The younger generation.......

[NT_Tiger]

I'll throw my two cents in.
My family lives in a small town. It's small enough that I know most of the kids my sons age or at least, if not their names, what they look like. Out of twentyfive or so boys in his age group, my son regularly plays with about six at school.
After school there is almost no-one to play with. Two of his mates are sometimes out and about, but that is only now and again.
We became concerned that he would often just go to the park behind our house to play on his own. We asked him why nobody came out to play and the response was that all the kids are home playing x-box. It's bizarre that you rarely (almost never) see kids out and about on bikes, on the footy grounds or at the basketball courts, they're all home staring at a screen.
Sort of frightening really as a reflection of our society.

 

[TrueTiger]

My favourite part of your rant was when you said:

"The computer age is really ruining the kids of today"

which was preceded by:

"…if you want to know more about Nostradarmus then Google it..." :laughing: :laughing: :laughing:

Nice sarcastic input bone..what I meant was the xbox computer games side of technology,but throw in your smartass answer to get a laugh from yourself..

One of my sons friend had his computer confiscated from him by his parents,because he was given it for school purposes and all he did with it was download games and go to unsavoury sites..rarely used it for projects…...that was my point...

 

[tsjonathan]


 

[Tigermama]

Doesn't start with the parents, it starts with their school peers.

Do they have Parents?

Touche!

 

[tsjonathan]



 

[happy_tiger]

I'll throw my two cents in.
My family lives in a small town. It's small enough that I know most of the kids my sons age or at least, if not their names, what they look like. Out of twentyfive or so boys in his age group, my son regularly plays with about six at school.
After school there is almost no-one to play with. Two of his mates are sometimes out and about, but that is only now and again.
We became concerned that he would often just go to the park behind our house to play on his own. We asked him why nobody came out to play and the response was that all the kids are home playing x-box. It's bizarre that you rarely (almost never) see kids out and about on bikes, on the footy grounds or at the basketball courts, they're all home staring at a screen.
Sort of frightening really as a reflection of our society.

But is it a reflection on us ??

The minute I ask my son whether he wants to go down the footy fields and do some goal kicking practice he can't get his boots on quick enough

Maybe we as a whole need to try and find more time to spend quality time with our kids , despite the long hours we spend at work etc

 

[NT_Tiger]

I'll throw my two cents in.
My family lives in a small town. It's small enough that I know most of the kids my sons age or at least, if not their names, what they look like. Out of twentyfive or so boys in his age group, my son regularly plays with about six at school.
After school there is almost no-one to play with. Two of his mates are sometimes out and about, but that is only now and again.
We became concerned that he would often just go to the park behind our house to play on his own. We asked him why nobody came out to play and the response was that all the kids are home playing x-box. It's bizarre that you rarely (almost never) see kids out and about on bikes, on the footy grounds or at the basketball courts, they're all home staring at a screen.
Sort of frightening really as a reflection of our society.

But is it a reflection on us ??

The minute I ask my son whether he wants to go down the footy fields and do some goal kicking practice he can't get his boots on quick enough

Maybe we as a whole need to try and find more time to spend quality time with our kids , despite the long hours we spend at work etc

I agree that parental involvement is critical. My son's the same as yours. We're off to the footy field, basketball court, bushwalking or on long bush track bike rides by his choice. But then we don't (and won't) own an x-box.
I know that the parents of two of my son's best mates are working long hours and so are not around immediately after school. Those kids could run amok after school and do what they like without supervision, but while my son gets out and about, those kids stay home and play computer games.

 

[innsaneink]

When I was fourteen I was riding my bike and playing footy in the park

Learning history and religion was probably the last thing on my mind

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

When I was fourteen I was riding my bike and playing footy in the park

Learning history and religion was probably the last thing on my mind

Yeah, you were out experiencing the world first hand though Ink, watching people interact, and having to interact with others on a face to face level. There's a stark change in the (lack of) worldliness of children now. Sitting behind a TV screen they learn jack, save maybe how to abuse people over a headset on xBox Live.

My father left school at 14 to help his father on the farm, comparatively I started an apprenticeship at 18\. While I felt I had a handle on the world and could communicate with people, I was far less travelled than my old man at the same age. He was in Sydney working by that age, paying rent and loaded with financial responsibility. I was still living at home just starting out in a trade.

I was far less burdened my dad, and kids are even less burdened than my generation was. In turn, kids are not equipped for how harsh the world can be. You don't get participation medals in life.

 

[tsjonathan]

Since i had no idea about uploading the picture. This would be great to buy for your kids

http://prankpack.com/products/extreme-chores

 

[happy_tiger]

I'll throw my two cents in.
My family lives in a small town. It's small enough that I know most of the kids my sons age or at least, if not their names, what they look like. Out of twentyfive or so boys in his age group, my son regularly plays with about six at school.
After school there is almost no-one to play with. Two of his mates are sometimes out and about, but that is only now and again.
We became concerned that he would often just go to the park behind our house to play on his own. We asked him why nobody came out to play and the response was that all the kids are home playing x-box. It's bizarre that you rarely (almost never) see kids out and about on bikes, on the footy grounds or at the basketball courts, they're all home staring at a screen.
Sort of frightening really as a reflection of our society.

But is it a reflection on us ??

The minute I ask my son whether he wants to go down the footy fields and do some goal kicking practice he can't get his boots on quick enough

Maybe we as a whole need to try and find more time to spend quality time with our kids , despite the long hours we spend at work etc

I agree that parental involvement is critical. My son's the same as yours. We're off to the footy field, basketball court, bushwalking or on long bush track bike rides by his choice. But then we don't (and won't) own an x-box.
I know that the parents of two of my son's best mates are working long hours and so are not around immediately after school. Those kids could run amok after school and do what they like without supervision, but while my son gets out and about, those kids stay home and play computer games.

We have an X Box and we have the same fun as other parents asking him 14 times to turn the dam thing off :brick:

Kids seem to lack the imagination at times to amuse themselves without something electronic

 

[happy_tiger]

When I was fourteen I was riding my bike and playing footy in the park

Learning history and religion was probably the last thing on my mind

I think the biggest problem is now there is so much focus on the bad element in the world Ink

When I speak to my parents there was no concerns about kids being kidnapped , dealt drugs when we were kids

Maybe in our day we have become too overprotective for our kids , but when you know that less than 500 metres from your own home a drug lab was in operation and 500 metres in the other direction a man lived who viciously murdered a young woman you think twice about letting your kids go for a ride on their bikes alone like we could when we were kids

 

[tsjonathan]

This is going to be long off season…

 

[TrueTiger]

This is going to be long off season…

Yep ts,just lets keep the topics coming…variety is the spice of life....

 

[innsaneink]

When I was fourteen I was riding my bike and playing footy in the park

Learning history and religion was probably the last thing on my mind

Yeah, you were out experiencing the world first hand though Ink, watching people interact, and having to interact with others on a face to face level. There's a stark change in the (lack of) worldliness of children now. Sitting behind a TV screen they learn jack, save maybe how to abuse people over a headset on xBox Live.

My father left school at 14 to help his father on the farm, comparatively I started an apprenticeship at 18\. While I felt I had a handle on the world and could communicate with people, I was far less travelled than my old man at the same age. He was in Sydney working by that age, paying rent and loaded with financial responsibility. I was still living at home just starting out in a trade.

I was far less burdened my dad, and kids are even less burdened than my generation was. In turn, kids are not equipped for how harsh the world can be. You don't get participation medals in life.

I've always tried to mantian a balance with the kids. We decided early in their lives they would do at least one sport or activity each summer and winter.. We also let them have their toys and electronics too… My stepdaughter is very outgoing... My son very quiet... But they both are seeming to cope ok with the problems all young people these days face.
They're both well and tired of my " in my day stories "... But they learn from them too I'm sure as me and my sis did also.
I've seen one of my son's friend when he was about twelve.... Was in their house and it was obvious the kids hadn't moved from the lounge room TV and ps2 for a few days
Laziness... His mum was a junkie

 

[Goose]

The "young people today" mentality has existed well before this generation.

Things change from generation to generation in loads of ways, and as we become older we often forget how we were when we were younger.

2 things remain constant young people in general are more care free and have a much greater focus on things that seem frivolous when we get older.
Responsibilities of "adulthood" skew our priorities.

Like it or not, each generation almost always surpasses the previous in lifting everyone's standard of living (the accepted measure of success). So in all likely hood these young lazy people will be more successful than us.

 

[batboy]

I see it in the kids coming out of school to my business.. (Trade based)

They are getting worse, and worse and worse… The only good ones, are the ones that went to work on the weekends with Dad from when they were young.
Physically - The kids these days are muted... They have no hand/Foot - eye co-ordination, No gauge of danger / Assessment of situations, They're even poor drivers...

I'm not 40 and my childhood was spent, Climbing Trees, Riding Bikes, Building Bike Tracks - Swinging Ropes - Cubby Houses and Flying Foxes, Neighbourhood Cricket or Footy in the park... Doing stuff.

Kids these days wouldn't have done most of those things....
It's a shame more than anything

 

[tig_prmz]

technology and ways to entertain will always keep evolving imo.

one thing i do feel 'the young people' lack is respect. not just respect of the elderly, teachers etc but respect of things in general. they're abusive and oblivious to a lot of stuff, i and others would have killed to have

 

[Saturnalia]

I said if you want to know more about Nostradarmus then Google it and read about his fascinating story…..his answer to me was,na I would rather play call of duty on my ex box...

So what I'm saying is,this younger generation would rather play the technology game more so than learn history and current affairs where they could enlighten themselves for future conversations....I suppose Iam from the old school and to him I'm a dinosaur,but at least I have had the education to be able to understand how our world is evolving.....
Give me a good historical piece in a magazine....the computer age is really ruining the kids of today......just my opinion,but I would love to hear some others stories...cheers...

I was reading through your post and it struck me that it seems he was quite engaged with you when you were answering his questions but he may not be engaged enough to seek out the answers on his own.

I'm a programmer by trade and I find this kind of thinking that computers have ruined kids very strange.

I mean I could replace "his answer to me was,na I would rather play call of duty on my ex box…" with

"his answer to me was,na I would rather ride my bike around the neighbourhood..."

Neither of those things have anything to do with the Computer Age imo

The Computer Age hasn't changed anything, those who are interested can still read about it online or in print. Those who are not interested can play X-box, Cards, or watch TV.

Also as an aside: I play video games still and i'm nearly 30 years old. (Average age of someone who plays game is 27, so i'm on the wrong side of that bell curve). I do think that schools should be teaching programming. it's a fun and engaging way of teaching kids Math & Logic and that will even help them understand how difficult making things like Call of Duty actually is.

 

[Cultured_Bogan]

I see it in the kids coming out of school to my business.. (Trade based)

They are getting worse, and worse and worse… The only good ones, are the ones that went to work on the weekends with Dad from when they were young.
Physically - The kids these days are muted... They have no hand/Foot - eye co-ordination, No gauge of danger / Assessment of situations, They're even poor drivers...

I'm not 40 and my childhood was spent, Climbing Trees, Riding Bikes, Building Bike Tracks - Swinging Ropes - Cubby Houses and Flying Foxes, Neighbourhood Cricket or Footy in the park... Doing stuff.

Kids these days wouldn't have done most of those things....
It's a shame more than anything

Quote for truth Batboy. Kids are very much "unworldly" these days. My wife is about 6 weeks off giving birth to our first, and I have promised that I will raise them the way I was. If we don't I fear my child will grow up without a sense of how to communicate or hard work.

She is the "lock the house when you're inside" type and I hate living in fear. My parents pushed me out of the door and the missus' parents were a lot more guarded.

I worked with my father every weekend I could because I got paid a pittance to do so and I got to spend time with him as he worked a hell of a lot of overtime and wasn't home as much when I was young. It also gave me a footing to get into the trade myself which I've made a living off. It's given me more than I could have ever hoped for.

I want my kids to be worldly, be streetsmart and be able to handle themselves in life. Not be a doormat because they cannot handle the unsavoury characters that life may send their way.