"My generation is so misunderstood because we have more technology. Back then, it seemed like people didn’t have as much as we do. They did stuff on their own and figured stuff out. Now, we can do things on the internet and we have more options and easier ways to do things, which makes us lazy and the older generation doesn’t like it.”- Sean II (Left), Portland

"Technology makes everybody silent because you’re hiding behind a phone and a computer. The actual face time is lost. Technology isn’t always a bad thing but if you don’t learn how to put things down to correspond and talk with people, miscommunication will come in. You say one thing on the internet or on social media and someone can take it the wrong way and misinterpret what you’re trying to say. That creates beef and misunderstanding and then you got people just going back in and forth on the internet. It just makes it so you’re not talking face to face. The misunderstanding becomes a problem and then people just don’t talk anymore. It seems like you can easily delete someone off your social media and block them, which will cause you not to talk to them. Older folks are used to talking face to face and the kids are used to talking on social media and texting. That’s where the breakdown is. 

The West needs more older guys to fill in that gap. I know that the community centers are closing, so you have to get that old connection and that young connection to strengthen. Guys feel like gangs are the strength but you have to get some guys to be the strength in positive things. You’ve got to get the older guys and the younger guys get together and find a common bond between them. You have to find the common bond and some of it is through sports but everybody don’t play sports. You have to find something else to get the young and the old together to do something positive and keep it going. I think guys are trying to do it through sports but that’s not enough, you gotta find something else.

My advice to the world is just to love and do something that will effect the people around you. Try to do something positive that’ll make a difference. Don’t just always point out the problems, be apart of the solution.” - Sean (Right), Shawnee