H.I.J.O.S., The Tavis Smiley Youth Advisory Council, S.T.A.R., Rock the Vote, the South Asian American Voting Youth, NAACP Youth Councils, the Student Federation of India, World Federation of Democratic Youth, Kenya's National Youth Council, Youth Employment Summit. These are just a few examples of the stereotyped "apolitical, ignorant, young people" that are involved and in tune around the globe. Are they lazy?

Maybe the reason why our generation falls victim to this myopic stereotype as "apathetic" is because there are no current technologies that accurately measure how, when and where we receive information as you suggested.

Nielsen Media Research, a company devoted toward providing such information, recently has had to undergo a significant metamorphosis due to the advent of TiVos, iPods, mobile phones, PSPs, flash video, WiFi and broadband Internet. They are currently working on software plugins and other forms to monitor, but as of yet have not identified a solid nor definite way of tackling the gargantuan task of multi-media data accumulation.

With this fact in mind, it's important to defend my fellow members of Generation Next. The summations of lack of interest and laziness made by the media are not based upon fact, but on generational generalizations.

I don't believe that our generation is following down the same path of those who came before us. We were born into a world that's more technologically advanced, with longer days, and a lot more capricious. We've had more changes in the 25 years our generation has been credited with, than my grandparents in their entire lifetime.

Words don't mean what they used to. My grandparents would define politically active by how many sit-ins you sat in, how many times you were arrested, or how loud you could shout.

Today we still employ those blatant, attention grabbing tactics, but in addition more subtle forms or protest. How many people do you know wear "Livestrong" or "Support Our Troops" wrist bands, have Bush-mocking T-shirts, or Gore-bashing screen savers?

With the 36 percent of youth who have signed an online petition, 918,000 political youth bloggers, 68 percent of college students who follow the news closely, 79 percent of college students who get their news from national TV networks according to the Institute of Politics at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, I think anyone can hardly call us apolitical.

Even the network's claims about the lack of viewership amongst members of our generation go unfounded in light of this research. Their panic reaction toward new technologies' potential of stripping consumers away from supporting their pocketbooks has caused them to poorly pollute their newscasts and programming schedules with the likes of Paris Hilton and mind-dulling shows in a misguided attempt to draw us back. In the words of my home-girl Sophia, "Please do not insult my intelligence!"

The media are so quick to call us apathetic, but are they doing anything about the third of high school seniors who lack a basic understanding of how the U.S. government works? Are they even the least bit concerned about the NAEP Civics Assessment or is it more important to criticize rather than to help?

When's the last time you saw a Government 101 in the newspaper or on network TV? When's the last time you heard a political issue fully explained without propaganda or bias? That's what I thought -- never.

My advice to the media that may help rectify the current rift between them and us; before you point at the "apparent" ignorance of Generation Next, write articles about our generation's lack of interest, mock our "lingo", or broadcast our laziness, consider teaching us something first!

Just like the numbers of enthusiastic youth voters slumped after the fiasco that was the 2004 presidential election, similar to the percentage of youth who trust the president to make good decisions (11 percent), so will the number of politically engaged, news following youth mimic if the traditional media industry doesn't step up its game.

~Natalia