As the news began to roll out about the possibility of a World War III in the beginning days of 2020, countless memes were released on social media platforms. The memes were all making jokes about war drafts, enlistment and even hiding from the war. Young people around the age of 12 to mid 20s were all following these jokes and trolling along, while the older generation of Americans saw the possibility of potential danger and were fearful of another world war. 

Looking at a few of these trending memes made me laugh too, but after coming to school and discussing the situation with my teachers, I changed my mindset. I wondered what kinds of danger the country could actually face that aren’t taken seriously now. Younger generations have grown accustomed to constant bad news and exposure to “woke” culture. We are left to feel small and to question how the terrible news we are exposed to could possibly affect us. 

This is just one of many awful situations that the younger generations have learned to turn into a joke, almost as if their lives aren’t meaningful enough to take issues seriously. There are countless memes often made to troll people that are already dead or issues that can be very sensitive to the people affected. With a screen, people feel protected enough to believe that their words can’t be traced back to them and that there will be no consequences for taking a joke too far.

 I think that younger people should begin to take these current issues like viruses, wars and tragedies seriously. Taking steps to change our actions now will call for everyone to grow mentally, physically and socially. Without efforts to change actions for the better, there will be no guarantee that the future will be as we imagine. Many young people are misinformed about many issues going on right now, and along with lies passed through social media, differentiating the truth from made up stories is difficult. This could result in a future where no one is going to believe anything enough to make an effort, or it can keep our generation from accessing the truth about issues that shouldn’t be overlooked like global warming. 

This generation, along with the ones that follow after, is going to grow up to become adults that are supposed to be leading the world with their ideas and their mindsets, and if there are no efforts to make change or improvement, we’re in danger.

Constantly joking about everything can lead to dangerous outcomes because serious precautions aren’t being put into action, and these jokes can lead to others being insulted. An action we can take to prevent cruel and very false jokes is beginning to lose the bad habits of spreading offensive jokes or “fake” news. Stopping this can lead to people not having clouded judgement. 

Although these jokes can be funny, there comes a point when things go way too far and stretch fear or spread false information. The younger generation should be allowed to make jokes within limits to prevent the spreading of lies and eliminate a toxic society.