Social Insanity

Based on current events, this is more a commentary than a comedy…

Is it me or are people just getting more critical?

Has this wonderful thing that we have called the Internet enabled people to complain about anything and everything?

I saw nastiness in people during this last election that rocked to me to the core. I think people should be able to voice their opinion without others getting nasty and hostile.

I was shocked at the names people called each other. Where did this anger come from? Has it always been in society? Or, are we so frustrated with the fast-paced, competitive society will we live in that the tension and pressure have has caused us to be that way.

Perhaps it is because people can't see us, so we don't know who’s saying what. It’s easy to make a damning remark and move on without any repercussions.

Now I can curse with the best of them but going online and using words that I've never heard before, against people that I don't know just because we have a difference of opinion, is something this writer won’t do. Yet, it makes one worry where our society is going.

And what example are we giving our children?

There is so much competitiveness. Do we all have to win everything? Do we have to be right all the time? Do your kids have to always win the trophy? Do they have to be number one in the graduating class? Does that mean they're not going to be successful if they don't get into Harvard?

I cringe when I hear the millennial parents talking about where their kids are going to college. Like they have to “up” each other. Is that the way people gain respect these days?

What about all the pictures on the Internet of these successful children who are at the top of their class with all their trophies and awards. It's great for those kids, it's great for the parents, but how about the kids that are not on there? I wonder what the parents of just “average” kids think when they read it. What's wrong with average anyway?

Parents can say, “I raised the nicest kids who do charitable work, have common sense, and are just nice children.” Nothing wrong with that.

Maybe they are not number one in their class, maybe not the star of the basketball team, or maybe not going to Harvard. That doesn't guarantee a healthy happy life anyway.

Speaking of superstar kids, how many will have to pay back the college for the rest of their life? What kind of stress does that put on them? Will that make them happier?

Some of these children that have been pushed so hard could end up dropping out of society at a later date. It has happened before.

And these anxious helicopter parents are not making it easy for the teachers. No the parents yell at the teachers if their kids don't get a good grade. They threaten them and then create undo friction between the student, the teacher and the school.  For many, it is not really not fun to be an educator anymore.

Many parents want their kids to make the highest grades possible, at almost any cost. And if the kid doesn't earn his or her “A”, it must be the teachers fault.

Good teachers have been leaving the profession in droves. Teachers don't get the respect they deserve and, in many cases, they don't get the backing of the parents.

I think all of this goes back to the competitiveness of our society. That said, the U.S. has fallen behind many of the other civilized countries in education. We used to be number one. Of course, we used to be number one in a lot of things like medicine.

So I ask you, where has all this competitiveness gotten us?