I'm happy I'm not young today

[Sensei]

I'm a senior high school teacher and I see how life is for teenagers today. People in all generations have their own problems of course, but the problems youths have to face today are different, in my opinion. Let's compare their situation with our situation when I was a teenager in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

There were of course lonely people and unfortunate people when I was young, just as today. However, it was less profound because lonely people didn't have to display their lack of friends in social media and unfortunate people didn't have to display their lack of success.

We had a somewhat more realistic view on how other people lived their lives. There really wasn't any medium for displaying a false picture of yourself, such as where you went on vacation, what a beautiful house you bought, which people you partied with last night, and what have you.

Consumption was not as important. We were of course aware of brands and status objects, but much less interested in them. If you for instance couldn't afford expensive brand clothes it wasn't such a big deal.

The world wasn't so commercialized. There were of course advertisements, but not everywhere as it is today. Non-commercial clubs and associations were more common and more active. Money wasn't always the main priority.

We were not bombarded with information and constantly staring into blue screens. Recent research suggests that this new trend is one of the reasons mental health conditions are on the rise. It simply can't be healthy in the long run.

We could trust our welfare system, at least in my country. Healthcare and dental care were free, you could go to college for a reasonable cost, and if you lost your job you could get help. Youths today can't trust the system to the same degree and they feel that their future is uncertain.

I believe culture was more precious back then. If you wanted to see a consert you had to be there; you couldn't watch it on YouTube. You couldn't stream movies, but had to wait for them to reach your local cinema. If you wanted a book you couldn't simply order it online; you had to cross your fingers the local library had it.

The world was still exciting and mysterious. If you for instance was interested in Japan, you couldn't simply read about it on Wikipedia or watch a video on YouTube. If you were lucky you could find a good book in the local library, and if you were really lucky they aired a documentary on TV.

 

[GoneGirl]

I was born in 1992 and I am so grateful to remember some of what it was like in the 90's before this technology & social media boom.

I don't really have a desire to have children but if I did I would be very worried about them growing up in the world we live in today. I would probably be even more worried about their future world (post covid, AI, etc.)

 

[Amumu]

Yes I agree on most things you've said here, especially "blue screens".
Now if you're not perfect physically and mentally you're screwed.

 

[Chupacabra 44]

Great insight, and as a high school teacher, you really have your finger on the pulse.

I'm grateful that I'm not young today. There is a reason why so many young people are on this forum.

 

[BitterlyAlive_]

We could trust our welfare system, at least in my country. Healthcare and dental care were free, you could go to college for a reasonable cost, and if you lost your job you could get help. Youths today can't trust the system to the same degree and they feel that their future is uncertain.

This alone is huge, as well as how easy it seemed to be to get a job, move up in the company, etc.

 

[Wraith]

Well said. Everything is becoming increasingly hyperreal, and it's so depressing.

 

[Bigpink]

I'm also glad I'm not going and have had my time doing the life thing.

 

[Kramer]

Liberals ruined the culture. Decadence isn’t something to exalt.

 

[Sensei]

Liberals ruined the culture. Decadence isn’t something to exalt.

Agreed, especially neo-liberals, including those who label themselves conservatives.

 

[Kramer]

Agreed, especially neo-liberals, including those who label themselves conservatives.

So everyone? Lol that doesn’t really narrow down the culprit.

 

[Sensei]

So everyone? Lol that doesn’t really narrow down the culprit.

No, mainly neo-liberals. You do know what that is, right?

 

[Kramer]

No, mainly neo-liberals. You do know what that is, right?

New liberals. So the new generations who make Biden look moderate.

 

[Sensei]

New liberals. So the new generations who make Biden look moderate.

No. If you don't know basic political theory maybe you should refrain from using political terms.

 

[Kramer]

No. If you don't know basic political theory maybe you should refrain from using political terms.

Neo means new. Are you referring to when the democrats in the south switched and became republicans, or the more recent era where liberals are on the march toward communism?

 

[Sensei]

Neo means new. Are you referring to when the democrats in the south switched and became republicans, or the more recent era where liberals are on the march toward communism?

I'm not going to educate you. You have to do that yourself.

 

[Kramer]

I'm not going to educate you. You have to do that yourself.

So you’re not really a teacher? Good to know.

 

[Sensei]

So you’re not really a teacher? Good to know.

Not in my spare time.

 

[Nymph]

So you’re not really a teacher? Good to know.

Lol, I feel like you just wanna start random fights or make ppl annoyed. For real

 

[foxdie]

I'm a senior high school teacher and I see how life is for teenagers today. People in all generations have their own problems of course, but the problems youths have to face today are different, in my opinion. Let's compare their situation with our situation when I was a teenager in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

There were of course lonely people and unfortunate people when I was young, just as today. However, it was less profound because lonely people didn't have to display their lack of friends in social media and unfortunate people didn't have to display their lack of success.

We had a somewhat more realistic view on how other people lived their lives. There really wasn't any medium for displaying a false picture of yourself, such as where you went on vacation, what a beautiful house you bought, which people you partied with last night, and what have you.

Consumption was not as important. We were of course aware of brands and status objects, but much less interested in them. If you for instance couldn't afford expensive brand clothes it wasn't such a big deal.

The world wasn't so commercialized. There were of course advertisements, but not everywhere as it is today. Non-commercial clubs and associations were more common and more active. Money wasn't always the main priority.

We were not bombarded with information and constantly staring into blue screens. Recent research suggests that this new trend is one of the reasons mental health conditions are on the rise. It simply can't be healthy in the long run.

We could trust our welfare system, at least in my country. Healthcare and dental care were free, you could go to college for a reasonable cost, and if you lost your job you could get help. Youths today can't trust the system to the same degree and they feel that their future is uncertain.

I believe culture was more precious back then. If you wanted to see a consert you had to be there; you couldn't watch it on YouTube. You couldn't stream movies, but had to wait for them to reach your local cinema. If you wanted a book you couldn't simply order it online; you had to cross your fingers the local library had it.

The world was still exciting and mysterious. If you for instance was interested in Japan, you couldn't simply read about it on Wikipedia or watch a video on YouTube. If you were lucky you could find a good book in the local library, and if you were really lucky they aired a documentary on TV.

Well said. I agree with this. Having grown up before the internet was very prominent and seeing how it is now, I often think I'm more depressed and disillusioned because of it. Life just feels so much more complicated now and not for the better. The first popular smart phone only came out in like 2007 and it has radically redefined everyone's lives. It's weird to think back to the pre-Facebook, pre-iPhone age.

 

[death137]

This is a great post. I was born in 1997 and until 2015 I wasn’t into social media. But the moment I started using social media my life become from bad to worse. I wish I wasn’t born but if I must then I wish I grow up in a time before social media. Its even a miracle that I stayed away from social media until age 18 because many little kids nowadays have smartphones and access to Internet and those things are spreading mental illness and suicide among them.

But life is hell no matter what.

 

[Dr Iron Arc]

I agree with most of this because I’m just old enough to barely remember what life was like before all these modern conveniences. Unfortunately sometimes I also wish I was younger so that I’d be completely accustomed to these changes because then maybe I’d be more adept with computers and stuff.

 

[Green Destiny]

Being born in the 90's I too realize the stark contrast from the late 90's and early 2000's to the 2010's and now 2020. I can't remember every last detail but media is obviously different. It was only tv's, cinema's and a lesser extent of basic internet before you could carry a tiny computer in your pocket everywhere you go. The economic disparity is the most glaring. My dad told me when he was my age getting his own house was very affordable with his simple paying job. Now you're lucky to get a one bedroom shoebox apartment despite working 40 plus hours a week not including food and other necessities. To put it simply, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, Capitalism only works for the guys at the top, not the people who have died from Covid because their jobs are a "Necessity Job" like Grocery workers and Fast Food employees. The world for all it's technological marvels is also a very cruel greedy place. But hey we'll put all the important people on a rocket and send them to mars so they can keep the cycle going. Christ how do I keep living with this life...

 

[TAW122]

As someone who is born in the early 90's, I'd have to say there are good aspects of the early 90's and shitty aspects too. To start off, the convenience of information like you said is true; it's not as convenient back then as it is in the late 2000's or even early 2010. Then also, speaking of schools, there was the introduction of zero tolerance policies which really sucked as it treated all misbehaviors as suspendable offences. I'm glad I wasn't in high school by the time zero tolerance policies really went full force (especially after the Virginia Tech shooting in 2007). I just can't imagine being a student in that time and going through the horrors of bullies, zero tolerance, and the hypersensitivity of the climate anything could set off red flags and be treated like some 'criminal'. In the early 90's it wasn't like that as much, and the climate is much cooler and more laid back, I truly do miss those times.

There is so much more I could say but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[NeverGoodEnuff]

Ummm...born...1951. When the bad kids at school smoked cigarettes with a pack rolled up in their sleeves, and the really bad ones carried a knife. There were no gun laws and nobody carried guns. A fight got you expelled. The principal carried a paddle and used it. Dress codes you wouldn't believe.

Leave It To Beaver, Andy Griffith, The Three Stooges, Dragnet.

My kids grew up on The Muppets and Mr Rogers. Personal computers came out when my eldest started college.

People had manners and used them. Neighbors trusted and helped each other. I never even heard the eff word until I graduated high school.

I long for those days, as I sit here typing on this tiny screen on my smart phone.

I don't fit anymore.

Ok, so more real...women could not own property without a man as co-owner. Domestic violence? Deal with it. Rape? Don't tell, it was the woman's fault. Divorcees were considered hos (in today's vernacular). Jobs for women were very low paid. NObody "came out". People of color lived on the other side of the tracks, with "their own kind", rode in the back of the bus, had backdoor entrances to movie theaters, were banned from restaurants and other "nice" places, and attended separate schools (read "inferior"). In high school, I remember giving speeches in class begging for equality for all.

Oh! Yes! Duck and cover, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Wanna talk Viet Nam? No, me neither.

Is it any better today? Or is it just different?

 

[GoneGoneGone]

Ok, so more real...women could not own property without a man as co-owner

This is very interesting, thank you for sharing.

 

[Mentalmick]

Compared to when I grew up school is like something out of Futurama.

 

[Sensei]

Ummm...born...1951. When the bad kids at school smoked cigarettes with a pack rolled up in their sleeves, and the really bad ones carried a knife. There were no gun laws and nobody carried guns. A fight got you expelled. The principal carried a paddle and used it. Dress codes you wouldn't believe.

Leave It To Beaver, Andy Griffith, The Three Stooges, Dragnet.

My kids grew up on The Muppets and Mr Rogers. Personal computers came out when my eldest started college.

People had manners and used them. Neighbors trusted and helped each other. I never even heard the eff word until I graduated high school.

I long for those days, as I sit here typing on this tiny screen on my smart phone.

I don't fit anymore.

Ok, so more real...women could not own property without a man as co-owner. Domestic violence? Deal with it. Rape? Don't tell, it was the woman's fault. Divorcees were considered hos (in today's vernacular). Jobs for women were very low paid. NObody "came out". People of color lived on the other side of the tracks, with "their own kind", rode in the back of the bus, had backdoor entrances to movie theaters, were banned from restaurants and other "nice" places, and attended separate schools (read "inferior"). In high school, I remember giving speeches in class begging for equality for all.

Oh! Yes! Duck and cover, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Wanna talk Viet Nam? No, me neither.

Is it any better today? Or is it just different?

I'm happy I wasn't young in the 1960s either.

 

[Lost in a Dream]

Is it any better today? Or is it just different?

It's just different, I think. All generations obviously have their problems. Your generation had gender and racial inequality that was socially acceptable, as well as the missile crisis you mentioned and the war in Viet Nam. My generation saw mass shootings, 9/11, the "war on terror", and Meth heads. I don't think either of us could say which generation is better, just the different ways that they were terrible.

It would be great if the good things that existed in your generation could coexist with the good things that exist now, without having any of the bad things from either of our generations, but we will probably never see anything like that. It's really sad that every time one or two things get better, the things that were already good get ruined and several new problems that never existed before come into existence.

 

[BitterlyAlive_]

Ummm...born...1951. When the bad kids at school smoked cigarettes with a pack rolled up in their sleeves, and the really bad ones carried a knife. There were no gun laws and nobody carried guns. A fight got you expelled. The principal carried a paddle and used it. Dress codes you wouldn't believe.

Leave It To Beaver, Andy Griffith, The Three Stooges, Dragnet.

My kids grew up on The Muppets and Mr Rogers. Personal computers came out when my eldest started college.

People had manners and used them. Neighbors trusted and helped each other. I never even heard the eff word until I graduated high school.

I long for those days, as I sit here typing on this tiny screen on my smart phone.

I don't fit anymore.

Ok, so more real...women could not own property without a man as co-owner. Domestic violence? Deal with it. Rape? Don't tell, it was the woman's fault. Divorcees were considered hos (in today's vernacular). Jobs for women were very low paid. NObody "came out". People of color lived on the other side of the tracks, with "their own kind", rode in the back of the bus, had backdoor entrances to movie theaters, were banned from restaurants and other "nice" places, and attended separate schools (read "inferior"). In high school, I remember giving speeches in class begging for equality for all.

Oh! Yes! Duck and cover, the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Wanna talk Viet Nam? No, me neither.

Is it any better today? Or is it just different?

Ooh, a thoughtful and poignant post. Very good question at the end. Also, a heart for Mr. Rogers...

 

[SuicidallyCurious]

I'm a senior high school teacher and I see how life is for teenagers today. People in all generations have their own problems of course, but the problems youths have to face today are different, in my opinion. Let's compare their situation with our situation when I was a teenager in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

There were of course lonely people and unfortunate people when I was young, just as today. However, it was less profound because lonely people didn't have to display their lack of friends in social media and unfortunate people didn't have to display their lack of success.

We had a somewhat more realistic view on how other people lived their lives. There really wasn't any medium for displaying a false picture of yourself, such as where you went on vacation, what a beautiful house you bought, which people you partied with last night, and what have you.

Consumption was not as important. We were of course aware of brands and status objects, but much less interested in them. If you for instance couldn't afford expensive brand clothes it wasn't such a big deal.

The world wasn't so commercialized. There were of course advertisements, but not everywhere as it is today. Non-commercial clubs and associations were more common and more active. Money wasn't always the main priority.

We were not bombarded with information and constantly staring into blue screens. Recent research suggests that this new trend is one of the reasons mental health conditions are on the rise. It simply can't be healthy in the long run.

We could trust our welfare system, at least in my country. Healthcare and dental care were free, you could go to college for a reasonable cost, and if you lost your job you could get help. Youths today can't trust the system to the same degree and they feel that their future is uncertain.

I believe culture was more precious back then. If you wanted to see a consert you had to be there; you couldn't watch it on YouTube. You couldn't stream movies, but had to wait for them to reach your local cinema. If you wanted a book you couldn't simply order it online; you had to cross your fingers the local library had it.

The world was still exciting and mysterious. If you for instance was interested in Japan, you couldn't simply read about it on Wikipedia or watch a video on YouTube. If you were lucky you could find a good book in the local library, and if you were really lucky they aired a documentary on TV.

Yes you have a very good take on things. I think the children who grew up in the internet era but in the pre Youtube/Social media times had it the best. In the 90s the internet was mostly webforums/discussion boards like this as the bandwidth available could never accommodate something like youtube, FB, etc.

In the 90s the internet/world was just open enough that they could get online and anonymously discuss/share ideas but the materialistic element and the "always online" culture brought in by having access to the smartphone was not present.

Look at what a mess social media has wrought with the mental health statistics as you stated and also the fact its amplifying a lot of arguments online. In a casual anonymous webforum people may become angry but they use anonymous user handles and the dramas cannot carry over easily into the IRL.