Happy 4th of July to our Cousins Over The Pond by the way!
I have a question for you today... It's just an interactive thang, trust me, I'll get to a point eventually!
Saz's great blog the other day prompted me to think about this, and try to put it into context.
Is it harder for Teen Terrorists in the 21st Century, than it was for us growing up in the 20th?
With t'Internet and social networking sites, Teen Terrorists are closer to their friends and their peers than we could ever have been...more is shared online than my mother could ever have wheedled out of my tiny pink 5 Year Diary with a lock (and key - attached!)
We only had to tackle the vice-like lock on the telephone dial, with over-zealous, budget-conscious, prying parents to check up on just exactly how long we had been speaking to our bessie mates in the world the other night...and what exactly was it that was soooo important, we couldn't wait until the next morning at school?!
Teens have hundreds of TV and Satellite Channels to surf.
There is cable, internet 'on-demand' channels, a plethora of DVDs and (my adored, admittedly!) Youtube...
We had three TV channels, a black and white set, and the local cinema... Oh, and Sunday Lunch spent reminiscing about the Forties at Gran's -- Compulsory!
They have access to wide-ranging, accurate and up to date information at the lightning touch of a keypad, or a mobile 'phone tap, or a mind-bogglingly, linguistically challenging text to a friend...
I think they're often occasionally telepathic, but hey that's another blog for another day...
We had to endure outings in all weathers to the, occasionally smelly, local library, (well some of the older gentlemen of the road found it a warm place to go and steam in silence when wet, didn't they?!), to peruse the groaning shelves to consider the colourful book-spines that took our fancy...
We found the information we were seeking to complete that assignment if we were lucky, and the twenty year old reference book hadn't already been loaned out to someone else (or nicked!)...
Our teens find out about friendships, choices, relationships, college, employment, drink, drugs, sex and life in general, via so many fascinating sources - Specialist interactive internet sites that 'talk' to Teens, Outreach Counsellors, School Welfare Officers and their many and varied friends...
We had Jackie magazine, and not even on subscription!
Tell me, who do you think has it tougher in life?
Was life more innocent, easier, then for us, than it is for our Lanky Spawny Offspring?
In all honesty, I accept that so much choice and diversity of opinion and cant can leave a Teen rather unable to fend for himself... To be able to self-select in terms of information and books, to have a raft of options to pick from, rather than very few can be daunting, overwhelming and ultimately wearying, leaving you even more bored, disenchanted, disaffected, and out on a limb as a Teen...
Let's face it, they are often marginalized and demonized as anonymous 'hoodies' by the media...
To receive additional peer pressures from the thousands of Web chat- and user-forums and sites must be pretty difficult...
Maybe it was easier for us to see things more in black and white, as we had so few options and opportunities, and only a clutch of friends to seek counsel from, that we could trust to bounce ideas off?
What do you think, bloggy parentals?
We'd like your opinion on the question at hand...
The Parent Doctors are in!
(Oh, and please don't report me to Saz for sneaking in a pic of Robert Pattinson?
She might never even notice if I send her a private pic of Monsieur Hallyday!)
Loving your blog! Thanks for your comments on mine. xxx
ReplyDeleteOf course I'd be letting the side down if I said that our lives were easier then. I would no longer be able to utter that immortal line "you, don't know you're born! In my day......." And I enjoy doing that. So I'm gonna say us! We had it harder! "Kids these days....."
I don't think it's a question of life being easier or harder; look at how easy it is for them to do their homework. Mine, at least, have a special homework web site where their assignments are posted. Instead of hand-writing everything (without benefit of keeping a copy), they simply wing it back to the teacher. They don't even have to worry about keeping a hardcopy.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there definitely is a lot more insidious information they can get their hands on. We have already had the web euivalent of the girlie mag under the bed, only this time it was far worse because of all the video pop ups. My kid saw things he never should have seen as a teenager.
We also had an incident where his mates were trying to do a mad science experiment in a trash can/dust bin in the next alley but one. (Got all the instructions from the Internet). Of course it went wrong and there was a "loud bang" resulting in someone calling the police, accusing them of making a bomb, and forcing the bemused policeman to bring them all home in a squad car! Pah!
We spoil our children and are uneasy about disciplining them.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, we forget that our sweet ones are different when they are with their group. The crowd spirit takes over and they all act under that cover, shocking us.
We had it tough; they have it tougher. They have to live up to ideals of beauty, success and personal fulfillment that are unrealistic.
I think we are all right as in correct and alright also!!
ReplyDeleteThe kids today have differnet pressures that we wouldnt have been prepared to deal with....though we woulda given it a go....
I do believe that everything is contextual and a matter of what one can cope with is what they are prepared for, in the main.
My daughter has dealt with certain things in a mature way without consulting me until after the event.... I wouldnt have had to deal with the same things' sorry I cant be more specific.
I have a prepared post in a similar vein tomorrow, I think its scheduled for...so l will go check l havent overlapped and utterly bore our readership completely...
veyr though provoking.
Mates,
ReplyDeleteI think our kids have it both easier and more difficult than we did - we didn´t have to contend with all the social networking sites, just the phone... I have seen my kids all rush out to succour a friend who has been "exposed" unfairly on the web, on the other hand I wish I had the resources they have to research all and sundry. I am a much more relaxed mother than mine was, which, nowadays brings me much angst!I feel that we can't be as strict as our parents were because of all that they have access too - however, I compare myself (as I remember)to my own children and I sometimes wish they had the "fear" that I had at their age... I also feel that I was more mature at their age too - life is far too easy for them, in general! I look at my 17 year old and remember at his age I was anxious to be independent and was looking into possibilities of getting a job etc and if I even suggest the idea of a job, he says "oh no, you are always complaining that I don't study enough, how could I possibly have a job??" At that age, my parents didn't really have a clue as to how I was doing at school and when I entered university at 18, they were happy, but really (as the Americans say) it was no big deal - just life as usual! My son expects a car when he gets approved!!
Of course we had it harder! (I have to say that or, like La Belle Mere, all my rants will have been in vain.) On the other hand, I'm awfully glad I was a teenager in the sixties and not a teenager now. (Just don't you dare tell Junior I said that.)
ReplyDeleteI think we had it harder in some ways, but the world seemed a bigger place then, whereas now with the Internet, we don't even seem to have those boundaries any longer... Perhaps we're more self aware now...
ReplyDeleteMaybe all our generations feel like this, except now we can blog about it, whereas it's too late for some of us to ask our parents what it was like for them...