Generation Me

In a recent conversation with friends, the concept of “Generation Me” came up. Clearly, everyone on the table felt they were older than this particular generation, and as such, much of the direction of this talk was against the outlook GenMe youth have. To start with was the revelation of nursery rhymes that have evolved over time, which now focus on building the whole “it’s all about me” mindset. Growing up, most of us chanted along to nursery song “Frere Jacques,” which basically talked about Brother Jack and some morning bells ringing. Or something to that effect. Today, as my friends pointed out, you have kindergarten toddlers singing to the same tune, except the words are, “I am special, I am special, look at me, you will see someone very special, someone very special, because its me, because its me.” I may be overreacting, but when did this overnight transformation of a nursery rhyme aimed at edutainment turn into one of building individualism and self-esteem? Does a three-year old need coaching at self-identity and confidence that good old parenting can’t take care of? I understand that kids need to feel good about themselves, but doesn’t this nursery rhyme scenario later pave way to inflated levels of narcissism and self-importance? A bit far-fetched it may sound, but when you hear of GenMe teens assuring their college professors against the low grades meted out to them and duly so – it raises the question: where does this attitude of self-entitlement come from? Infact, who is responsible for it? Most examples of this type of generation can be found in the West, but our conversation made me curious as to whether the same type of generation exists in Rwanda. I would think that the system of education across most of our schools is a combination of quality control and reality, with little time spent on coddling the student. Then again, I may be wrong. Perhaps somewhere in a secondary school in Ruhango, a parent is blaming the child’s poor grades on the teacher’s apparent lack of expertise in the teaching profession. It is surprising what the effects of globalization can be. Or, as it was during our day, the parent is adding to child’s poor grades with an added disciplinary session for good measure. GenMe, also known as Generation Y, come after Generation X who are said to be born after the Western post–World War II ended. I assumed GenMe kids were born sometime in the 90s, but in fact are children born after 1981/1982. It was sobering to realize that most of us having that conversation fall under the category of GenMe youth. Of course, characteristics of the generation vary by region depending on social and economic conditions, which probably explains our wonderment at the Western GenMe worldview. Growing up this side of the world meant that we didn’t receive plastic surgery as our 18th birthday presents all in the name of self-esteem. As eye-opening as it was, it was also gloomy to learn about the percentage of GenMe youth in the West, who are diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorders at the age of 20. While it is easy to spot the GenMe shortcomings, I shudder to think of the ensuing generation and its characteristics. If growing up, my heroes were literary characters, what does that mean for the current generation who have grown up on MTV and not books, and have Harriet the Spy replaced with Kim Kardashian? Even in Rwanda, this is a reality fast perpetuating itself. Perhaps it is too early to tell, or too narrow a future-view of ‘Generation Z,’ but it is certainly food for thought. deempyisi@googlemail.com