Kudos to Anthracite for bringing the issue up in another thread.
Okay, exactly how hard is it to be a teenager in 2002 CE? I remember my teenager years, and not all of them so fondly. There were plenty of difficulties and plenty of opportunities. Of course, the world being the world and not Utopia, those weren’t exactly dished out in what I would’ve considered the appropriate division.
I don’t know…what do you mean by hard? I mean, it’s a lot easier than being a teenager in the 1800s and earlier. It’s a bit more difficult than in the '50s, too, with increased violence and problems with drugs and sex. However, it’s easier in that things like child abuse and molestation are no longer hidden behind closed doors as much. So, I think you are going to need to refine your OP a bit.
Well let me take a stab at refining it somewhat, if Monty doesn’t mind.
In general, and applied to the general population of teens, I believe the contention is that being a teenager today is easier from a emotional, physical labor, financial, social, and nearly any other tangible or intangible level or standpoint.
I contend that when you consider the incredible resources for education and communication, the overall good quality of schools (let’s face it - we love to complain about them, but it is possible to get a very decent education in public schools), disposable income and opportunities for increasing disposable income, health resources and education, especially entertainment, and overall quality of life - when you balance all of these things, and apply them to Western teens in general, that teenagers today actually have it easier than any other group of teenagers in 8000 years of recorded human history.
The common argument used to oppose this viewpoint is that teenagers have “more stress” and “more pressures” than ever before. However, the vast majority of this alleged greater stress seems to be difficult to define as to its nature and cause, and seems to be tied more to a statement rather that “teens are less appreciative of the benefits they have than ever before in recorded history”. But I don’t know if that is really true.
Another danger in any debate like this is trying to find suitable metrics that encompass the population, and not devolve into anecdotes of tiny sample sizes - for example, my Mother, at age 14, started working as a waitress full-time, while still going to high school, to help pay the bills. She got up at 4:30 am each day to help out with chores on the farm (including going out to break the ice on the water troughs), went to school, participated in student action committee things (civil rights marches), and then worked all night as a waitress at a diner. Going home at midnight to sleep.
Of course, we can’t compare things like that, because they are a sample size of one. And, I was recently told by a teen, everything she did was “nothing” compared to the “stress of studying for the SATs”, so I should “shut up”. :rolleyes: So obviously, we can’t use my example, as there was obviously no stress on my mother when she was doing everything she did and still had to apply and get accepted to college…nope, not valid at all.
There are those that contend that teens today are actually the “fattest, laziest, surliest, and dumbest they’ve ever been in history”. I do not agree with that either. But I would really like to see some way to compare honestly the relative stress levels between today and any other generation.
The “things were better in the 1950’s” example is one that has come up on this Board on more than a few occasions - and I think it has been debunked somewhat as a very widespread Urban Legend - but I am happy to be corrected, if that is not so.
speaking as someone who is still classified as a teenager I would broadly agree with you that my generation do have it very easy and as a result are fat, lazy, surly etc,
what interests me more though is the culture and identity of youth today. I live in the UK and what passes for youth culture here is revolting. The vast majority of people my age are what i would call “pikeys”, now this is not as in a derogatory term for gypsies but what these people are known as where I live. In other parts of the country they are called “rudes”, “kevs”, “barrys” etc, different name same shit. These guys are basically all about mobile phones, garage music and sports clothes. The activities and interests vary from place to place obviously but what makes them all the same is the complete lack of respect or even recognition of other people. They are above all, dim witted pricks who do nothing but consume and destroy. This is quickly degerating into a rant so i’ll leave it as it is, does anyone know what I mean? It’s quite hard to raise this issue I often find.
Another Teenager popping in here, we have it easy. We are just whiney spoiled kids and complain and about most stuff, and look to blame our problems on everyone but ourselves.
Ben
I can’t say that being a teenager today is terribly horrid or exceptionally stressful, but I don’t think the majority of my generation consists of spoiled brats. We’re just people. Certainly, people who are still growing up, but not monsters. Why such negativity, renigademaster? Not even my teachers, surely a group of people with a legitimate reason to gripe, talk like that.
I can say that my life is fairly easy. I choose to take on responsibilities that make my life more stressful at times, but it is my choice. My classmates have similar lives. But are we the most selfish, ungrateful little heathens ever to grace this planet? I don’t think so. I’m quite appreciative of the opportunities I have, though I certainly don’t speak for everyone.
Though Anthracite, I can’t believe anyone would ever say something like that to you and I’m embarrassed to be placed in a group with them. Those are the ones that give me a bad name.
I don’t really think that teens have it easier as far as work goes. You can find plenty of people who stress themselves out just as much or more than Anthracite’s mother. It mostly depends on the socioeconomic class you are in and what kind of work ethic you have.
Of course it depends on the individual teenager and his or her circumstances, but I think it is harder today. The toughest thing about being a teenager isn’t school or work, it’s learning the social skills and emotional maturity you need to interact with others. Schools are considerably bigger than they were a generation ago, which means the average teenager’s social world is proportionately more complex; at the same time, kids get less individual attention from teachers and other adults, and have fewer clear-cut responsibilities. Honestly, I think kids who DON’T have to work or help out with the chores at home have a harder time. There’s something comforting about knowing you’re supposed to do X, Y, and Z every day, and that it will benefit your family in a concrete way. People get stressed and discontented when they don’t have a purpose, and I suspect this happens a lot with upper-middle-class teens.
The toughest part of being a teenager is walking around school watching all the girls in tight short clothes and knowing you’re never gonna touch any of them.
I really don’t think comparisons about “easier” or “harder” are either possible nor useful: I mean, what are we trying to decide here, whether we should sneer at teens or be proud of them?
I do think it is very interesting and worthwhile to discuss how the teen years are different, however. One thing that strike me is the differnece that the decline in birthrate and childhood mortality rates have had. An 1800 teen almost certainly would have lost siblings–some when they are very young, and some in early childhoold. Many tenns in 1800 would also have lost a parent. THese days if a 15 year old’s mom dies, we almost take it for granted that that is going to be the defining incident of their adolecence. There were many such children in 1800.
Another element whcih think has changed considerably would be pain. Life in1800 was simply painful–toothaches, poorly set broken bones, bowel problems, lingering infections, and birth defects that are all routinely fixed today were all ubiquitous. The people I know who have dealt with chronic pain for extended periods of time have all been effected by it in some form or fashion, and I suspect the same was true in 1800.
I think life in the Western world in general is easier today than ever before, regardless of age.
Perhaps there really are no good metrics to make an honest comparison, and it comes down to socioeconomic comparisons, and anecdotal evidence.
Another thing of note - the teens of today (in the Unites States) have not really had a real war to love through. In fact, other than the Gulf War and numerous armed actions, there has been no real sense of having lived through a war. Or, I guess since their wasn’t a “hot” war in the 1980s - I wonder if living under a “cold war” also shaped viewpoints very differently between the generations?
But it’s a contest! If you’ve suffered more, you get…you get…
Hmm. I guess that is sort of silly.
I think all in all, adolescence gets bad PR. I do think a case could be made that, nowadays moreso than previous ones, that the adolescent period of life (I’m not talking physically here, mind) has been artificially lengthened–and I’m pretty sure that’s not a good thing. But then again, I have a built-in drift to curmudgeonly that I have to consciously work to lean against.
I agree with Manda JO on this one. I really don’t have any evidence to back up my opinion, but I would like to share my unsubstantiated hypothesis:
It is no harder nor easier to be a teenager today than it ever was in the past. Burdens and pressures that were making teens lives hard one hundred years ago are not around today, but they have been replaced by other burdens and pressures. These may seem easy to teens of one hundred years ago, but compared to everything else in the lives of teens today they are certainly comparable and quite equivalent.
These hardships, taken out of context, might make it seem that teens have it easier today, but, relatively, it is no easier.
Like I said before, I don’t really have any evidence to back this up, it is just a hypothesis I wanted to share.
Anthracite,
I’m in my mid 30’s and I’ve never had a major war to live through. I was too young for Vietnam to have any impact on my life (I vaguely remember footage of helicopters leaving Saigon that we were allowed to watch in school in 2nd or 3rd grade) (oh, and my birth kept my dad from getting drafted).
I know a lot of people who spent three months in lovely Saudi Arabia during the gulf war - but not one who saw “action.”
I’m 34 Dangerosa (only 3 more short years until death) and I don’t remember any wars - but that’s why I included the “cold war” in my last post. I can remember a time when every day someone brought up the prospect of “imminent nuclear holocaust”. I imagine most teens don’t think about that nowadays, but I could be wrong.
I would like to know, however, in response to a couple of other posts - what specific unique stresses set being a teen today apart from being a teen in other times? 
I don’t think there are any specific unique stresses. It’s all about context; you worry about what’s available to worry about. The fact that it’s, say, student debt rather than nuclear devastation might seem incomparable to those looking in hindsight, but if you only know one of those it’s still bound to feel stressful. Being a teenager always involves a degree of self-obsession (meant in a non-nasty way) as you discover ‘who you are’, so any worry will seem unique.
All three of my kids have done time as “volunteer pioneers” at a local “Living History” site, where they dress up in period costumes, speak an authentic 1845 dialect, and do “authentic” activities while tourists take pictures and ask questions like, “Are you wearing underpants?”
Two of the three happen to be in the living room at the moment. I will ask them whether teens today have it easier or harder than teens in 1845.
Subject #1, a 12-year-old female, currently watching Lawrence Welk on PBS. She says teens nowadays have it easier. Why?
Pressed to give a more serious answer, she responds:
The Lennon Sisters are singing. When they are finished, I press her yet again for a serious answer.
Subject #2, a 15-year-old boy, currently playing Duke Nukem on the Playstation II.
He mocks the whole idea of teens having it easier in earlier eras as ridiculous. Pressed to come up with a serious answer–“If you had to choose between living now and living back in 1845, which would you choose?” he finally responds:
Why?
He continues listing reasons until I retreat to the dining room and the computer.
DDG; if you’re going to delve into Anthropology, you’re going to need more fortitude than that.
(& I say this as I retreat from my Linguistics[sup]*[/sup] homework, due tomorrow!)
[sup]*[/sup]Subfield of Cultural Anthro.
So would I.
Drugs? Not only were they around in my father’s youth (1920s), but his mother had to go to a sanitarium to be treated for opiate addiction, and his younger brother destroyed his stomach by getting high combining aspirin with whiskey (Grandpa had to go around to all the druggists and tell them not to sell Uncle Jim any aspirin).
STDs? Syphilis and gonorrhea were the AIDS of my dad’s generation, and treatment was non-existent or limited.
Illegitimate or teen pregnancies? My grandpa made it very clear that if my father got a girl pregnant, he’d marry her. Period.
Career decisions? My father had none to make: he went to work full-time at the age of 13, grading roads with a pick and shovel.
Drinking? Daddy ran bootleg liquor with a customized Model A.
Peer pressure? That’s always been around, methinks.
Random violence was less of a threat, but people suffered more from what we regard as easily treatable diseases–and they died from them, too.
So what exactly are the stressors of today’s youth?