We live in a world where we are judged on everything we do, from how we walk to how we eat and even how we breathe. In the first few seconds of seeing someone, even if we will never see them again we judge them. We do not even have to know them or their past before we curl our lip in disgust as we come to the conclusion they are not good enough because they don’t wear the right clothes or talk the right way.

We live in a society that urges us to stand out and be different but forces us into cookie cutter molds of how different we should be so we are the right kind of different and are still like everyone else.

We live in a place where starving yourself and anorexia is ok as long as it’s not talked about. In fact it’s almost normal in teenagers and everyone just turns a blind eye or waits until there is nothing that can be done to help them.

We live in an age where depression and suicide is a huge issue yet everyone is more worried about what Britney Spears is wearing or what rehab facility Lindsay Lohan is going to be checked into next because the teenagers who feel life isn’t worth the fight anymore and give up on living before their time aren’t famous so they must not matter right? After all that’s what society tells us. Because when someone says I’m fine no one cares enough to invest some of their time to sit down and say “No you are not. Let me help.”

We live in a world where it’s easier to be selfish than to help others so that is what everyone does. We spend our lives only focused on ourselves and never looking up to see the world around us and the people that are hurting. We live in a time and place where they tell us to express ourselves but the consequences for doing so are drastic.

As the next generation we need to change. We need to become more accepting of others and different ideas. Change has been a slow and painful process but it has happened. We need to become more aware of the world around us before we get left behind because we are all so absorbed in our own little words that we don’t see the pain and suffering going on around us. The next change is on our shoulders, it is up to us.