I Think the Year 1999 Destroyed our Current Generation

It all started with some harmless reminiscing. MTV Hits Playlist led a group of us to the internet, in search of music videos from an era I had long since forgotten. The first youtube video I was told to find was this gem:

That's the video for Jordan Knight's "Give it to You" from 1999. If you don't want to watch it, I don't blame you. You'll be missing synchronized dance moves and lyrics that led me to the conclusion in the title. Let's take a closer look...

Anyone can make you sweat,
But I, can keep you wet.
It's creepin around in my head
Me holding you down in my bed
I can't wait to give you some
I'm convinced you need it.

If I were a parent of an impressionable preteen girl and heard this coming from the radio, I might well need CPR to revive me from a heart attack. This sounds like a lyrical transcript of a rape. I wouldn't let this kid anywhere near my block (zing). But, just telling young girls that someone wants to give it to them isn't enough, they've got to be told what to look like in order to get it.

Christina Aguilera and Britney Spears were just becoming household names with their first hits in early 1999, and young girls everywhere began to idolize them because of their style and their songs. Songs they wrote? Ohhhhhh of course not, they're written by repressed 48 year old men who would like nothing better than to make millions off of selling raw sex to the American public. Christina wanted you to 'rub her the right way' while Britney was looking for someone to 'hit her one more time'. Nothing like saying come fuck me without actually saying it. This garbage was specifically marketed toward the youth of America and I've seen firsthand the effect that it hath wrought.

Just look at teen fashion trends since 1999 and tell me our youth wasn't oversexed by this pop explosion. 8 year olds who listened to this are now 17 and it's the only thing they've ever known. They've been told that sex is great and theyre missing out because of all this wonderful stuff these hot people are singing about. This has led to kids having sex younger and younger and encountering emotions and problems that, in my opinion, not many teenagers are capable of handling. I blame MTV, I blame record execs, I blame irresponsible parents, I DON'T blame Britney Spears as many people do. She was a kid who got famous, loved it, then went crazy. She didn't ask to become a role model for a generation, but it happened.

1999 was also when people started realizing that this whole internet thing might not be a fad. Napster debuted in 1999, sites like ebay and amazon were gathering steam, instant messaging was becoming the standard of communication among teenagers. That word 'instant' is why the internet helped to destroy this current generation. In the internet age, where information about anything is available in seconds, we started to think that everything else should just come instantly as well. I'm not saying I'm above this phenomenon, I am a firm believer in instant gratification, and it is a glaring flaw in my life. No one is willing to put the effort in anymore. Why drive to the store to buy something when you can click three times and have it delivered to you overnight? Why go out and buy a CD when you can download it, for free, in 5 minutes? We've become an instantaneous society, and when we don't get what we want instantly, we either complain until it happens or take a pill to fix how sad we feel because of it.

Last but certainly not least are the events of Columbine High School in Colorado. On April 20, 1999 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 12 of their schoolmates and one teacher and wounded 23 others before killing themselves in the high school. This was a complete game changer in terms of the way we as a society looked at youth violence, availability of firearms, violence in the media, cliques in high school, bullying, 'goth' subculture, internet use and a myriad of other topics that arose from this tragedy. Teaching our children to bottle their emotions caught up with us that day. Since then we've been very quick to diagnose things like manic depression, bipolar disorder, and ADD in our kids in order to put them on prescription drugs to 'fix' them. Xanax is not a substitute for being a good parent and listening to and loving your child. If you're going to be a parent, do it right and don't half ass it.

I'm sure there are plenty more events in plenty other years you can point to, but 1999 was a year of turmoil if there ever was one. This generation of pop music loving, instant gratification seeking, and pill popping kids is becoming adults, and I'm anxious and scared to see how we handle it.