Posted on March 19, 2006
The Louisiana sun beat down on the backs of the 200 volunteers hammering on new homes in New Orleans’ Musicians’ Village. As I stood surrounded by my peers, in the midst of a city full of both despair and hope, it occurred to me that I never knew this was possible. I never understood the magnitude of the situation. I’ve never seen anything like this on TV — and I probably never will.
Ironically, I’m not speaking of the infamous Katrina herself. What was just as shocking as the hurricane’s aftermath was the response of my generation, our generation. My work-crew of 22 labored alongside college students who had traveled as much as 30 hours to assist the residents of the desperate city. At the same time, more than 300 JMU students were participating in Alternative Spring Break trips across the world; a myriad of students from other schools were doing the same. This simply baffled me: Members of my own generation were forgoing craziness for constructiveness? I expected there to be more like me, but never so many more. Perhaps I’d been buying into the very lie that so many of my peers seem to believe: our generation has nothing to offer the world except what we see on MTV.
The term “Spring Break” in our culture has taken on a certain connotation, one that reflects the overall perception of our generation: we’re a group of wild, ungrounded, spoiled individuals obsessed with our cell phones and our sexuality. Gone are the days of “The Greatest Generation;” young adulthood no longer implies the beginning of responsibility, but four isolated years of chaos. These stereotypes are perpetuated throughout society. Turn on MTV any time during this month, and you’ll see scantily-clad beachgoers competing in wet T-shirt contests and “booty-shaking” competitions. Watch any show after midnight and you’ll see multiple commercials for “Girls Gone Wild.” Walk down the boardwalk of any beach, and you’ll see signs offering free tequila shots for anyone willing to flash a little more skin. These have become the marks of our generation. We’re supposed to take pride in that?
Too often we are fooled into thinking that these staples of our generation are all that we have, but we are so wrong. The many ASB participants and countless other volunteers demonstrate that we truly can make a difference — if only we conquer the stereotype. Our labor, our sweat and our efforts all impact the world around us. Believe it or not, we retain just as much potential as The Greatest Generation, and many of us are using it. I guess MTV missed that memo.
Of course, everyone is absolutely entitled to a vacation. If relaxing on a Florida beach is the best way to rejuvenate your mind and prepare yourself to tackle the rest of the semester, more power to you. Spending Spring Break in a Third-World country is not a prerequisite for being a decent human being. But when was the last time MTV Spring Break interviewed normal sunbathers on the beach? Unless you’re missing a crucial part of your swimsuit, they’re just not interested. Society rewards scandal over normalcy any day. And let me add this: those people who choose to blow kisses to MTV cameramen while wearing close to nothing have every right to do so — but they do not deserve airtime when thousands of their peers are working to make the world a better place. And they do not deserve to be the spokespeople for our generation.
Society would have us believe that our value is found in our bodies and booze, but we are worth so much more than that; just ask the residents of Musicians’ Village, who now have decent homes thanks to college students. Members of my generation, I ask you not to be discouraged by the way you are portrayed. You have enormous potential — whether MTV believes it or not.
Kathryn Manning is a junior history and political science major.
