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"The Golden Age of Youth"? Who coined up that expression? I am
certainly not experiencing "golden" days in my life as a youth. Furthermore, many of my friends' complaints seem to attest that their experiences
of youth roughly match up with mine, that is, life as a youth is tough!
Firstly, being young automatically means that I have limited
knowledge and no job skills, which means that no one will employ me
for any worthwhile job. This means, clearly and simply, "No
Independent Income". Now, it is undeniable that without money, you
become severely limited in your options. You cannot buy anything, go
anywhere or do anything. Obviously, this is a problem for me.
Unable to function without cash, I have to rely on my parents
financially. Unable to buy a car, I have to rely on them for transport.
Unable to buy a house, I have to rely on them for accommodation. This
means, theoretically, that my parents are my Supreme Commanders.
When they tell me to jump, I have to jump. In such a situation, I am
deprived of the vital human right that caused the American Civil War -
Freedom.
Secondly, as long as you are not too old or too ill to walk, people will
always be measuring you by your achievements. This is especially true
for people in their youth. Parents, teachers, society and the government
love to gauge us scholastically, physically, socially, morally and in whatever
means they can think of. Thus, school examinations become so important
that many of us will study hours on end to perform well in them.
Actually the pressure on us to perform well at all times is great.
The pressure from our family gets stronger the older we grow. Since we
started schooling, our parents have been comparing our test results
with those of the children of their friends', who happen to be equally
goal-orientated parents. In fact, since we were born, our parents have
been comparing the ages at which we first started talking or walking,
our kiddy IQ test results and such other traps for vainglory. If I were a
piece of chicken, I'd consider myself "Kentucky Fried", not because I
was "spicy" or "original" but because I have been chopped into pieces, tenderized, pressure-cooked and well-fried.
Then, there is the question of romance. Practically speaking, youth
is the worst time to get romantically attached, because, as was earlier
explained, we lack the time and money to maintain a special boy-girl
relationship.
Yet, during our youth, we are at our peak; physically, we are at our
most attractive. Furthermore, our hormones are swinging about wildly
as we mature sexually. Unfortunately, this causes us to be more prone
to getting involved in romantic relationships, which leads to heartache
and causes us to perform badly in our examinations. I think that the
government should have chosen a better time to set all the major
examinations than at this time, don't you?
So, youth is a traumatic time. It is definitely not "golden". In my
opinion, the idea of "The Golden Age of Youth" must have been an
illusion dreamt up by fools. Perhaps we should call it the "Iron Pyrite
(Fool's Gold) Age of Youth".
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