What's wrong with the newer generations?

[shin]

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Even if you weren't born in the "land of opportunity", you might have noticed a slight decline on certain generational attributes that can come across as being unsettling to aggravating.



Everything happens for a reason, after all... and if the problem is with kids and the way they act, might as well chalk it up to bad parenting, right?



We come from broken generations of baby boomers to draft dodgers to not being able to pay attention to not being able to sit still when it's necessary to add you own personal diagnosis to the mix. It always manifests in something conceivably worse down the line.



If we were to focus on what could be corrected by a different brand of parenting, the more common complaints centered around millennials have often been blamed on helicopter parenting, which is what they call parents who take an overly involved role in the world of their children and as a result of which can lead to a lack of personal development among them. It would make sense that those of us who were left to our own devices learned a lot from our mistakes, and conversely children of helicopter parents might grow too accustomed to having a parent hovering nearby every turn of the rocky road that is childhood. Try to imagine how this would affect confrontations with bullies, neglecting to do things on a timely basis, and emotional conflicts with sexuality, personal image, and the importance of general independence from the womb.



As a direct contrast, we can correlate a part of yesteryear that might even be more familiar... the concept of growing up as a latchkey kid. Imagine both parents are constantly at work during the day until late evening all week. A latchkey kid would have to grow responsible for themselves at an earlier age than puberty sometimes. There are a lot of things that can go wrong with being your own disciplinarian, and let's face it... the world isn't becoming a much safer place... or is that just a point of view adapted by a world weary attitude brought on by too many blocked goals?



Fast forward to adulthood: the latchkey kid might develop disorders based on not working well with others as could the helicoptered child, but in this day and age there are many more critical of the ill results that can be generated from being a helicopter parent. Some of the popular issues are instilling selfish ideals into them and a lopsided reward/merit system (loosely dubbed the "no child left behind system") that is too often represented by competitions in which every child receives a trophy for participation. Do you think this is a great idea?



I think some of us latchkey kids are having flashbacks reading that to our sappy cartoons and sit-coms that tried extra hard to instill Christian morals into us (not that it's a bad thing), much to the dismay of a strong contrast with reality that might not make them applicable. Well, if your cartoons tell you that all bullies want is attention, and they for some reason don't stop beating you up for your lunch money, or that Jesus is going to reward you for ratting out your friends when they do something wrong... maybe the rule book might need a new revision.



So, before I lose sight of the title... Have you ever thought there were some widespread problems among people from a collective generation after or even including your own? How would you think things could have happened differently if they were addressed sooner?



...or if that doesn't interest you, you could always just post funny pictures of millennial humor. I like this one.



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[Anonymous]

Latchkey kids are not uncommon in Taiwan..



My own opinion is that many young people would rather snapchat or text than talk..



They have lost the ability or desire to communicate face to face or even on the phone.

[RW]

Generations change and that's the reality of life.  Every generation bitches about the previous ones.  I think the new kids have to pave the way for a new world.

[RW]

http://onewomansdiscernment.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/cosbymeme.jpg">

At least they aren't buying ruffies, eh Bill?

[Anonymous]

Generations change and that's the reality of life.  Every generation bitches about the previous ones.  I think the new kids have to pave the way for a new world.

That's true RW..



I hope talking to each other will not become a thing of the past though.

[Renee]

Latchkey kids are not uncommon in Taiwan..



My own opinion is that many young people would rather snapchat or text than talk..



They have lost the ability or desire to communicate face to face or even on the phone.

Exactly, the thought of personal face to face communication panics them. What you are left with is mumbling, stuttering, shoe gazers.



I see it in work among the 20 somethings and I see it among my daughters's teenage friends. Not all of them mind you but enough of a percentage to make it troubling.



Don't even get me started on their written English. Sentence structure and punctuation are almost nonexistent. Consequently a coherent message is.....

 up for grabs.

[Anonymous]

Latchkey kids are not uncommon in Taiwan..



My own opinion is that many young people would rather snapchat or text than talk..



They have lost the ability or desire to communicate face to face or even on the phone.

Exactly, the thought of personal face to face communication panics them. What you are left with is mumbling, stuttering, shoe gazers.



I see it in work among the 20 somethings and I see among my daughters's teenage friends. Not all of them mind you but enough of a percentage to make it troubling.



Don't even get me started on their written English. Sentence structure and punctuation are almost nonexistent. Consequently a coherent message is.....

 up for grabs.

My own son and his friends too.

[Bricktop]

I'm constantly on my daughters case when she is engrossed in her phone.



She can't separate herself from it.

[Anonymous]

I'm constantly on my daughters case when she is engrossed in her phone.



She can't separate herself from it.

Face Time, Facebook, texting, what does she do?

[Bricktop]

ALL of them. She has friends all over the planet, and is chatting constantly.



It pisses me off. Even though she's banging on 30's door, I STILL get on her case about it.

[Anonymous]

ALL of them. She has friends all over the planet, and is chatting constantly.



It pisses me off. Even though she's banging on 30's door, I STILL get on her case about it.

I can relate to that. My son is 25 and has friends all over the place.

[Bricktop]

Do you occasionally feel the urge to hurl his phone into the pool...or bucket...??

[Anonymous]

Do you occasionally feel the urge to hurl his phone into the pool...or bucket...??

No pool here. The manure pile works for me.

[Bricktop]

Wow...I wish I had a manure pile...

[Anonymous]

Wow...I wish I had a manure pile...

I will trade you a manure pile for your pool?