▶ Your Answer :
Undoubtedly, a feeling of happiness plays a significant role in people’s daily lives in many of the places where they work or play. Some people think that the young enjoy life more than the old do, and others do not. Both sides may have their own reasons to support their views. If I were asked to choose one, I would say that young people cannot enjoy their lives while old people do. There are several reasons as follows. First of all, a widening gap between the rich and the poor prevent young people from feeling enjoyable in their lives. Since modern society runs on materialism, money give people a lot of opportunities to succeed through better education, better learning environment, and better people. Since only a small portion of the population accounts for the rich, when poor people acknowledge this huge difference what they born with, they are likely to feel powerless and depressed, preventing them from opening up to the rich. For example, when my sister was in high school, she often felt depressed thinking that her life became an exhausting routine. To survive in this competitive world, she spent the whole day studying all academic subjects, hoping that she could outdo others. Although she made constant effort, it was difficult because everyone was studying as hard as she was. It was also difficult to make friends because all of them seemed very busy and indifferent to others, treating each other as rivals. She found out that some rich classmates took additional classes at cram schools, and got a higher score on exams accordingly. However, she was not able to afford to take such expensive classes. In this context, it was difficult for her to be happy and to enjoy her life. In addition, the young cannot enjoy their lives because they always have to develop their expertise in their area. As modern society is becoming more competitive and specialized, many companies need job candidates who are experts in their fields. Although these young people already have a lot of knowledge, they are unlikely to spend their free time on enjoyable activities. For example, Seoul National University analyzed data from two groups of people. One group consisted of those who are aged between nineteen to thirty-one, and the other group was made up of those who are aged between sixty to seventy-two. The researcher found that most of the first group spent their vacations studying or maintaining their hectic schedules. On the other hand, many of the second group spent their free time traveling or meeting friends. The most contributing factor was that the young had to study harder to meet their dream companies’ requisition to win other competitors who also wanted to work at the same company. However, in reality, the former slept less than six hours a day, and met their family and friends less than two hours a week, and had no hobby. This implies that many young people cannot relax and do what they enjoy for achieving success, which is different from the old who are already retired from their work.
All things considered, younger people enjoy life less than older people do for the reasons I have mentioned above. All in all, this trend will continue and pass down to the next generation. |