Class of 2018 can use its connectedness to benefit all

We’ll settle for being correct and call them the Class of 2018.
However, we cannot help but think they are the first Class of the 21st century.
No, that doesn’t accord them a unique place in history. But they came of age during one.
You might say they cut their teeth on chaos — from the terror of 9/11 to the recent Valentine’s Day slaughter at a Florida high school.
Not to mention foreign wars, a vast, ever-growing red-blue divide and a scandal that may yet be bigger than Watergate.
But this generation also came of age during a digital renaissance, linking the world as it has never been before.
From the Greatest Generation to the latest generation, such upheavals may often look like the status quo.
We all know that it’s not always easy being young, when so much is expected of us and we are expecting so much of the world.
Yet, when we review the timeline of events since 2001, it is exhaustive with very few lulls.
Many of today’s high school graduates will certainly want to make the world a better place than what they were given.
And we wish them well on those efforts. When past generations criticize the one crossing the stage today, we need only look at this world we are handing off to them.
But these young people are not just a reflection of us and our mixed-up, violent world.
They come with new ideas of their own and a tough skin that doesn’t shrink from criticism.
Matter of fact, they are well prepared to take on all comers who would chide them for their addiction to their phones or social media.
They are as satisfied and as comfortable with becoming an electrician’s apprentice as they are pursuing college degrees.
Most of them look to the future with realistic goals in both the trades and academia, but are not afraid to dream, too.
Some of that can be attributed to the wide-ranging curricula and programs and the evolving use of high-tech teaching tools in our schools.
Today’s graduating class comes well schooled in responding to many challenges outside the classroom, as well.
We cannot help but be curious to see the mark this class leaves on our state, our nation and our world. But it won’t happen overnight. Much like finding your place among your peers, it takes time.
Our only advice to the Class of 2018 would be, do not think that you must agree with everyone or their beliefs to defend them from injustice, bigotry or hate.
Yours is the most connected generation ever in the world.
Use that to help bring us together and not divide us even further.