Are kids today more immature?

[flyingfish]

The point is this. IF their parents really do have enough money for them to live on for the rest of their lives, they might be OK, but they won’t develop character. But I know some 20-somethings who only think they can live indefinitely on what is really just middle class savings of their parents. They don’t know how to make it last. They will outlive their income and end up struggling. And when the next depression hits, they will be totally unprepared.

Everyone is different. There are some youth who are very well prepared for whatever life may bring. I know some of them. They are what employers call “self starters.” They will make it no matter what. jet100 (see post #38) is one of them. I know a girl who is graduating from HS this year, who will make it fine. She did cold calls on employers when she turned 16 and convinced them to hire her. This summer she’ll be a manager in a summer job. Others are simply clueless, maybe because neither the culture nor their parents have prepared them for real life. Those are the ones who are going to have a hard time when the going gets tough.

Different people have different values. Some people (like the girl you mentioned) enjoy being very outgoing and productive, others enjoy having an easy life and not having to work much.

I doubt that the girl you mentioned is going to call a 20 year old who parties and has fun all day immature, she’ll probably think that this is a person who is wasting their potential and not getting the most out of life. She’s not going to be resentful of this person, or talk about how hard she had to work while they were partying. She would be happy in her own life, for her work is the equivalent of partying, it’s what she finds fun.

It seems to me that the kind of person who talks about these sorts of things is the person who wants to have an easy and fun life, but can’t, perhaps has to work long and hard at an unfulfilling job and resents people who have everything handed to them while they enjoy their lives.

 

[Teresa_Lee]

Wealth, (financial) irresponsibility, and immaturity are three very different things.
Today’s times have hit our youth hard. Many of them are struggling and making tough choices. Some are in college and have to make unexpected choices just to stay there, others are too young to do anything about it as they watch their parents continue to cutback (financially), make drastic changes in their lifestyles, and even lose their jobs or homes.

Life is full of ups and downs, ebbs and flows, peaks and valleys. We can’t avoid it, so we need to learn how to deal with it in the best way possible. Our youth are watching us in action, and I believe many of them are responding appropriately. They are finding ways to live on less, entertain themselves without “going to the mall” and wasting money on useless items.

Today’s youth have different tools and technology, but they’re still people with hearts. They get it. They might not always understand it, but they do get it. And they are responding correctly, considering that they have limited experience to help them. I believe it is the generation before today’s youth that had their hand out with a sense of entitlement, and I think today’s youth has learned a valuable lesson from watching people face the consequences of that. Their work ethic will be stronger (and more mature), but they will also be much smarter when they manage all aspects of their lives.

Teresa

 

[plinko]

I love the website stumbleupon.com because it comes up with articles like this

gimundo.com/news/article/millennial-teens-are-no-brattier-than-previous-generations/

 

[chevalier]

Mature in what regard? Some years back, people were more mature in terms of coping with life than anyone their age nowadays. On the other hand, stupid decisions were already around back then and it’s not like people were amazingly well developed intellectually and emotionally (though I often end up thinking pre-WW2 degrees worth triple the current corresponding one…).

On the female side, many of them really have it together in academics and being personally well organized. They are also good at caring for themselves and are less lazy than many guys. On the flip side, young women are incredibly immature and naive most of the time when it comes to men. I see them turn down perfectly good looking and smart men to be with the lowest common denominator. These women academically are outstanding but throw away their brains when it comes to men. I think this is a result of fathers spending less time in the house and leaving the family jobs almost entirely to the wife. Women come to find attractive men that are most like their dad: distant and unreliable. Just like men tend to go for women that are like their mother, women go for men like their dad.

Water for my mill… To use an idiom from my language.

 

[JimG]

I can’t say, but the adults sure are, particularly 20 somethings

It seems that there are a lot of 20-somethings who are out of school, still living at home, not working, and not particularly interested in working.

I think this may not be because they are so much different than previous generations, but because they can get away with it.

I know some parents who have told their children that by age 18, they’d better be either in college, or working, and out of the house.