Teens are continuously blamed for just about everything. We hear on a daily basis that generation Z has outdone every other generation relating to anything negative. But as said in the scriptures there is nothing new under the sun. As such it was all here before us. In fact if we are to blame this generation, how about blaming those who raised us? Yes, parents, blame yourself for once. Teens in this era are accused of being early and highly sexualized, egregiously ill-mannered and just downright ‘unruly’. But where did we get it from? Were we born with a bad gene? (because this is what we are made to believe), or is this just the product of improper socialization? Society, from its existence, has been in the process of moral decay so be not shocked, it is not generation Z’s fault – we were born into this. Remember Adam and Eve ate the ‘forbidden fruit’ and that’s where it started. Nevertheless, there are other factors. Jamaicans would say the chip never falls far from the block, and this is exactly what we are experiencing. Its perhaps just increasing. Our parents started having sex early and so are we. The raunchiness of our culture has not decreased, so you cannot expect that miraculously the age at which the average teen begins to have sex will increase. The aggressiveness of our culture is not censored in the presence of our teens. Just by listening to various artistes, teens have pledged foolish allegiances to these artistes. Their blind allegiances have also caused them to impersonate the behavior of these artistes. So to put this simply, ‘what monkey see monkey do’. It’s clear that our culture plays a major role. As the definition of culture loudly proclaims, it is a way of life. Is this the way of life we want to continue to impart. We are told to love our culture and rightly so. Let us brand our culture cause best believe if we don’t appreciate it, others will appropriate it. But let us also be not quick to judge our teens and to wrongfully accuse them. If we want to see change then we must first be that change.  My Sociology teacher would often say socialization is a tool that is used from the womb to the tomb. As such, teens are continuously learning the norms, values and mores of society. Whether directly or indirectly, we learn something from just about everyone we come in contact with, and every space we share. It is a continuous and never ending process so this also suggest that older generations should not be too quick to ‘write us off’. And funny enough, we might make the same mistakes you did, but sometimes that’s what it will take for us to learn. To wrap this all up, I say be not quick to scapegoat teens for all that you see that is supposedly ‘wrong’ with them. Each time you think to do so, remember the teens of any society are perhaps the best reflection of a society’s growth, and likewise, lack thereof.  So do another assessment and tell me who will you blame?