The entire world is trying to figure out this crazy Generation Y.  Why are youth today so Facebook-obsessed?  Why do we have five different online profiles?  

BOX1824 has tried to capture these answers in a new short film.  The film, “We All Want To Be Young,”  is the outcome of several studies done in the last five years.  The film (watch below) looks at the youth of the 60’s, 70’s, 80’s, and how each group evolved in their own unique ways.  In the 60’s, young people had to fight for their identity as a demographic, whereas now, companies and media sources acknowledge 18 - 24 year-olds are at the top of the influence pyramid when it comes to the changing economy.  For the first time, youth have an overwhelming amount of information available to them, and therefore feel the need to create identities within their growing communities.  

Do these traits describe you?
- More short-term personal relationships
- A non-linear style of thinking (allowing one to have many conversations at once, and multi-task- thanks to the internet)
- Realistic
- Likely to idolize normal people who achieve big things
- Looking to combine pleasure with work

The video says that it is necessary to understand young people to understand the world, because they are the ones who will create big change.  I guess the questions is, if this video is the result of several studies, did BOX1824 succeed in putting this generation into a nutshell?

It almost seems to be a contradiction to try and capture the mindset of the most global, multi-tasking, network-savvy generation into a 10 minute video. We can’t fit inside a box - we are too big, and doing too many things at once to be captured in video clips.

We All Want to Be Young from box1824 on Vimeo.

Stanley Mitchell, of Atlanta, Georgia, has his bachelor’s degree and is planning on attending medical school in the next few years. He is proud to be the first in his immediate family to attend college. Tony Bobby (who didn’t want to use his real surname) went to an electrical school in New Jersey before returning home to the San Francisco Bay Area in search of work. There is something similar about these two young, motivated African-American men; neither of them can find a job in their field. And neither wants to settle for jobs beneath their training level, despite the recession.

Stanley said he “tried to do the ‘studious’ thing and prepare for the world...I thought, ‘I've got a degree and someone will want me.’" But the world after college hasn’t been so welcoming. Coming from a family where no one had attended college, Stanley understood the challenges of living with no job, and thought he understood the reasons behind unemployment. “My brother dropped out in 11th, my sister in 9th, my father in the 10th. Those numbers correlate with why they can't get a job or keep a job. My brother got his GED in prison. My sister is afraid to go back to school because she’s not sure what to expect. Education has a lot to do with it,” he said.

Before she was old enough to legally drink alcohol, Denise Tejada bought a house in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. Her brother Wilmer bought his first house when he was 21 and now he’s planning to invest in a second property soon.

Watch the video to find out how they did it.

By: Emily Beaver

What’s age got to do with it?

Well, when it comes to what you pay for health insurance -- age is important.

Age-rating, or using age to determine how much someone pays for health insurance, has recently been getting a lot of press. And like much of the health care debate, age-rating is turning into a battle between the older and younger generations.

What’s the fight over? Changing age-rating practices could lead to lower insurance premiums for older adults, but higher premiums for younger adults.

Usually private insurance companies charge older adults more for health insurance than younger adults. As people age, they generally have more health problems and spend more on health care services. The system seems fair—the people who use the most services pay the highest premiums.

Well, not everyone agrees. Some people and groups that advocate for older adults say age-rating isn’t fair because people can’t help aging. And age isn’t the only indicator of health, they say. An active, 52-year-old may be healthier than a 30-year-old who lives on cheese fries, Diet Coke and cigarettes.

Dancing is something that I love to do. . I started dancing when I was little. When I was seven I was a cheerleader for the Oakland dynamites. I have meet lots of dance choreographers. The dances that I like to do are The Jerk, Stankey Leg, Booty Dew, and Dougie. The G-Spot Boys came out with the Stankey Leg and the booty dew recently it has been a hit. Over the last few years I have had a lot of dance experience dancing in shows with different people from all over the world. My most recent dance show was at my school. It was for my eight grade graduation. My group is “The Explosive D.T.” We also did a show in Berkeley with a group called “the shock family” from Oakland. During my 8th grade year I had 3 separate dance choreographers who taught hip hop dances, they taught us in groups and we later performed for our family and friends. Read more...

Having braces young is tough but, when you get older it will be more painful. Having them young is much more beneficial versus when you’re older. If you get braces when you’re younger your teeth will become straighter as you grow older. Being young with braces gives you the advantage of not paying for them. My parents pay for my braces because I’m too young to have a steady income. On the other hand if you’re older with braces you’ll be paying for them out of your own pocket. Something I’m not willing to do. Also having braces when you’re older could possibly make you unattractive to others. When I’m older I do not want to have to deal with the troubles of braces. Read more...