Is life tougher for young people growing up today than it was for yourself?

[cymruambyth26]

I thought this would be a good topic for discussion. I did wonder whether this belonged in the basement or not but I thought this might be a good one for the SA thread.

[cymruambyth26]

I would argue in my case that yes it is getting tougher for young people today than when I was growing up. Yeah it was tough with me but I think If I went through what I experienced now it would be even tougher.

I could probably write an essay on the subject so it's hard for me to keep my thoughts short and precise.

I just think though with the current economic climate added to alot of social pressures (for example peer pressure, importance that is placed on body image in the case of alot of young girls) placed on our young today we could well be heading towards a lost generation of youngsters.

Youngsters are looking for guidance and reassurance but they don't know where to turn because they're getting so many mixed messages at the moment.

What exactly can we tell our young that life is actually going to be like? If we can only tell them it's pretty grim then that makes it tougher for them because if we all think it's grim they don't stand a chance of feeling that life is going to offer any different for them.

I work with children alot so I just look at them sometimes and think what is going to happen to them?

[PermanentSolution]

I think it's ever increasing population, which means increasing competition, which means selection for confidence and self-promotion. The worst part is that individuals with traits unfit for current situation don't become extinct as it would normally happen in natural selection. They continue existing, reproduce at the same rate, and create new generations of suffering people who don't really belong in this world, are prone to mental health issues, etc. In short, increasing quality of life backfires and at the same time decreases it in a way.
And no, I'm not implying that all people deemed not normal should be shot dead or anything.

[mossieman]

This is such a good one & i totaly agree with the points above fighting the yes corner but..... the no corner will also have a lot to say too!. living conditions are far better, children are teated far better, cripes even when i was at school you were not aloud to speak until spoken to, say boo out of place in the classroom & you got the cain or slipper & school meals were not edible but you could not leave the canteen until you finnished it. we are not being bombed daily or have most of the men away at war, no rations on food god they would have killed back then for a horsemeat burger. the number of children lost at birth (mothers too!) is soooo much less as is loss to illness/diseases. children were working down the pit or in workhouse or cotton mills by 10yrs old, education was not seen as as important as it is now. by the age of 14yrs my nan had lost both parents to illnesses which are vertually non-existant today and was being looked after by her older sister, she was also working so they could survive, by the time she was 18yrs old she lost her sister to TB.
so i think its a 50/50 answer, about the same just the problems younger people face today have totaly changed, harder no just different.

[Ermm... Yeh?]

I think it's safe to say the extremes getting becoming more extreme due to the expansion of technological capabilities, but overall I am confident that, for at very least the most part, people are having just as bad living conditions as when I was growing up, due to no significant societal changes.

People have now more access to information, but a harder time of accessing the ability to access information, and this extra difficulty somewhat keeps the consistency of quality of life.

Viva la revolution.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Originally Posted by cymruambyth23

I just think though with the current economic climate added to alot of social pressures (for example peer pressure, importance that is placed on body image in the case of alot of young girls) placed on our young today we could well be heading towards a lost generation of youngsters.

Youngsters are looking for guidance and reassurance but they don't know where to turn because they're getting so many mixed messages at the moment.
What exactly can we tell our young that life is actually going to be like? If we can only tell them it's pretty grim then that makes it tougher for them because if we all think it's grim they don't stand a chance of feeling that life is going to offer any different for them.

I work with children alot so I just look at them sometimes and think what is going to happen to them?

I don't think it's tougher since we have so much availiable to us, eg, internet. But then it's true that body image seems so important, I don't see this as bad in every situation though.
I'm so confused as a teenager at the moment. I'm in college, I don't think I'm going uni atm due to the lack of stability and preparation in my life and me asking for therapy to help my SA. The School and uni don't know though, I think I should tell them. I'm gonna do an art foundation closer to home instead.

I'm feeling although uni is important it's sometimes overrated. In fact the importance of socialising with others and having fun in my life has been underrated most of my life and I've only been told why education is important, although I know education is important it makes me angry that I could have been in a better situation than I am now.

[talisman]

I think kids have it as good if not better today. Technology has improved significantly since I was a kid back in the 1980s/1990s. IMO there's better music, better tv (depends what you watch though), better movies today than there was back then. The 90s just seem like a very dull dreary era. I can think of nothing memorable about them. Kids today have access to high speed internet 24/7. I didn't get dial up Internet access until I was 14 (limited to 2 hours per week) and didn't get broadband until 19 or 20!

The big disadvantage I can think of is the cost of going to university. I think a lot of kids may end up leaving school with poor qualifications which is a shame and of course the economic downturn may impact on some people's childhood, but in general I'd say things are no worse, just a bit different, maybe even better.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

^ We dont have better music, we just have more access.
Although I didn't grow up as a kid in the 90's they seem cool to me. All the roller skating, water guns, rap and rnb music. I'm obviously looking at it through rose tinted glasses though.

The funny thing though is that the next generation are gonna seem to also have it better than mines at my age cause of social changes such as less stigma on homosexuality and idk about mental health stigma though.

[Angel 123]

I think life is much tougher now for the younger generation. I was fortunate enough to be able to buy my own house when I was 25 - impossible nowadays. Permanent jobs are hard to find and looking at my friends kids a lot of people are still being bailed out financially by their parents even in their 20's / 30's and cos of this are not able to properly grow up and lead an independent adult life

[GoldFish]

its about the same. only differences are cultural and technological.

back in the 90s jobs were easier to get started in. now there is a bigger emphasis on a degree and 2-5 years experience before even starting. music was better in the 90s mainstream because of the beatles revival and britpop/grundge, so you would hear better music on radio and being out and about.

petrol was affordable, technology was not as vast as it is now, so things were simpler.

you can see how ADD is probably more common these days than ever before.

industry was a nice place back then too. the increae in technology since 2000 has meant that jobs are lost to computers and more innovative systems to cut costs.

on the flipside of that. health is much more of a focus now then it was then as is the environment and trying to fix it. in the 90s it wasn't talked about as much.

these days people spend more money on things because there is so much more products on the market compared to the 90s. yet wages haven't gone up that much. so we have house prices that are difficult to maintain, bills have gone up and there is more choice of appliances and products then ever. So no wonder people can't afford much now.

if it makes you feel any better, we are probably still riding the wave of the post 80s Utopia. even being poor isn't that bad if you use your time well. you can still be a rich person and not have alot of money because of resources available to poorer people are better than ever before. There are more organisations out there that can help. Also you can still choose to wear good clothes, exercise, study, have hobbies when you are poor. Choosing to become the stereotypical version of a poor person is often just that easy choice for people.

So in terms of choosing a time to live in, right now is probably one of the best eras the world has seen and it could get better. The state of mind can actually lead people to believe that because they don't have passions or a career or relationships that the world isn't giving enough.

[indiegirl1980]

I think it's harder for the following reasons:

1. Greater emphasis on looks, and looking a certain way, mainly the Towie look among both boys and girls. We must look like a hideous Quasimodo generation to these little Barbie and Ken dolls.

2. What someone described as the 'pornification' of society, again for both girls and boys, and the fact this leads to poor body image etc

3. The middle class kids aren't allowed to fail at anything. In my day, loads of us took our A-Levels at least twice and the parent's attitude was:' it doesn't matter if you didn't get the grades you needed, you can re-sit them and go to uni next year'. Now, it's the end of the world if they don't get it perfect first time.

4. They all have to be good at everything, ferried about to class after class in God knows what.

5. It is still hard to find work, and whatever you do, it's wrong.

[AnathemA]

My little brother is going to graduate with a completely insane student loan, to add to the fact that graduate job opportunities are poor and house prices in the South East are sheer lunacy.

On the plus side, at least there's an abundant supply of amusing cat videos.

[ghost.of.an.englishman]

well, awareness of SA atm is better than ever imo. You can even see it with this forum, you seem to get people who are younger and younger realising that they have a certain problem. It took me till my early twenties to realise this.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

^ true, I was wondering why this forum doesnt have younger teens like SAS. TBH though I'm happy the way sauk is, SAS is too crowded and then some ppl answer with over simplistic answers.

[ghost.of.an.englishman]

Originally Posted by retep

^ true, I was wondering why this forum doesnt have younger teens like SAS. TBH though I'm happy the way sauk is, SAS is too crowded and then some ppl answer with over simplistic answers.

Yeah, SAS is pretty terrible tbh.

I don't know about whether today is easier for young people than it was for other generations...I have no idea how you'd reach a conclusion about that tbh. But it surely is for people with mental health problems. SA wasn't invented in my dad's generation! The concept literally didn't exist when he was young.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Originally Posted by no-moving-lines

Yeah, SAS is pretty terrible tbh.

I don't know about whether today is easier for young people than it was for other generations...I have no idea how you'd reach a conclusion about that tbh. But it surely is for people with mental health problems. SA wasn't invented in my dad's generation! The concept literally didn't exist when he was young.

True and the treatment was much worse. Asylums and electric something therapy? Luckily nowadays the amount of info we have allows us to notice that we aren't extremely weird and are equal.

[Dash]

Yes. I can't imagine what school is like for being bullied the way net and phone communication has developed.

[ghost.of.an.englishman]

Originally Posted by retep

True and the treatment was much worse. Asylums and electric something therapy? Luckily nowadays the amount of info we have allows us to notice that we aren't extremely weird and are equal.

yeah, exactly. Things are still far from perfect now...but they're a hell of a lot better than they have been in the very recent past. A relative from my dad's generation had to go through electro convulsive therapy, and it didn't do him any good at all

Maybe a generation or two in the future will think the same about the crap we have to face now! I hope so...

[rocco]

**** no, if i wanted porn as an adolescent I had to go searching around in hedgerows for a soggy, heavily thumbed magazine. Kids these days have everything at the click of a mouse :P

Seriously though, i think kids these days have it easier than any other generation before them, but i guess thats always the case.

[indiegirl1980]

Positive news- kids today less likely to drink to excess and use drugs.
Possibly because they can't afford them, lol.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Originally Posted by rocco

**** no, if i wanted porn as an adolescent I had to go searching around in hedgerows for a soggy, heavily thumbed magazine. Kids these days have everything at the click of a mouse :P

Seriously though, i think kids these days have it easier than any other generation before them, but i guess thats always the case.

True, we have different problems I think tbh though. I look at even younger kids and they seem to get better phones and tech than i did and I'm only 18 lol. But cause they have better things I think there are higher expectations in what they should have, I dont know if this is bullshit but it explains why it seems so obvious now that my family seems poor compared to others.

But then listen to gangsta rap, the 90's do seem to feel like a time roughness from males was more encouraged. I wonder if the 90's had more chavs

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Originally Posted by indiegirl1980

Positive news- kids today less likely to drink to excess and use drugs.
Possibly because they can't afford them, lol.

Not in my college

[iTz0kt0Bu]

Originally Posted by Dash

Yes. I can't imagine what school is like for being bullied the way net and phone communication has developed.

Yeah, I just partly did a questionnaire on bullying and online bullying came up and cause the bullying was in primary school I definitely didn't get any online bullying since in 2002 there wasn't fb or utube.

[Memory]

I think it's just as tough - every young person goes through the stages of fitting in, dealing with their body image, career options, relationships etc. It's just different.

Whilst having all this technology - internet, smartphones - can be a good thing, I think it's also a bad thing. Young people are so absorbed with social networking, glued to their phones and websites, that I imagine you can easily struggle as a young person if you're not doing the same. What if you can't afford a smartphone? What if your only access to the internet is via school and libraries? I think this also means that young people aren't having some of the typical childhood experiences like playing outside etc. because they're glued to this technology.

And there is also such an emphasis on body image as well. Whilst we are more open to sexuality, there is still this pressure on body image for girls and boys. Particularly because we're so focused on celebrities or laughing at people's bodies in certain TV shows.

There is more freedom, to be fair, but that doesn't necessarily make it that much easier.

[iTz0kt0Bu]

^ exactly, I couldn't have said it any better. Kids still play out I think but only in certain aeras, they probably played out more in the past.