Health & Fitness
YOLO (You Only Live Once), Excuse for Stupid & Dangerous Behavior
You will almost never hear anyone say "Volunteered at the local Soup kitchen today - YOLO.'
YOLO, an acronym standing for, "You Only Live Once" a term reestablished from a hit rap song, "The Motto," by Canadian rapper, Drake, has caused quite an uproar of stupidity amongst teenagers starting in late 2011.
When people say YOLO, it's usually because they're about to do something really stupid. You see, in past generations (so I've heard), the saying that you only live once was used in a far more innocent sense when considering things like whether or not to take another dip in the pool.
Completely different from how commonly nowadays, you'll hear teens say something like, "Got so wasted last night and still somehow got home - YOLO!".
The problem is that YOLO makes it seem more socially acceptable to do extremely foolish things and make bad decisions in general. Teenagers already have to deal with the issue of peer pressure. And basically, when everyone around you is screaming YOLO, it compounds the peer pressure and makes it more okay to submit.
I am almost positive that was not the original purpose of the song but, sadly, that's how thousands if not millions of teens have interpreted it, taking it as the prime opportunity to give in to the inappropriate demands of their peers.
I've witnessed, firsthand, how the term YOLO can so easily make an average teen buckle. And honestly, YOLO can make it a lot more difficult for that same average teen to make smart decisions on their own from there on out (because the mindset is that their actions shouldn't matter since You Only Live Once.)
The reason this is such a prevalent issue now, is because summer is coming to an end and the way that the teenage mind is working now more than ever is that they want to have as much "fun" as they can squeeze in before they have to get "focused" for school. And that's especially where YOLO comes into play.
It'd be a different story if YOLO wasn't being used solely as an excuse for blatant stupidity and highly regrettable actions. If people actually used YOLO to better themselves or those around them then I would give them definitely credit but; I have yet to hear it used in a positive sense.
