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I feel like the patterns are more or less the same but the cycles are getting shorter and more pronounced. I met the son of a family friend today, he's 13, alr

I feel like the patterns are more or less the same but the cycles are getting shorter and more pronounced. I met the son of a family friend today, he's 13, already has an opinion about the Israel/Palestine war and spent $500 in roblox so far, they're not wealthy at all. Back in my days I was stuck in the free to play parts of mmorpgs (or had to beg for months for a $5 monthly membership), playing tf2 (free) and had 0 political ideas or even knew people who cared about politics

onemoresoop 2y ago
$500 in Roblox? that's a lot of money for a 13 year old and that money could likely be spent elsewhere... As far as the opinion about Israel/Palestine it's likely that opinion is inherited from family or cohort and it's not fully their own.
- RajT88 2y ago
  I recall in grade school in the 80's lots of kids had opinions on Jews, Poles, black folks, gay folks, etc. Clearly, all acquired from relatives. Young people emulating the adults in their life is how it always has been.
  - deleted 2y ago
    [deleted]
  - voidfunc 2y ago
    Oh yea I was a big Republican when I was in high school because I went to a private school and all my friends were also Republicans (except the theater students). We were all Republicans because our parents were Republicans. Then I got several years in the workforce and realized I wanted nothing to do with the Republican party.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
guelo 2y ago
If you don't have decades of built up propaganda it's pretty easy to see that Israel is the bad guy. The condescending "it's complicated" line is part of the propaganda telling you that you're not allowed to come to the obvious conclusion for yourself. My 10 year has figured out that Russia is the bad guy in Ukraine and that Israel is the bad guy in Gaza.
- portaouflop 2y ago
  Must be nice if politics is just good and bad guys for you. It should give you some pause that a 10 yo has the same level of understanding of global politics.
  - speakfreely 2y ago
    Yes, it's pretty scary that anyone sees things so black and white and would encourage their children to do the same. These are multi-decade conflicts where no one has clean hands.
  - guelo 2y ago
    10 year olds can figure out that killing children for 14 months is evil . That everyone can't see that is the power of propaganda.
    - speakfreely 2y ago
      I suspect most parents would be prepared to risk the lives of strangers' children if it stopped their own from being killed.
      - blitzar 2y ago
        Some of you may die, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
    - wruza 2y ago
      People know it’s evil, they are just unwilling to point it out because driving the conflict into some resolution is already hard without these simplistic views which helped no one before and continue to do so. Kid’s naivety is just that, naivety. Put him into a rulers chair (either side), provide all the factual info with zero propaganda and see him trying to escape at all costs, because all decisions including doing nothing make people die or worse. At some point you just have to choose sides without much meaning attached to it.
hipadev23 2y ago
When I was 13 I had a paper route and mowed lawns, and with those earnings I spent about $75 per month on video games and comic books, easily exceeding $500 over a year.
- ghxst 2y ago
  This to me on a surface level this seems totally fine, however I can't help to feel conflicted when that money is being spent on some of the more "predatory" games like gachas, however I'm not sure if it's really too different from kids spending their money on pokemon cards either. Do you feel different about those or would you say it's the same thing?
  - hipadev23 2y ago
    There’s nothing to say it was predatory games. Roblox is a platform with a vast number of games from unaffiliated developers.
    - ghxst 2y ago
      Oh yeah I should have clarified my post wasn't necessarily aimed at Roblox but rather generally speaking.
    - rsanek 2y ago
      i mean they're pretty affiliated, they develop games that only work on their platform and get paid by Roblox directly.
      - hipadev23 2y ago
        The developers themselves are anyone who wants to make and publish games is my point, and unaffiliated with own another. And those developers are free to build and monetize games however they want. Just like other closed-ecosystem (e.g. iOS) game devs.
daseiner1 2y ago
It really is not beyond the reach of a motivated and curious 13 year old to have an informed opinion on (geo)politics.
- sangnoir 2y ago
  You don't gave to be particularly motivated to get predigested opinions from influencers. There's too damn many boys and young men echoing how the "Matrix" keeping them down
  - daseiner1 2y ago
    Sure, but that has little to do with age. To rephrase in terms of an older crowd, there’s too many damn 60+ year old men parroting what they hear on conservative AM talk radio. But there are, nevertheless, 60+ year old men with well informed and well considered opinions.
    - sangnoir 2y ago
      Yes. As you noted, the first[1] batch of mass-media "influencers" were AM Radio hosts, then came cable infotainment , and now vloggers. 1. Perhaps preceded by syndicated newspaper columnists, but there was an editorial filter for those.
Tade0 2y ago
It's normal for 13 year olds to have strong opinions on such topics - they have plenty of time to refine them or even change their mind. I would be more worried about those who by this age didn't develop any interest in geopolitics - it affects them all the same but they typically don't understand why and pick whatever source tells a more compelling story.
- hollerith 2y ago
  When I was 13 (in the US in the 1970s) none of my classmates or friends ever expressed any interest in geopolitics or international relations.
  - xxpor 2y ago
    No one had an opinion about Vietnam? I was 13 in 2003, plenty of people had an opinion about 9/11, civil liberties, and Iraq.
    - hollerith 2y ago
      I don't recall any opinions about Vietnam and would probably have remembered if someone had expressed an opinion to me. And the war or whatever we call the situation in Gaza would be something I'd want to shield my 13-year-old child from having any knowledge of if I were a parent -- for basically the same reason I'd want to shield them from learning about sadomasochistic sex as long as possible.
      - Tade0 2y ago
        I guess it's part of growing up when there's no longer any living memory of war on your soil. Anyway I need to ask the same question I always do in such conversations: what's the plan when this hypothetical child hits legal age and immediately receives the legal right to learn about all of this at once?
      - Sam713 2y ago
        Just curious, why would you want to shield them from reality? At 13 they’re only a few years from becoming a full fledged adult. Unsheltered life is coming at them fast. I don’t have children yet, so maybe my perspective would change if I did, but (while I would not intentionally expose them to harsher realities) I would never shield my kids. Instead, I would want them to be curious and ask questions while I still had a large influence in their lives, so that I could help guide them and give them tools and strategies to navigate a complex world. I experienced a fairly sheltered (religious/conservative) upbringing socially, but we had a subscription to US News & World report during the height of the GWOT which I read cover to cover. I understood geopolitics before I understood how to make friends. My transition to adult life was tough socially, but I at least had a decent understanding of how the world worked on a macro scale. If children are not sheltered socially, then they’re already encountering pretty much everything through their social circles. And with the internet, 10x+ that.

onemoresoop 2y ago

$500 in Roblox? that's a lot of money for a 13 year old and that money could likely be spent elsewhere... As far as the opinion about Israel/Palestine it's likely that opinion is inherited from family or cohort and it's not fully their own.

RajT88 2y ago
I recall in grade school in the 80's lots of kids had opinions on Jews, Poles, black folks, gay folks, etc. Clearly, all acquired from relatives. Young people emulating the adults in their life is how it always has been.
- deleted 2y ago
  [deleted]
- voidfunc 2y ago
  Oh yea I was a big Republican when I was in high school because I went to a private school and all my friends were also Republicans (except the theater students). We were all Republicans because our parents were Republicans. Then I got several years in the workforce and realized I wanted nothing to do with the Republican party.
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]

guelo 2y ago

If you don't have decades of built up propaganda it's pretty easy to see that Israel is the bad guy. The condescending "it's complicated" line is part of the propaganda telling you that you're not allowed to come to the obvious conclusion for yourself. My 10 year has figured out that Russia is the bad guy in Ukraine and that Israel is the bad guy in Gaza.

portaouflop 2y ago
Must be nice if politics is just good and bad guys for you. It should give you some pause that a 10 yo has the same level of understanding of global politics.
- speakfreely 2y ago
  Yes, it's pretty scary that anyone sees things so black and white and would encourage their children to do the same. These are multi-decade conflicts where no one has clean hands.
- guelo 2y ago
  10 year olds can figure out that killing children for 14 months is evil . That everyone can't see that is the power of propaganda.
  - speakfreely 2y ago
    I suspect most parents would be prepared to risk the lives of strangers' children if it stopped their own from being killed.
    - blitzar 2y ago
      Some of you may die, but it is a sacrifice I am willing to make.
  - wruza 2y ago
    People know it’s evil, they are just unwilling to point it out because driving the conflict into some resolution is already hard without these simplistic views which helped no one before and continue to do so. Kid’s naivety is just that, naivety. Put him into a rulers chair (either side), provide all the factual info with zero propaganda and see him trying to escape at all costs, because all decisions including doing nothing make people die or worse. At some point you just have to choose sides without much meaning attached to it.

hipadev23 2y ago

When I was 13 I had a paper route and mowed lawns, and with those earnings I spent about $75 per month on video games and comic books, easily exceeding $500 over a year.

ghxst 2y ago
This to me on a surface level this seems totally fine, however I can't help to feel conflicted when that money is being spent on some of the more "predatory" games like gachas, however I'm not sure if it's really too different from kids spending their money on pokemon cards either. Do you feel different about those or would you say it's the same thing?
- hipadev23 2y ago
  There’s nothing to say it was predatory games. Roblox is a platform with a vast number of games from unaffiliated developers.
  - ghxst 2y ago
    Oh yeah I should have clarified my post wasn't necessarily aimed at Roblox but rather generally speaking.
  - rsanek 2y ago
    i mean they're pretty affiliated, they develop games that only work on their platform and get paid by Roblox directly.
    - hipadev23 2y ago
      The developers themselves are anyone who wants to make and publish games is my point, and unaffiliated with own another. And those developers are free to build and monetize games however they want. Just like other closed-ecosystem (e.g. iOS) game devs.

daseiner1 2y ago

It really is not beyond the reach of a motivated and curious 13 year old to have an informed opinion on (geo)politics.

sangnoir 2y ago
You don't gave to be particularly motivated to get predigested opinions from influencers. There's too damn many boys and young men echoing how the "Matrix" keeping them down
- daseiner1 2y ago
  Sure, but that has little to do with age. To rephrase in terms of an older crowd, there’s too many damn 60+ year old men parroting what they hear on conservative AM talk radio. But there are, nevertheless, 60+ year old men with well informed and well considered opinions.
  - sangnoir 2y ago
    Yes. As you noted, the first[1] batch of mass-media "influencers" were AM Radio hosts, then came cable infotainment , and now vloggers. 1. Perhaps preceded by syndicated newspaper columnists, but there was an editorial filter for those.

Tade0 2y ago

It's normal for 13 year olds to have strong opinions on such topics - they have plenty of time to refine them or even change their mind. I would be more worried about those who by this age didn't develop any interest in geopolitics - it affects them all the same but they typically don't understand why and pick whatever source tells a more compelling story.

hollerith 2y ago
When I was 13 (in the US in the 1970s) none of my classmates or friends ever expressed any interest in geopolitics or international relations.
- xxpor 2y ago
  No one had an opinion about Vietnam? I was 13 in 2003, plenty of people had an opinion about 9/11, civil liberties, and Iraq.
  - hollerith 2y ago
    I don't recall any opinions about Vietnam and would probably have remembered if someone had expressed an opinion to me. And the war or whatever we call the situation in Gaza would be something I'd want to shield my 13-year-old child from having any knowledge of if I were a parent -- for basically the same reason I'd want to shield them from learning about sadomasochistic sex as long as possible.
    - Tade0 2y ago
      I guess it's part of growing up when there's no longer any living memory of war on your soil. Anyway I need to ask the same question I always do in such conversations: what's the plan when this hypothetical child hits legal age and immediately receives the legal right to learn about all of this at once?
    - Sam713 2y ago
      Just curious, why would you want to shield them from reality? At 13 they’re only a few years from becoming a full fledged adult. Unsheltered life is coming at them fast. I don’t have children yet, so maybe my perspective would change if I did, but (while I would not intentionally expose them to harsher realities) I would never shield my kids. Instead, I would want them to be curious and ask questions while I still had a large influence in their lives, so that I could help guide them and give them tools and strategies to navigate a complex world. I experienced a fairly sheltered (religious/conservative) upbringing socially, but we had a subscription to US News & World report during the height of the GWOT which I read cover to cover. I understood geopolitics before I understood how to make friends. My transition to adult life was tough socially, but I at least had a decent understanding of how the world worked on a macro scale. If children are not sheltered socially, then they’re already encountering pretty much everything through their social circles. And with the internet, 10x+ that.