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Awww...c'mon now, our parents said that about us; their parents said that about them and I'm sure our kids will say the same thing about the next generation.
Which makes me think, if this generation is labeled gen x, what are we going to call the next generation?
Technically, the Gen X's were born between 1965 and 1980, so most of them *should* be out of the teenage realm (of course there are those that never quite grow up), and some are actually parents of the current crop of teens. I have no idea if this generation even has a catchy "term".. I think I am out of the loop.
But I totally agree about this being a constant complaint for at least the past 100 years. The older generation will always fault the younger one for not having to work as hard as they did when they were young and the labels will fly accordingly.
I have worked since I was 13 and odd babysitting jobs before then. At only being 33 years old I should be able to retire soon????????? My parents didn't have the $$$ to buy me all the name brand clothes and cool stuff because there is 4 in my family. Once I had my own money, I was more frugal and made sure I got my money's worth. I also had a $350 beater car too. I drive an '05 but there are still kiddies out there who have nicer cell phones then I do and nicer cars because mommy and daddy bought them. What's the point? What does a person have to look forward to when they do get to buy their first new car. After 10 years I'm still waiting for a diamond ring upgrade from my hubby but you know, I don't need the material things, I have my health, my home, and my family and friends. Especially in this time of economic crisis, we need to teach our children that no money doesn't grow on trees. I have clients loosing hundreds of thousands on the stock market these days, and we'll just say I'm grateful. Hopefully, Americans will be revived and ready to rethink our overendulgent lives when the government dust settles.
i worked all thru high school,,,long hours in the summer, and during the school yr, tried to juggle sports, homework, chores and working...
it seemed high school flew right by,,,and i missed out on many events, because of work,,,you are only young once... if i had to do it over again,,,i woud had lessened the load so i could be a kid,,,have a bit more fun,,,
the work ethic was good for me, i knew the value of a dollar early in life, and how to be frugal.
with my teenage son, he has worked both summers in high school.....but during the school yr, not pushing him to work ,,,he is in sports, and taking the tough courses,,,id rather have him, focus on good grades, maybe he will get some scholarships...
i use to hire/fire many teenagers thru the yrs,,i use to get soooo frustrated, because of lack of work ethic, grit, and how mouthy they were, however, once in a while, a good kid would come along, with a good work ethic, i found that usually, these good kids, had good role models as parents.
tho i dont hire/fire as much, i do notice some trends in teens,,,disrespect, common sense manners, and ,,i cant help but laugh and shake my head when a kid comes in with 38 earrings all over thier face.
Technically, the Gen X's were born between 1965 and 1980, so most of them *should* be out of the teenage realm (of course there are those that never quite grow up), and some are actually parents of the current crop of teens. I have no idea if this generation even has a catchy "term".. I think I am out of the loop.
But I totally agree about this being a constant complaint for at least the past 100 years. The older generation will always fault the younger one for not having to work as hard as they did when they were young and the labels will fly accordingly.
They are the "Generation Y." They start in 1981, or so. Some of the older ones are the brave combat troops, serving with honor and sacrificing all, overseas. The HBO miniseries, Generation Kill, is a pretty cool take on these young men.
There are a lot of Gen Xers who are successful innovators and business types. A huge chunk of their population are currently living in their parent's house, with no idea how to get out on their own. They became giants of the tech industry, building monumental workplaces, complete with daycare, climbing walls and skateboard tubes. They were fed 24 hour doses of MTV and vulgar radio.
Some generations overlap. I consider Obama to be a Gen Xer.
The Gen Y's grew up with the over bearing Boomer parents shuttling them around in minivans with their daily agendas mapped out. They grew up being fed stories in the lamestream media of cults, child abductors and corrupt day care centers, which in the end proved mostly false. These fueled fear into their parents who would keep a close rein on them.
They grew up with tremendous abilities to multi task. Unfortunately, they rely far too much on the computer for their news and pick and choose what who to interface with and believe everything they read on Wikipedia. They use cell phones and computers for much of their social networking and think that just because they text message someone 40 times a day, they have formed a close friendship with them. Personal relationships often take a distant second to other forms of socializing and entertainment. The boys often have the most difficulty.
They are now having their own children and the codling and protection they experienced as children now manifests itself in TV commercials. In one, a kid skins his knee and four mothers fly off the playground bench with their Neosporin spray.
My favorite is the mother in the park that turns her head for two seconds and can't find her kid. She immediately reaches for her child finder GPS device and locates the rug rat, a few feet away. Time will tell how the newest generation will play out. So far, these are known as millennium babies, 2000- ?.
It's a different world isn't it? I have been thinking lately that going for a degree in sociology and doing research would be fascinating. Studying these changes in depth could keep scientists busy for ages.
My children's generation/s (oldest 16 youngest 3) are the most photographed children ever. That alone has to have interesting effects on self esteem and ego development. And the implications for early childhood memories is intriguing too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dmyankee
They are the "Generation Y." They start in 1981, or so. Some of the older ones are the brave combat troops, serving with honor and sacrificing all, overseas. The HBO miniseries, Generation Kill, is a pretty cool take on these young men.
There are a lot of Gen Xers who are successful innovators and business types. A huge chunk of their population are currently living in their parent's house, with no idea how to get out on their own. They became giants of the tech industry, building monumental workplaces, complete with daycare, climbing walls and skateboard tubes. They were fed 24 hour doses of MTV and vulgar radio.
Some generations overlap. I consider Obama to be a Gen Xer.
The Gen Y's grew up with the over bearing Boomer parents shuttling them around in minivans with their daily agendas mapped out. They grew up being fed stories in the lamestream media of cults, child abductors and corrupt day care centers, which in the end proved mostly false. These fueled fear into their parents who would keep a close rein on them.
They grew up with tremendous abilities to multi task. Unfortunately, they rely far too much on the computer for their news and pick and choose what who to interface with and believe everything they read on Wikipedia. They use cell phones and computers for much of their social networking and think that just because they text message someone 40 times a day, they have formed a close friendship with them. Personal relationships often take a distant second to other forms of socializing and entertainment. The boys often have the most difficulty.
They are now having their own children and the codling and protection they experienced as children now manifests itself in TV commercials. In one, a kid skins his knee and four mothers fly off the playground bench with their Neosporin spray.
My favorite is the mother in the park that turns her head for two seconds and can't find her kid. She immediately reaches for her child finder GPS device and locates the rug rat, a few feet away. Time will tell how the newest generation will play out. So far, these are known as millennium babies, 2000- ?.
Well, I am 25, so I can still remember being a teen. When I was in Maine, I was not allowed to take a full time job. I always had chores, Saturday mornings were work days at my house outside, and never received anything for free. I remember asking my father at 16 when we were at wal-mart for a piece of female essentials. His response? "It has to be on sale"....(meanwhile people were shopping out of his cart at the walmart sidewalk sale...because he had two carts...full...)
:let it be noted, I love this man dearly!
Anyway, back on topic. In maine if a teen does not have a car it makes it very hard to work. And without working, he/she cannot purchase a car. Furthermore, I saw a note about someone hitchhiking to work 'back in the days'. I think we would all agree that it would be insane to send a teen hitchhiking to work in this modern world. I babysat/and did some nanny work as a teen, often for free. I did not punch in and out on the clock.
Some kids just dont have the means of transportation.
Overall I agree, they are all spoiled. IPods, texting, late curfews and if my daughter went out dressed like most of these girls...she would be handcuffed to the bed. Let it be noted: it is easiar for a parent to spoil a child with materials that keep them busy than spend time with them and be adequately involved in his/her teenagers life. As far as grades go: did any of us have any idea how much those grades would help us in college without it being pounded into our heads by our parents?
I think not. So if the parents arent taking the time to follow up with their children and teachers, there is a huge gap there.
Just some thoughts, I hope I didnt offend people yet again.
-Lizzy
Fortunately my parents more or less ignored me most of the time. So long as I got the chores and any work for the family owned amusement park done my time was my own. I spent it getting into trouble, shooting rats at the local dump, building rocket motors (leaving a 12 yr old kid with a set of machine tools he knows how to use can lead to some interesting creations many of which went boom!) and other wise goofing off. I even had time to get A’s in the things I was interested in like science and math. I never even had an allowance so money was tight. Oddly enough it always has been.
I think a lot of today’s kids are locked onto an obsessively controlling parent’s need for a second time around compounded with an unrealistic fear for the kid’s safety. Everything seems to be scheduled and arranged. Seems like a well padded prison camp. When are these kids ever going to learn how not to fall out of trees, let go of fireworks before they go off, do long locked rear wheel slides on a Columbia bicycle and all the other dumb and dangerous thing kids need to do? Instead of having fun and learning things like gravity does not give up because you are really high in the tree they are in Pre School, School, after school, daycare, sports teams, etc. etc. No wonder so many are doing drugs. Then there is TV, TiVo, texting, and the never ending yakking. Some are using speed just to keep up and some marijuana just to chill out enough to sleep.
I am kind of glad I grew up when I did although sane and sober parents might have made it a bit easier.
Fortunately my parents more or less ignored me most of the time. So long as I got the chores and any work for the family owned amusement park done my time was my own. I spent it getting into trouble, shooting rats at the local dump, building rocket motors (leaving a 12 yr old kid with a set of machine tools he knows how to use can lead to some interesting creations many of which went boom!) and other wise goofing off. I even had time to get A’s in the things I was interested in like science and math. I never even had an allowance so money was tight. Oddly enough it always has been.
I think a lot of today’s kids are locked onto an obsessively controlling parent’s need for a second time around compounded with an unrealistic fear for the kid’s safety. Everything seems to be scheduled and arranged. Seems like a well padded prison camp. When are these kids ever going to learn how not to fall out of trees, let go of fireworks before they go off, do long locked rear wheel slides on a Columbia bicycle and all the other dumb and dangerous thing kids need to do? Instead of having fun and learning things like gravity does not give up because you are really high in the tree they are in Pre School, School, after school, daycare, sports teams, etc. etc. No wonder so many are doing drugs. Then there is TV, TiVo, texting, and the never ending yakking. Some are using speed just to keep up and some marijuana just to chill out enough to sleep.
I am kind of glad I grew up when I did although sane and sober parents might have made it a bit easier.
Sane sober parents would have been an asset for me too.
It sure wasn't easy for my kids to find jobs in Bangor
I have 4 kids...ages 22, 20, 17 and 8. We moved to this area from Vermont (right across the river from NH) about 3 years ago. When we lived in VT my sons had worked at Wendy's starting at $8 an hour. They were 14 and 16 at the time. My oldest worked at a movie theatre. When we moved up here my oldest was able to quickly get a job at a theatre again. My sons were almost 15 and 17 and must have put in applications at every business in the Bangor area. No one would hire them. We found that if you didn't grow up in this area and don't know people/have contacts already inside the business it's darn near impossible for a kid to get a job around here. It was so bad for my kids that my youngest son (17 now) actually met someone at his current job and promised him 50% of his first paycheck if the guy would help get him hired there. My boys searched for almost 3 years for a job relentlessly and my older son STILL hasn't been able to find one and my younger son had to pay someone half of his first weeks check to get someone already working there to get him hired.
Employers might have better luck finding good teenage workers if they weren't so prone to hiring a teenager based on who they know and what connections they have with insiders regardless of everything else. It seems as though some of them even hold off hiring anyone until there is someone with inside connections that applies. When a boy applies to McDonalds over 20 times in less than 3 years with a "Hiring" sign posted outside and still isn't given a job and the sign stays up then you really can't blame the kid.
Employers in Maine waste a great deal of time hiring people, too. Other places I have lived you can walk into a place that is hiring and get a job on the spot and start that week, sometimes the very next day. Up here it takes employers so long to decide to hire someone. That's a contributing factor to why you see a lot of employee vacancies.
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It sure wasn't easy for my kids to find jobs in Bangor
