Friday OT - The Kids They’re Not So Bad

[Angie]

Thanks so much to @Cyientist for this thread! I love it - here it is:

“How has the next generation inspired or caused you to be a better person? Could be your own kids, nieces/nephews, or even some gen Z'er in your workplace.”

I love Cyientist’s example so want to leave it for their contribution, but do you have any of your own?

 

[JM4CY]

Inspired me to get off my damn phone so much. Yes you can get off my lawn too.

 

[Cyientist]

Thanks @Angie. We had an advice to the younger generation/your younger self last week, so I thought it would be good to balance it out and see what the younger generation has done to improve your life. It may turn into a parent brag thread, but I'm looking for positive vibes!

This popped in my head last Friday because my 3rd grader was the reason we were reading for 90 minutes on a Friday night, instead of re-watching a movie like usual. His teacher assigned 20 minutes of reading during the week for his class so he doesn't want to disappoint, and he is competitive so he wants to get the most minutes in his class. He now has the entire family reading with him.

 

[Cyclonepride]

Thanks so much to @Cyientist for this thread! I love it - here it is:

“How has the next generation inspired or caused you to be a better person? Could be your own kids, nieces/nephews, or even some gen Z'er in your workplace.”

I love Cyientist’s example so want to leave it for their contribution, but do you have any of your own?

It's interesting. My son is Gen Z (26 years old) and he has very little regard for money or possessions (or time schedules lol). Has no debt other than his car, no credit cards, makes enough to support himself, and will change jobs to maintain that goal, but isn't driven to do much more. Part of that is affected by not having a family, and he doesn't seem particularly interested in having one.

I envy the less driven existence in a lot of ways. He and his friends are also very supportive of each other and pretty open with their emotions and challenges. In a lot of ways, I think that is great too (though as an older person outside looking in, I think they might be happier if they were less prone to self-diagnosing their conditions as it seems like they adopt them as a personal trait rather than a temporary set of struggles).

 

[Angie]

Inspired me to get off my damn phone so much. Yes you can get off my lawn too.

This one is so important! It is a constant work in progress to try to improve.

My problem is I read on my phone’s Kindle app, so it looks to my kids like I am just zoning out if I am actually reading. I try to share with them what I am doing to share that love, but should probably switch back to paper books - but Kindle is just so convenient, I always have my phone.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

Sports is a big one for me. I was raised to be super competitive and it took me quite a few years to figure out how to lose properly. My daughter is very competitive, but she doesn't beat herself nearly as bad as I did after a loss. She's also really supportive of teammates when they make a mistake and will get in someone's face if they start getting on a teammate about an error.

Also, with social media, the younger generation is better conditioned to a lot of the crap that comes down the pipeline. For all of the negative posting that goes on, there are large pockets of people that band together to pump up and defend their peers. Amidst all of the negativity, it's refreshing to see.

 

[KnappShack]

I'm all for the younger generations knowing their value and pushing back on the abusive **** my generation put up with.

A few years ago the 2 year old hit me with one. Baby was going by ambulance to the children's hospital. Dad was obviously having issues scrambling to get stuff together.

Looked at me and said, "Daddy, it'll be alright"

If he can carry that forward then he'll be just fine.

 

[coolerifyoudid]

The main improvement I've seen regarding recent generations is acceptance. There are still close-minded people and hate groups, but the overall acceptance of people is vastly better than when I was growing up. I have noticed far less bigotry towards race, religion, sexuality, etc with my daughter and her friends. I've had some really in-depth conversations with her and she's really passionate about it. She has showed me instances where they will band together to combat a bully on social media as well.

Progress is a beautiful thing.

 

[Al_4_State]

Inspired me to get off my damn phone so much. Yes you can get off my lawn too.

This. When I'm playing with my daughter, I make a point to leave it in the other room.

 

[MeanDean]

More of a general observation.

As an old person I am very impressed with the respect I get in day-to-day interactions with younger people.

Specifically I was at a fan event definitely more geared towards the under 25 age group. While some of the clothing/tattoos/piercing seemed extreme in a lot of cases to an old man, without exception I was treated very courteously and respectfully. And I noticed they universally seemed to interact with each other very "un-Karen-like."

 

[KnappShack]

This. When I'm playing with my daughter, I make a point to leave it in the other room.

We tried a phone free weekend.

It's amazing how often you want to reach for the phone, but it was a positive.

 

[Al_4_State]

I do think there's a chunk of Gen Z that has been more or less broken by COVID and smart phones. This isn't a "kids these days" thing, it's just becoming clear to me that a segment of people in that age range were (for the most part) ruined by global events they couldn't control, and technology that evolved faster than we understand. They were set up to fail.

A positive I see is that Gen Alpha kids aren't being fed social media and constant screens at such a young age. I think they will be more social, outgoing, and capable of handling the world than their predecessors.

 

[AgronAlum]

As someone in their mid-30s, my kids have opened my eyes to how big of dickheads the boomers can be. I'm very much more on the mentality of setting them up for success vs pulling the ladder up behind me. Understanding the struggles their going though. Understanding that times are different and It's on me to adjust my thinking.