> I also have trouble understanding this response people have to feel like any discussion of generational trends is somehow an insult to themselves and their ge

> I also have trouble understanding this response people have to feel like any discussion of generational trends is somehow an insult to themselves and their generation. [...] why does everyone get so defensive about those as though they're being blamed for something? It gets attributed to a lot of things (Narcissism, autism, etc.) but one thing I've personally noticed is how passive-aggressive younger generations have become with their bullying of each other. We overpoliced physical bullying to the point where you can't shove someone around without getting caught on camera from six different angles, so it's become an artform to cut others down with underhanded insults that aren't actionable when reported to [school or parental] authorities. "Crybullying" is now a thing, where you say something provocative to someone else, then run to the principal insisting you're the one being bullied when they come after you. All passive forms of aggression, and mostly undetectable. How else do we have fewer kids getting beaten up at school, mandatory accept-everyone policies and everything-pride assemblies, yet so many more kids are now claiming mental health issues? After zero-tolerance-for-violence policies, we now have more school shootings? We're not even being lazy and blaming Grand Theft Auto and Marilyn Manson-- they're no longer a common denominator; the latter stopped being relevant decades ago. We're starting to attribute it to the internet by handwaving at social media (because we really nailed one-attribution-fits-all after Columbine) but I submit there's something else going on in schools that we're not doing a good enough job exploring. Take crybullying-- there's no internet, no social media, no technology involved at all. It wasn't a thing when I was in school; the worst I had to deal with was getting shoved into lockers. We never corrected the bullying situation, just forced its evolution. So I am not at all surprised younger generations are hypersensitive to any form of criticism. There are a lot of Narcissists among them thanks to the Age of the Influencer, but the rest of the demographic seems to have lost the ability to tell the difference between objective observations and veiled criticism because, like Theon Greyjoy at the hands of Ramsay Bolton, they can't be certain what's a carrot, what's a stick, who's being passive-aggressive, and who's being earnest. Internet shenanigans haven't helped, but it's not the cause.