Could today's kids and teens survive and thrive in the era you grew up in?

Question

Hey there, everyone! I've got a really thought-provoking question I want to pose to all of you today.

Do you honestly think the current generation of kids and teenagers would be able to survive and thrive if they had to navigate the world that you grew up in? Or is the contrast between your experiences just too stark for them to handle?

I'm really curious to get your take on this, my fellow grown-ups. Do you genuinely believe today's kids and teens could adapt and succeed in the era we grew up in? Or is the generational gap just too wide for them to bridge? I'm excited to hear your honest thoughts and reflections on this fascinating question.

So let's dive in - what do you think? Could the young people of today actually make it in the world we navigated back in the day? I'm looking forward to an insightful discussion on this one!

Sal_Monella · Accepted Answer

It's hard to say. Lots of kids are being brought up in rural areas where families are more cohesive and parents are censoring what their children are exposed to. I was exposed to Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. The world is very different in affluent suburbs.

I live part time in one of those rural areas. Public school kids are not allowed to have their cell phones on at school and parents are restricting Internet usage. Kids can play outside safely. Lots of boys are still play baseball and Hockey instead of fiddling with video games. And lots of boys are still driving their father's pickup trucks when they are 13 or 14 years old.

I have relatives in the suburbs. When I was in high school we were introduced to a lot of literature. Not only the classics but also more modern stuff like 1984 and Brave New World. I also read A Clockwork Orange, Animal Farm and Atlas Shrugged. And I watched the Twilight Zone on TV. And the only thing I can say is A lot of this stuff in these books and TV episodes have come true.

The life they live is so different from the way it was when I was a kid that it is hard to recognize. My feeling is that things have not changed for the better. It seems like we have forgotten more things that modern young kids will ever know. But you know what, I admit that I am biased.

I just discovered this site. I think I'm going to stay around and watch for a while.. Maybe I'll learn something.

Effably · Accepted Answer

Statistically they work harder, are smarter and more capable. Physically and mentally stronger.

People seem to forget that humanity is moving forward. Each new generation is, in pretty much every way but generalised knowledge, better than the one before.

So would marginally smarter and more hard working kids be able to do fine when I grew up? Sure.

In reality they either can take their learned knowledge and breeze through school, social gatherings, media climate and more or we invent some make-believe where they can not and well in that case its not like we're biologically much different.

Of course there are many things that would translate poorly. I am not that old but when I grew up, if you got into a fight you finished it yourself and then made peace. No enmity, no escalation. Today? Much harsher world.

Simslover92 · Accepted Answer

I said maybe. Without devices like smartphones and tablets I don't know if they would tbh. All we did as kids was play outside. We made up all kinds of games to have fun. These kids today don't seem to have that same amount of imagination and creativity to make up games to play. Reading was also a big thing back then. These kids and teens today don't like to read. I subbed for a while and the majority hated reading if it wasn't off social media. But there are the few select kids and teens that have parents that raised them to be away from technology as much as possible and I commend those parents who don't allow their kids to have smartphones until they get into their teen years. It's becoming a bit more unrealistic to do so but it's still very much possible to raise your child without having a lot of technological devices.

CupcakeTheDestroyer · Accepted Answer

If you took the kids of today and had them be born the same year I was or my mother was, they would survive just fine by learning the same skills we did as we grew up. If you’re talking about taking a teen today and putting them as they are in a time before the internet, they would go out and do more, they might be a little unsure of how to adjust at first but once they adjust they’ll be fine. I don’t know why so many people assume the generation they’re teaching is somehow inept compared to how they were as teenagers learning from the generation before us.

Sonorous · Answer

Chose yes because humans are very adaptable creatures.

TonyMetal___86 · Answer

As a millenial born in the mid 80's i can live in any era and be myself!

I spent the majority of my time when i was a child till my late teenage years with my late grand parents who were born in 1920 (greatest generation or G. I generation) i have absorbed their whole mentality than my parents came from the baby boomers generation whom i was raised by their morals and values, than my older friends came from gen x mixed with my millenial generation than came my son who is from gen z, i was capable to adapt to all these generations, now i'm looking forward to the alpha and beta generation hehe

wynning · Answer

I feel like the people who said no are the old people who think "kids these days tsk tsk" every passing day (I don't blame them, we/they are something alright lol) but I think we could although it would take A LOT of adjustment and accommodating on our part.
The ones who'd struggle are already struggling with the quirks of this day and age. Those kind of people are too far gone even in their current situation !

DrPepper12 · Answer

NO FUCKING WAY WOULD MY KIDS NIECES NEPHEWS OR STUDENTS HAVE SURVIVED!!

Gen X here. 80s were irreproducible! I have SO MANY STORIES of FAFO, karma, fate, luck, destiny. Life n death shit. I lost a few friends along the way and I still marvel at those of us that are still here when the odds say we shouldn't be.

The autonomy and responsibility went hand in hand and your name & your word meant something.

Cops, nuns, teachers, bosses, neighbors, landlords, and other assorted "authority" figures who TRIED to make me a respectable member of society. And none of this texting shit! You did it face to face or not at all. Even if it was on the phone, you drag that phone into the bathroom and clothes line your entire family if you wanted to have any possibility of privacy.

Wouldn't trade for ANY other era.

BonzoInBitburg · Answer

I would say no. They way we spoke to each other is considered bullying now. We had to learn how to deal with it. To be fair, I wouldn't be able to survive as a kid now. I wouldn't want the things I did showing up on YouTube for eternity. We played outside until the streetlight came on. Not sure you could even find 2 kids in the same neighborhood who want to play outside

Rei13 · Answer

I think most of them would, if you’re just flinging them back in time as-is. People adapt to their environment. Some might have a harder time than others but that would hold true for any generation getting flung back to the one previous to their own lol.

Likestorizz · Answer

Probably not I grew up in mexico in a remote place as a toddler I was thought to deal with the stuff I had. I learned to be independent and I was like 6 at the time, by the time I was 9 living in the US I was easily crossing streets to buy things from stores. I see my families kids and at 12 no they can't do anything

HawkPerception · Answer

This generation is full of little entitled, soft, pampered princesses.

NathanDavis · Answer

could they do it? absolutely yes...

if I could and was able to do it, so would they

they would have to grow up in those conditions and settings and adapt to them very well, just like every generation has done it too... lol

AviatorTom · Answer

If they titime-warped back to simpler times, they would initially be lost without the Internet, social media and their smartphone. But eventually, they would learn to fit in, talk with people, use paper maps, and OMG use a landline.

Fireguy17 · Answer

it kind of depends. I grew up no tech of any kind, so if they go back in time and are just plopped say in the 60s, they would be kind of lost. Plus so many of them did not have to work, then it was expected to do chores around the house, if you grew up on a farm you worked your butt off.
I don't see many of them operating a tractor at 12 years old.

itsannalee · Answer

I was growing up in the good situation, just there was no internet. So i don’t think there is a reason for kids nowadays not to survive if they live in the past or my era.

sage2021 · Answer

No way! We went to work at age 16. They don't even want to work at all.

Sono83 · Answer

I am sure they would adapt. The hardest things would be not being able to walk around with a cell phone and not having parents hovering over them, telling them what to do. They would have to be able to run around the neighborhood and entertain themselves all day.

dreamstar72 · Answer

No they could not, they would be without the cellphones modern technology, less social messaging, actually going to a library to find stuff. There is no Google to help you. You use a pen/typewriter to write out your assignment/letters if you make a mistake well back to the beginning. The cellphone would be the biggest shock.

art84 · Answer

I don't think so, I remember growing up in the 90's and my brother and me would play outside with bikes, toys, yardwork, vyard work, on the weekends. We had basic cable and no computer till 1998. Kids today love being on phones, tablets, videogames so it would be hard without that form of entertainment.

strateguy632 · Answer

Impossible these kids are too fragile for the tough world my generation had in school.

PBandJ_Nerd · Answer

I'm gen z so I'd say yes. Or they'd at least half survive.

Lynx122 · Answer

We're all a product of our environment. All these tough guys, you might soon get the chance to prove just how tough you are if things keep going like they're going :) I hope your wish comes true.

beenherebefore · Answer

They could if they didn't know what internet, social media, iPhones and iPads are.

exitseven · Answer

No, I really tried to shield my kids from all the stuff I had to deal with when I was growing up. I really do not regret it because it really was pretty bad but sometimes I wonder if they maybe they do not appreciate what they have,.

ABC1x1x · Answer

We played a game called Smear the "word I'd be banned for saying" rhymes with smear and you're not allowed to say it... that's how bad they wouldn't survive. Little weak ass rhymes with smears.

Dongie · Answer

Hah, they wouldn't last one day! Those mean fuckin kids back then, fogitAboutit!!

Anonymous · Answer

no because everyone seems to put too much emphasis on their feelings over facts

LiamJHayden · Answer

I started on third base so I cannot answer this fairly.

seeyounexttuesday · Answer

No fuckin way these snowflakes could survive the 70s and 80s.

ewok737 · Answer

I grew up in the 60's and 70's life was a lot simpler then.

Anonymous · Answer

Maybe some of them would, but most of them are too obsessed by damn cell phones.

Aakash_Hangargi · Answer

Very easily, I think Generation X had it tough to make things stay working they gave us ready made setup which was then enhanced.

DishLady · Answer

LMAO. No, certainly not.

Jay-_- · Answer

I definitely can, any era.

beefcakebradybatson · Answer

I guess, especially the smart ones.

Lilly1979 · Answer

I don't know somewhere having kids at a 15/16.

MemeSupreme · Answer

yeah it's pretty similar

fish5505_87 · Answer

If they were born in it!

alice55 · Answer

easily

Anonymous · Answer

Why not?

Could today's kids and teens survive and thrive in the era you grew up in?

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