# Do the perceived problems of Millennials have to do with parenting today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 1, 2018, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942 "2018-08-01T18:50:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2018, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/61 "2018-08-03T23:03:12Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Perhaps the 30s and 40s were more disruptive in the large, while the 60s were more disruptive in the small. Certainly living through the Vietnam era was nowhere near as significant as living through WW II. But women who went to factories during WW II and were more independent than before tended to go right back home afterwards, as society at that level hadn’t changed much. Whereas in the late 60s and early 70s we went from very strict rules about members of the opposite sex visiting dorms to co-ed dorms. People lost entire lines of work, had to leave farms their family had been on for generations, and migrated across the country trying to survive. “Hoovervilles” sprang up outside of every major city. People who lived through it often had mental scars that lasted a lifetime, compulsively hoarding food and other supplies well beyond any point of practicality. Social services that had been adequate before simply collapsed under the pressure, and the Federal government instituted a massive expansion of social programs that was hugely controversial. If you want to talk about social unrest, you have protests like the Bonus Army march in 1932 that involved the DC police injuring over 100 people and killing two, before McArthur brought in regular army tanks to disrupt the protest. There were bread riots all around the country, as well as race riots. But yeah, some universities started to adopt co-ed dorms (though that’s really a 1970s thing, not 1960s), and it was more than in the past, and that’s clearly much bigger. And clearly the more modern move at some colleges to having co-ed dorm ROOMS is nothing compared to the Boomer Experience, it’s all just an afterthought. Nothing but the Boomer experience matters, what happened to Boomers is what’s important! > [@](#): > > It’s not like we invented sex, we pretty much invented not sneaking around if you were nice respectable and middle class. If anyone wants to argue against boomer narcissism, just read this. I can’t even. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/62 "2018-08-05T00:47:59Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Milennials don’t have a large block of political power that they’ve used to strip mine the economy for their personal benefit at the expense of future generations and remove worker protections that they benefited from. They are not yet old enough to have done that. So what? > [@Pantastic](#): > > The fact that you ramble on about Vietnam highlights how self-centered boomers are; Vietnam is only accorded it’s special status because it was a controversy that affected Baby Boomers. A couple of comments is hardly “rambling on.” It was cited because, for forty years, it has been falsely used to whine about what Boomers did or did not do. You are whining in the way that some Boomers used to whine about the actions of “The Greatest Generation.” All inter-generational warfare is nonsense and your persistent whining simply demonstrates how silly it is. > [@Pantastic](#): > > Claiming that Millennials don’t care about Charity as much as Boomers do because they’re saddled with massive student loan debt and making less per hour (adjusted for inflation) than Boomers did at their age due to the policies Boomers have pushed is also pretty suspect. Take that up with someone who has made such claims. I would reject the notion that any “generation” was “responsible” for a specific action as mere whining or gloating by people who have never studied genuine history with all the many factors that have influenced any historical trend. It would be like claiming that the Civil War only happened because some particular age group wanted to wear uniforms and shoot guns. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/63 "2018-08-05T02:20:23Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > People lost entire lines of work, had to leave farms their family had been on for generations, and migrated across the country trying to survive. “Hoovervilles” sprang up outside of every major city. People who lived through it often had mental scars that lasted a lifetime, compulsively hoarding food and other supplies well beyond any point of practicality. Social services that had been adequate before simply collapsed under the pressure, and the Federal government instituted a massive expansion of social programs that was hugely controversial. If you want to talk about social unrest, you have protests like the Bonus Army march in 1932 that involved the DC police injuring over 100 people and killing two, before McArthur brought in regular army tanks to disrupt the protest. There were bread riots all around the country, as well as race riots. That is exactly what I mean about disruptive in the large. My parents grew up in the Depression - I am quite familiar with what it was like. My father, in particular, went from being in a rich family in 1925 to a very poor one in 1935. > [@](#): > > But yeah, some universities started to adopt co-ed dorms (though that’s really a 1970s thing, not 1960s), and it was more than in the past, and that’s clearly much bigger. And clearly the more modern move at some colleges to having co-ed dorm ROOMS is nothing compared to the Boomer Experience, it’s all just an afterthought. Nothing but the Boomer experience matters, what happened to Boomers is what’s important! But the morality of those who went through the Depression was not altered much. Acceptable morality changed quite a lot during the 1960s and thereafter. I did not say which was most important - though I’d say in the large was more disruptive than in the small. But another in the large change was the increase in how common layoffs were in the 1970s and beyond. My kids ran a lot more scared about finding a job than I did. They did fine - they just worried about it more. Nothing like what it was like during the Depression, of course. But worse than during the '50s and 60s and 70s before the oil crisis and stagflation. Boomers had it better. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/64 "2018-08-05T02:27:11Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > You are whining in the way that some Boomers used to whine about the actions of “The Greatest Generation.” I’m not sure what he means about the actions of the Greatest Generation, but any whining I heard was about parents and stuff. And our parents happened to be members of the Greatest Generation. BTW, I don’t know what the statistics are about charitable giving, but I’d expect that any older generation is going to give more than a younger generation because the younger generation is investing still. Comment about **Pantastic** ’s nonsense which you quoted. At my college reunions older classes give more than younger classes despite the fact that there are fewer of them left. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/65 "2018-08-05T20:03:51Z")
> [@tomndebb](#): > > They are not yet old enough to have done that. Except that the generation before Boomers didn’t do that either, and in fact the Boomers elected to roll back a lot of protections and benefits that they put into place. > [@](#): > > So what? A couple of comments is hardly “rambling on.” It was cited because, for forty years, it has been falsely used to whine about what Boomers did or did not do. The ones who whine about what Boomers did or did not do in Vietnam are, in fact, primarily Boomers. How many people under 40 bring up the claim that Boomers are responsible for the loss in Vietnam because they wouldn’t go fight? But for some reason you think some argument from before Millennials were born in a thread about Millennials, because Vietnam is clearly such a special thing that it’s relevant to everyone. How many people under 40 will seriously claim “the US lost Vietnam because Boomers weren’t willing enough to go fight” versus how many will say some variant of “the Us lost Vietnam because the government screwed up the war badly” or “I have no idea, that was before my time”? ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2018, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/66 "2018-08-05T20:10:59Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > But the morality of those who went through the Depression was not altered much. Acceptable morality changed quite a lot during the 1960s and thereafter. There were huge changes in acceptable morality throughout the course of the Great Depression and World War II. Denying that there were relies on either very unusual, narrow definitions of what ‘acceptable morality’ means or tunnel vision. And if you’re going to say 1960s and thereafter, then you’re disagreeing with the statement that I originally disagreed with, which denied the ‘thereafter’ part. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/67 "2018-08-06T02:14:05Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > There were huge changes in acceptable morality throughout the course of the Great Depression and World War II. Denying that there were relies on either very unusual, narrow definitions of what ‘acceptable morality’ means or tunnel vision. And if you’re going to say 1960s and thereafter, then you’re disagreeing with the statement that I originally disagreed with, which denied the ‘thereafter’ part. Could you give some examples of morality changes during the Depression? I can’t think of much my parents did that their parents would have disapproved of. Plenty of people in college lied about their living arrangements, which kids today don’t seem to do. I didn’t, but my mother was cool. My girlfriend now wife was less forthcoming to her parents. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/68 "2018-08-06T02:24:57Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > Except that the generation before Boomers didn’t do that either, and in fact the Boomers elected to roll back a lot of protections and benefits that they put into place. Cite? > [@Pantastic](#): > > The ones who whine about what Boomers did or did not do in Vietnam are, in fact, primarily Boomers. How many people under 40 bring up the claim that Boomers are responsible for the loss in Vietnam because they wouldn’t go fight? But for some reason you think some argument from before Millennials were born in a thread about Millennials, because Vietnam is clearly such a special thing that it’s relevant to everyone. How many people under 40 will seriously claim “the US lost Vietnam because Boomers weren’t willing enough to go fight” versus how many will say some variant of “the Us lost Vietnam because the government screwed up the war badly” or “I have no idea, that was before my time”? You are the one who tried to wrench this thread away from Millennials to Boomers. Your comments are just silly, as are any comments trying to stir up intergenerational wars… ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2018, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/69 "2018-08-06T02:47:36Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > What? How can you not think Ann-Margret is sexy? I get that her voice could not be someone’s cup of tea, but it’s freaking Ann-Margret! Are you blind, man?! 🙂 Huh. Kids these days - don’t even have the right hormones, for god’s sake. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/70 "2018-08-07T21:20:11Z")
Accept certain inalienable truths Prices will rise, politicians will philander, you too, will get old. And when you do, you’ll fantasize that when you were young Prices were reasonable, politicians were noble And children respected their elders ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/71 "2018-08-07T21:24:29Z")
> [@Ashtura](#): > > Well, I don’t know. > > I will say that I am completely dumbfounded how any kid today can say they are “bored”, which I hear quite frequently. > [@RickJay](#): > > And adults were amazed kids of your generation could be bored. Isn’t that remarkable. Sometimes when kids say they’re bored, they really mean they’re lonely. > [@](#): > > Originally posted by Eloise Jarvis McGraw: > > Grown people, Stevie had noticed, invariably talked about “running around and playing” as if the two meant the same thing. When there was nothing to play and no one to play with, who wanted to just “run around”? I hear **Ashtura** ’s complaint often in the context of “My gosh, neither I nor my five stairstep siblings, nor our twenty-seven cousins and a hundred and fourteen similarly aged neighbors, ever complained of being bored! We also would never have dreamed of speaking to an adult unless spoken to. Where does my friend’s only child, who is forbidden to go outside the subdivision where she’s the only kid her age, get off interrupting the super-important conversation I was having with her mother to ask permission to watch a movie by herself in the other room?” ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2018, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/72 "2018-08-07T23:29:12Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > “The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.” > -Socrates…about 2500 years ago. Fake news. The quote is barely a century old, written by someone summarizing various older writings. Not Socrates. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2018, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/73 "2018-08-08T00:41:24Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Fake news. The quote is barely a century old, written by someone summarizing various older writings. > > Not Socrates. [https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/](https://quoteinvestigator.com/2010/05/01/misbehaving-children-in-ancient-times/) Good to know. > [@](#): > > Freeman did not claim that the passage under analysis was a direct quotation of anyone; instead, he was presenting his own summary of the complaints directed against young people in ancient times. We just need to push further back and find his sources for those ancient complaints. So, not a direct quote for sure, but a summarizing from a dissertation by someone studying the ancients. ---
**Author:** ![nelliebly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nelliebly/32/5422_2.png) [@nelliebly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nelliebly)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/74 "2018-08-09T04:29:29Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > Do the perceived problems of Millennials have to do with parenting today? Shouldn’t this be “Do the perceived problems of Millennials have to do with the perceived problems with parents today?” Both are perceptions. ---
**Author:** ![Panther\_Modern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ac8455/32.png) [@Panther\_Modern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Panther_Modern)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2018, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942/75 "2018-08-09T06:18:50Z")
> [@JB99](#): > > Well, the Boomer generation had an era of unprecedented prosperity. Then they destroyed their own labor protections, founded for-profit colleges, refused to raise minimum wage. Then they let thieves steal their corporate pensions, invested in subprime mortgages, and gave their life savings to Madoff and Enron. > > And you people wonder why Millenials think the status quo is bullshit. This. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > We need another Vietnam to thin out their ranks a little! I hope you are first in line to volunteer. I refuse to fight in some old, white man’s war. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-perceived-problems-of-millennials-have-to-do-with-parenting-today/818942.md?page=3)