The Young and the Old

Dear Readers,

Today, I will be talking about the difference in how the young and the old solve a particular situation.

Previously, there have been many STOMP articles regarding students misbehaving in public places. In return, these witnesses post them up onto STOMP, supposedly to shame the school from which the students are from. Many classmates have already commented on these incidents like the ice-cream incident which happened in our school. It may be the hard and cold truth, but it is undeniable that posting articles on the Internet without considering the consequences is the way of the Internet-savvy younger generation. What about the older generation then?

Today, when I was returning back from school with my classmate on the bus, we saw four students from an elite school fooling around. There was a student sitting on the floor, whilst the other three were shouting at the top of their voices and laughing continuously. The noise suddenly grew unbearable and to be heard, we had to talk rather loudly (which was quite hard since both of us were having a sore throat). Of course, we know this is wrong as it would reflect extremely badly on our school, since we are wearing the school uniform.

My friend said that he wanted to take a photograph of the students and post it on STOMP. I guess he must have been joking, because he did not do as he had said. When the bus reached our stop, an uncle clad in a chequered shirt and listening to an MP3 walked towards them.

“When you are wearing the school uniform, you represent your school. If you don’t respect your own school, how do you expect us to?” he asked in quite an annoyed manner. The students looked down at the ground, feeling rather remorseful and abashed. I sympathised with the students, because I know how it feels to be scolded in front of a large crowd. The fact that the person who scolded them was a stranger did not help alleviate the situation, but instead worsens it a lot.

I agree that the uncle had done the right thing, but maybe it was not the best way to solve it. He could have said it in a nicer and friendlier tone, so that it went across more as just a lesson than a lecture or a scolding.

Now, comparing the younger generation and the older generation in the way which they settle issues, we see a distinct difference. The former adopts a more “humiliating” approach to point out the party’s mistake but does not teach him/her what is the right thing to do. On the other hand, the older generation tends to be able to teach him/her by minimising the humiliation or embarrassment the person feels.

Therefore, my ten-cents worth is that we, the younger generation, must definitely learn from the older generation in considering the consequences before doing something online, be it posting on a social media platform (as many, if not all, of us – the young and reckless ones – have done). Instead, we should think of what is the best way to do something, in this case, teach the person what the right thing to do is.

Best Regards,
Nathan :)