community. Social networking sites and chat rooms have allowed for individuals to relate to one another virtually from opposite sides of the globe.

Overall, as a group, our generation is loud. Hopefully we can shed the criticisms and labels that other generation groups have placed on us regarding our impatience or our impropriety. Perhaps we will be the generation to demand change, to be impatient against mediocrity or stagnancy as a human race, and to help one another solve the social problems of today.

Learn more about this author, Krystle Hernandez.
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