3 Damaging Mentalities That the Youth of Today Frequently Display.

1. The Glorification of Insecurity.

This is mostly prevalent in young women; an extreme in which they hate their physical appearances. Now, I know that insecurity is a part of life—we’d always have that part of ourselves that we’re not too confident about. I mean, we all face it, and may not fully outgrow it.

However, this trend is really more damaging . Why? Because they take insecurity as a “virtue”. Check out the lyrics to One Direction’s hit What Makes You Beautiful, “you don’t know that you’re beautiful and that’s what makes you beautiful.” Hell No! I know, I know, it sounds so mushy and harmless, kinda but being insecure is never a virtue.

It’s normal to be insecure, but it’s not a good thing. In fact, when in excess, insecurity is destructive; it destroys your life. Because a woman fails to see her beauty, she will never, ever believe someone can be attracted to her. Her insecurity will eat her away and she’ll accuse her significant other of being unhappy with her, that he’s lying when he calls her beautiful and many other trust-destroying assumptions.

This is just a very terrible mentality that needs to stop.

2. Unwillingness to work at the bottom.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying today’s youth are lazy. I know plenty of hardworking young people and most older persons will put me in the same group. But the problem I see among teenagers is the unwillingness to take bottom-tier jobs. See ehn, lemme tell you, the reality of the workforce is that no one starts off making bank. (Yeah. Read that again.)

You come into a new job, with very few experience or skills—guess how much your worth is to your employer? Prolly minimum wage. Your work? Grunt work. These jobs are not glamourous, they’re not the “dream job” and they don’t pay very well.

When you’re new to the workforce, you have to start at these jobs, even more if you have no formal education. To be successful in the workforce, you have to be willing to start at the bottom if you want to work your way up.

3. Social Media…!

“Me I must post about this.” I’d agree social media is huge and very useful. I’ve used it to buy and sell goods, I’ve used it to win contests, I’ve met great people whom I would not have met otherwise, I’ve used it to keep in touch with family and friends. It’s a great tool…

But it’s also damaging. Now I’m not even talking about cyber-bullying (even though that’s a major issue) or how social media can worsen mental health issues because of how it shows a constant highlight reel and creates unrealistic expectations.

I’m talking about how young people will post about their personal problems like it’s an online diary. The aggressive posts calling out their girlfriends who they have quarrels with. This constant dirty laundry airing on social media is a terrible practice in my view; it kills people’s ability to manage conflict in a healthy way. Plus social media never forgets!

I hope this has helped you see what I want you to see. I didn’t mean to offend anyone, but then if I did, then it’s for your good. Even though it could be difficult, I strongly believe mentalities can change. Start changing yours today!