Commentary

Oscar Ramirez

“You mad bro?” If you have heard or read these words the chances are you are a habitual user of social media and probably fit within the age bracket that uses such expressions.

Such sarcasm and condescending tones have become like the unofficial second language and common attitude for interaction between our youth.

I suppose one thing I might be inclined to point to the various televised ill humored shows on air. The news, the music, the papers? Perhaps the more relaxed thoughts on aggressive behavior and verbal choice of wordings towards one another? Yes, it’s all fun and games to them to try and humiliate others around them or even get a rise of anger out of those they feel they can in order to feel a sense of superiority over others.

For some of us sarcasm was for laughs, but like all things if gone too far it was met with consequences.

Those of us older know what it meant when we crossed the line, it meant problems. Something teens today don’t have to go through given there saying things knowing they can’t be touched through a screen.

The youth of today are proficient in the language of sarcasm. But the question that seeded its way in my mind since I began noticing this trend of hostility is this, with the ability to belittle others in words, what should happen if someone took things the wrong way?

Can our youth back up their mouths? That is what has really been on my mind, and it has been something that I doubt they can do the more I monitor them.

It would seem that this form of treatment of one another is only done in fashions of communicating where no one is physically near one another and only online.

Now you’ll have to excuse my thoughts on this, but I am pretty sure that like many of you who are older than our teens today, when faced with words that are offensive and intentional, usually met back with fists. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t normally condone violence, but I see it as experience “and for males,” a right of passage.

It may be an odd way to look at things and even a bit old fashioned, but I do believe that some conflicts are better solved with two people fighting it out.

This is something I think our youth lack in experience is physical conflict. It may be brute but then again, it beats kids shooting kids.

Back to the point, the sarcastic and condescending tones and choice of words I feel will only give birth to unpredictable actions.

The next time your fingers type out these words “you mad bro,” it could lead to more than just angry words reciprocated back or a black eye or two, it could possibly lead to a trip to the hospital.