Are We Raising a Generation of Helpless Kids?

[Mary Ann]

I'm 46 and I have trouble with mental math, always have had, always will have because I can't visualise abstract things in my head. Younger people are used to having calculators on hand all the time, yes, but bear in mind that some people struggle with these tasks regardless of how they learned to do math. My kids can all do mental math easily (the youngest, who's on the autistic spectrum, is scarily good at it), and a lot of other kids I've worked with can do it as well, though they can be rusty with lack of practice, which can be an issue. I don't normally need a calculator but I do need to write equations down so I can see what I'm figuring out. Thankfully that was mostly what I needed to do at school and not so much mental math off the top of my head.

KimMH, you speak wise words. The future is theirs, and they will make the best of it that they can. It boggles my mind that this current young generation is so disrespected. Of course there are a few bad apples, but every generation has had coddled, overprotected kids who never mature and egotistical idiots and the like. This new generation is full of good, intelligent, altruistic people who will make the best they can of the world they live in for themselves and everyone else. They're not lacking sense or self-drive or creativity any more than previous generations.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Kids today, eh? Bloody kids today. Anyone would think they lived in today's world where different skill sets are important and more frequently used.

 

[Mary Ann]

 

[Squiggy]

As for the titular question, no.

This.

Every generation thinks the following generation is weak and helpless...what with their jazz music and flapper dresses.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

As for the titular question, no.

This.

Every generation thinks the following generation is weak and helpless...what with their jazz music and flapper dresses.

Those danged flapper dresses! Makin' our young women look like hussies!

Honestly, I feel this cycle is getting old. Older generations tend to overlook the fact younger generations will live in a much different world than the current one by the time they're the age of said older generation. As such, the skills the younger folks are building almost always look pointless to the people currently running things.

It's also so very easy to place blame and shove ownership of all the things wrong with the world onto the younger generation because, if the younger folks start to defend themselves, they always come off looking entitled, ungrateful, and disrespectful, thus proving the older generation's gripe about them.

In that, it's a no win situation.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

Today's kids [...] need skills we never dreamed of requiring.

indeed. The skill of walking in baggy pants without tripping comes to mind

(No offense meant. I just coudn't resist to make fun of this horrible fashion)

 

[Bob The Skutter]

Because fashions at any other time can't be criticised at all.

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

Because fashions at any other time can't be criticised at all.

I, for one, thought those bustles were a great idea! Oh, and what about when we started wearing more than one polo shirt at a time so we could pop the collars? Shoulder pads? Those were great, and how about when the young kids used to literally iron their hair straight?

Every generation has something they do that they look back on later and facepalm about. That doesn't make them bad people, however.

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I never said it makes them bad people. I only implied they have bad taste.

I overheard some male teenagers a while ago who actually thought these pants made them look sexy (much to the amusement of their female peers that overheard them, I might add). Delusion is definitely too mild a word for this belief.

If a guy has straight long legs and a firm butt we find that attractive and we like to see both. Why do you think buckskin breeches were so popular in Regency England, or Jeans have been for the last 100 years all over the world? Why do the males of all indigenous peoples either wear no pants at all or tight leggings / trousers? If you have a firm bottom and lovely thighs, flaunt them, guys! We appreciate the view! (but we don't want to see your undies!)

Honestly, ladies and gay gentlemen: who'd you rather date?
One of these?
http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

(no hotlinking unless the image source allows it --like the wiki photo below--, please. Upload it to an image host like Photobucket or Imgur)

or one of these?

 

[mimic]

I teach 11th grade chemistry. I have some fantastic students, some mediocre ones, and some smart-but-lazy, some who try but just don't have the natural ability, etc. I imagine this mix has existed for most generations.

That said, I do think that IN GENERAL students have been trained that if they don't know the answer they can just sit around and wait for someone to tell them. Whenever I give a task that requires some critical thinking, the vast majority immediately shut down without even trying to figure it out. Whenever I grade the critical thinking questions on my labs it becomes obvious that most did a cursory job, not really thinking about the questions at all. But, most of their teachers spoonfeed them answers and grade for completion, so is the minimal effort surprising?

I blame standardized tests. We need to ditch them.

 

[Mary Ann]

I never said it makes them bad people. I only implied they have bad taste.

By whose standards?

 

[MacLeod]

Don't we go through this with every generation?

 

[Adm_Hawthorne]

I never said it makes them bad people. I only implied they have bad taste.

By whose standards?

Better yet, does having 'bad taste' in choices of clothing indicate the person has 'bad taste' in anything and/or everything else? No, of course it doesn't.

The judgmental stance of mocking how the younger generation dresses as a way to belittle them is an old hat trick. Show how ridiculous they're being because of their clothing choices, and you can show how they're immature and not worthy of taking over as the next in line.

The problem is that they will, whether anyone likes it or not. Eventually, that young adult - the Millennial, the Y Gen, the X Gen, ect. - is going to grow up and take over no matter how ridiculous the previous generation wants to paint them to be to prove how inferior the younger generation is.

Fads come and go. That's why they're fads. Eventually, most people grow out of the fads that are questionable. Following a clothing trend should not determine the worth of an up and coming generation.

 

[LordMudd]

http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

(edited to turn hotlinked photo to a url)

This actually began in prison with gay men advertising their availability to other gay men. Just tell them to save their gay pride for the appropriate time and place.

CCC.

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

Of course it's futile to continuously mock the younger generation for the way they dress and stuff like that. I might argue that it's also futile in reverse - to mock the older generation for being stodgy and stuffy (stuff like "Don't trust anyone over 30", "If it's too loud, you're too old").

If the former doesn't make sense, then neither does the latter. Both are equally silly.

 

[LordMudd]

My wife told me the story of her mother taking our niece to work in the law office she worked at when the girl was about 6. The computer went down, so mom got out the electric typewriter. The girl ask what it was and mom explained it was what they used before computer. She watched the girl silently mouth "Before computers?"

CCC.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

I never said it makes them bad people. I only implied they have bad taste.

I overheard some male teenagers a while ago who actually thought these pants made them look sexy (much to the amusement of their female peers that overheard them, I might add). Delusion is definitely too mild a word for this belief.

If a guy has straight long legs and a firm butt we find that attractive and we like to see both. Why do you think buckskin breeches were so popular in Regency England, or Jeans have been for the last 100 years all over the world? Why do the males of all indigenous peoples either wear no pants at all or tight leggings / trousers? If you have a firm bottom and lovely thighs, flaunt them, guys! We appreciate the view! (but we don't want to see your undies!)

Honestly, ladies and gay gentlemen: who'd you rather date?
One of these?

or one of these?

You understand that you are not the target audience, right? You might not appreciate the sagging pants look, but maybe for (some) kids growing up in that generation who see it more frequently it's considered commonplace and attractive? Not everyone, because people have different tastes even among a generation, but some. Just as most younger people don't appreciate mom jeans and high-wasted pants, because it's not in style now.

Hell, when my mom liked the Beatles as a child when they first came to America, my grandparents thought they were corrupting the youth with their long hair and crazy rock and roll music. I'm talking vanilla Ed Sullivan-era Beatles here. And now, it's considered completely mundane. Paul Ryan, the poster boy for conservative values, talked about how much he loved AC/DC (?-or someone similar) on stage at the Republican National Convention during the 2012 election. That would have gotten you run out of the building for listening to devil music in previous generations.

Tastes change. Judging everything by the standards and preferences of your generation as if it's the default is shortsighted. Think back to your youth and I can almost guarantee there was a time you rebelled against such judgments coming from your elders, yet to a fault so many of us turn around and do the same damn thing when we get older, with no self-awareness about it at all.

 

[Locutus of Bored]

Of course it's futile to continuously mock the younger generation for the way they dress and stuff like that. I might argue that it's also futile in reverse - to mock the older generation for being stodgy and stuffy (stuff like "Don't trust anyone over 30", "If it's too loud, you're too old").

If the former doesn't make sense, then neither does the latter. Both are equally silly.

And where is that occurring here that you felt the need to make that point? When we have frequent articles and threads mocking the older generations for their laziness, recklessness, bad taste, poor behavior, and stupidity, then your false equivalency might have relevance, but the criticism is traditionally predominantly in the other direction.

http://rollingout.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/sagging-pants-e1300457430474.jpg

(edited to turn hotlinked photo to a url)

This actually began in prison with gay men advertising their availability to other gay men. Just tell them to save their gay pride for the appropriate time and place.

Likewise, save this kind of intolerant commentary for the appropriate time and place, which is not here. It shouldn't be anywhere, but alas...

My wife told me the story of her mother taking our niece to work in the law office she worked at when the girl was about 6. The computer went down, so mom got out the electric typewriter. The girl ask what it was and mom explained it was what they used before computer. She watched the girl silently mouth "Before computers?"

Wow, what an idiot, growing up in a world where computers are ubiquitous. Your vast intellect is clearly superior to a six-year-old. Congratulations on that crowning achievement.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

There is no bad taste in fashions, there are just different tastes.

 

[Catarina]

There is no bad taste in fashions, there are just different tastes.

I like this statement. My three year old has an eye for apparel already. She's putting colors/patterns together I wouldn't because of my own programming and I gotta say it is working for her! She's so delighted I don't get too hung up over the ending look and she gets compliments from people at the store. Let people be creative :-)