Across the pond, many youth are facing similar problems as the rising generation in America. Suicide rates are rapidly increasing, sensitivity is at an all time high and many young people are battling mental health issues left, right, and centre. 20-year-old Matthew J Phillips, the CEO and Co-Founder of Organic Clients Agency has witnessed a drastic societal shift since leaving school at age 16 years. Within his local community that molded his success he now sees youngsters who had so much to offer take their lives or attempt suicide. This has become an occurrence that is far too frequent, with a few youths Matthew knew from school choosing that path who are unfortunately not with us anymore.
However amongst these legitimate and serious cases, mainstream media, music and entertainment has almost normalised the taking of life, with many hit songs popularising depression, and using alcohol or substance abuse as an escape from “reality” rather than dealing with it. Are these “escapes” fueling the problem? Have we, as a society, painted a picture that it’s not normal to not have mental health issues? Whether it stems from a higher purpose of bringing awareness, many believe the current approach goes beyond that, with companies using it as a marketing tool, profiting off of others and normalizing such issues – begging the question, is this really normal that most people are mentally unwell? And do our children need to be convinced that they fall into that same ballpark such that we materialise issues that previously would have never existed?
Matthew, being young and in a hard hit community, believes that the children and teens, many he grew up with, are mollycoddled and often used as pawns by large corporations, government and politics to push their own agendas and gain profit. On the mollycoddled side, he believes, including himself, that Gen Z aren’t truly challenged, nor taught discipline. Instead we are taught that toughness is wrong and being a “man” is sexist; that no truths are told as you’ll hurt someone’s feelings. We are educated that no hard work is needed because government subsidies are easier, or that we are minorities bullied by the world who can do nothing about anything. When he attended Ysgol Gyfun Cymer Rhondda in South Wales, the culture was that if you were out of shape, your peers would tell you stone-cold that you were. And even if there was a bit of poking fun, this wasn’t called bullying. This was called truth toned down by humour to get the message across so that you can help yourself without hurting your feelings too much.
Flunking a test because you played Xbox every night and being grounded by your parents was called being lazy, undisciplined, not “the load was too much”. Consequences would be felt, so you can learn and improve. The United Kingdom and America were built on these basic principles – some could say God’s commandments even. Your girlfriend breaking up with you and you not wanting to leave the house for a few days is called sad or being depressed at that moment. It wasn’t depression. It’s a moment, doesn’t have to be a lifelong issue.
Matt’s not saying there aren’t such cases, but he does believe the overdone push on mental health awareness, race, gender, and so on is sparking a trend of unknowingly labelling something a problem when that problem never really existed.
This is not Matthew offering a fix. However he does believe that we’ve strained so far away from God, more specifically Christ. He believes that’s the main issue – that we’re living in a fallen world. Before bashing immediately, it could be helpful to pick up a bible, heck – if you want to speak with Matthew and you’re a youth in his area wanting to get a business going, you can get in touch with him. If you want some advice and guidance, or just to talk and share ideas, man to man – Matt has said you can reach out and talk whenever – if you’re serious, he’s serious about you. Try him at @matthewjphillips.
With all this in mind, I leave you today with the question of – where do you think we’re heading as a society, for the bad or good?
Members of the editorial and news staff of the Daily Caller were not involved in the creation of this content.