4 ms·

The kids I know these days are fantastic. They’re empathetic, smart, polite, and all-around much better people than my friends and I were at their age. They’re

The kids I know these days are fantastic. They’re empathetic, smart, polite, and all-around much better people than my friends and I were at their age. They’re so good and they give me so much hope. But they’re also troubled. They struggle with anxiety and depression (and younger) more deeply than anyone I knew growing up. My theory is that we’ve simply handed them a more difficult world to grow up in. They’re handling it admirably, but we really did them dirty.

thebigman433 4y ago
I teach outdoor ed for a program where kids come for a week at a time, so I get to see thousands of kids per semester. I would very much agree with this statement. Overall, Ive experienced that today's youth is largely very empathetic and kind, much moreso than I was as a kid, but anxiety absolutely plagues them. A very notable exception to this is the rich/well off kids Ive been with. They very much do not show the same empathy as even the middle class type kids (or upper middle class) that I work with. There is definitely a massive divide there. The location of the school also has a significant impact on this too.
- granshaw 4y ago
  But I bet the wealthy kids have far less anxiety too?
  - dopeboy 4y ago
    I’d wager more. Heightened expectations and the resources to meet them = a lot of studying, extracurricular activities, etc.
  - thebigman433 4y ago
    This is mostly a mixed bag. Less kids with obvious outwards anxiety, but quite a few that share things that definitely lead you to believe they will have anxiety if they dont already. I would say generally the big differentiator is that the kids who are meaner/less empathetic are the ones with less anxiety, regardless of wealth status. Overall though, anxiety is definitely just a massive problem among youth.
hackerlight 4y ago
"They’re handling it admirably, but we really did them dirty." Because of social media?
harleypig 4y ago
I said something similar to my son a little while ago. He said "That's because you taught me to be polite to my elders. We're not that well behaved on our own." Despite what we may think about our children (or "the youth of today"), they are basically the same as they've always been, behaving well for adults--mainly I suspect to keep the adults attention away from them. I think that, as long as we keep the above in mind when we deal with the younger generation we'll be able to help to them rise above our mistakes.

thebigman433 4y ago

I teach outdoor ed for a program where kids come for a week at a time, so I get to see thousands of kids per semester. I would very much agree with this statement. Overall, Ive experienced that today's youth is largely very empathetic and kind, much moreso than I was as a kid, but anxiety absolutely plagues them. A very notable exception to this is the rich/well off kids Ive been with. They very much do not show the same empathy as even the middle class type kids (or upper middle class) that I work with. There is definitely a massive divide there. The location of the school also has a significant impact on this too.

granshaw 4y ago
But I bet the wealthy kids have far less anxiety too?
- dopeboy 4y ago
  I’d wager more. Heightened expectations and the resources to meet them = a lot of studying, extracurricular activities, etc.
- thebigman433 4y ago
  This is mostly a mixed bag. Less kids with obvious outwards anxiety, but quite a few that share things that definitely lead you to believe they will have anxiety if they dont already. I would say generally the big differentiator is that the kids who are meaner/less empathetic are the ones with less anxiety, regardless of wealth status. Overall though, anxiety is definitely just a massive problem among youth.

hackerlight 4y ago

"They’re handling it admirably, but we really did them dirty." Because of social media?

harleypig 4y ago

I said something similar to my son a little while ago. He said "That's because you taught me to be polite to my elders. We're not that well behaved on our own." Despite what we may think about our children (or "the youth of today"), they are basically the same as they've always been, behaving well for adults--mainly I suspect to keep the adults attention away from them. I think that, as long as we keep the above in mind when we deal with the younger generation we'll be able to help to them rise above our mistakes.