Liberal Arts and Today's Teens: A Need for Creativity

Generation X. Y. Z. Rx. The society of teenaged young men and women in today's amalgamated society has been referred to with many generalizing titles. Rx because it is prescription addicted, Z because it came after the original Y, Y because it generally stands for "Youth," and X because no one perceives anything good coming from it. Many have already given up on this generation because it is lazy, bored, and lives in a newly technological world that no one has been witness to before, or knows what to expect from. There is no sign of a cultural intelligence-or a cultural signature-to be seen. That is not to say they haven't tried, though unsuccessfully: their films are terrible and their "music" is worse. However, the few that still believe in this miniature slice of society, despite every negative influence, will not be disappointed. There are those few talented people out there, as there are in every generation, that are yet undiscovered. Though one person cannot single-handedly create a cultural signature for Generation Whatchamacallit, a college education focusing in any of the liberal arts can inspire some sense of cultural literacy into these lost children.

Literature, one facet in the ancient circle of the liberal arts, is one of the most beautiful forms of expression; it does not only define not the author of the time period, but the time period itself. Dickinson and Whitman were Romantics, Emerson and Thoreau were Transcendentalists, Crane was a natural Realist-the list goes on. But who has ever heard of the Post-Millennium author Black or Boucher? No one, yet. With the high school requirements of basic English, United States History, government, and a crash course in passion, there is nothing stopping the youth of today from creating satirical fiction, political poetries intended to inspire change, and lyrical short stories laced with intense imagery to create positive emotions in audiences. It is intriguing how simple it is to reach audiences today, and to inspire them, move them, with words alone. I cannot count the times that I have read an editorial in the local newspaper, a wonderful book, or a protestor's cardboard sign and was internally inspired to return to my notebook with a vengeful pen and ink.

Artistic creations of the brush and hand-rather than the word-are also often employed to define a cultural time period. However, by this time in humanity's existence, as artist Jay Dukart once said, "Everything in art has been done before." This might be true, but at the same time, the possibilities are endless. Inspirations from the past such as Monet and Picasso, Degas and Van Gogh have such distinct styles that defined them as artists and the periods in which they painted. Repeating their styles is a learning technique employed in every art classroom, and something that can reinstate a cultural intelligence into a flopping society. I want to see someone mix Rembrandt's realism with Van Gogh's sloppy blocks of paint. I want to see a figure gazing through a looking glass, only to find Picasso's insanity or a bout of Cubism invading their reflection. Even if everything has been done before, there is still more to do. This generation will not surrender. I will not surrender keeping them from surrendering. The drive to create has been imbedded deeply somewhere within these lost children, and with further education and exploration of their talents, with the dedication I know they have, truly, a cultural signature is not far away if everyone picks up a brush or pen and begins now.

Technological advances that seem to limit the imaginations of young people today will, indeed, create problems for our endeavors. Somewhere beneath the violence and the drugs, the sex and the television, there is a craving for the sweet victory that no video game, only raw creation, can bring. Through words and the painted text, with the help of the American availability of a continuing education, there is nothing to keep this generation from cultural action. There is nothing but time. And in this time, perhaps, this generation will be named LS, for Late Starting.