If you haven’t heard already, the 2010 decade has come to a close. For many of us, this decade was taking place during the majority of our childhood and contains the majority of our memories. This next decade will hold many important events for today’s high school students such as graduating high school, graduating from college and even getting married and having kids. Let’s take a look at all the things that shaped this decade for worse and for better.

Technology is everywhere- In 2010 the first Ipad was released and since then, technology has evolved that phones without home buttons and headphones without the wires exist now. We also have things like Amazon Alexa, and Google Echo who can do a variety of tasks for us simply by hearing our voices. Over the past decade, technology has evolved so much that it helps us greatly every day for many tasks.

Social Media has taken over- From the founding of Instagram in 2010 to Snapchat being founded in 2011, these apps have changed the way people communicate every day. Another app that almost everyone is addicted to is Tik Tok. Although social media is addicting, in the past decade we have seen some of the negative effects it can have, such as cyberbullying and the spread of false information.

Selfies boomed- This decade will be known for selfies thanks to the Kardashian family.

Social media influencer became a profession- Vloggers earned millions of dollars by recording their life, bloggers earned money through posting their thoughts and stories, and even Instagrammers earned money from promoting products. Social media influence has grown so significantly that people are social media influencers for their full-time job and many of us have spent a significant amount of time on Youtube watching videos of vloggers, gamers or anything else.

Technology use has led to possible privacy losses- Google Home’s, Amazon Alexa’s and the many other devices similar to that have been shown listen to conversations happening in spaces they are in. With ring doorbell cameras, it has also shown that hackers can hack into the camera and watch and listen to what’s happening.

Mass shootings have seem to become normalized- Seemingly almost every part of the United States has been devastated by a mass shooting. In the past decade, school shooting incidents have increased and seem to have become more fatal, from 28 deaths at Sandy Hook in 2012 to 17 deaths in Stoneman Douglas Highschool in 2018. Sadly, because mass shootings are so prevalent, they seem to have become normalized in our society.

Climate change has taken the stage- Climate change is causing our Earth to become hotter, making ice caps melt and animals die. Reefs are dying, and the air is becoming more polluted. We only have a few years left until the damage is irreversible. Activists, especially youth, have strongly voiced these issues and their concerns in the past years. Youth climate strikes and activists like Greta Thunberg have made headlines in the fight for climate change action.

People shared their stories to create lasting change- in 2015, the Obergefell v. Hodges case legalized gay marriage nationwide and the #Metoo movement shared the stories of sexual abuse survivors to create lasting impacts and change in our society.