Great post @dietz199
We do, but your points are legitimate. However, I am going against my natural urges to provide a counter-point, because I see where we disagree, and I don’t think that we will resolve it here.
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I understand that many people like to hide from uncomfortable reality but I’d never recommend it as a good way to deal with what actually happening in the world. I won’t apologize for taking extremely serious danger seriously.
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Again, the question was:
My answer remains, yes, I think so. I also think they had a harder fall from innocence than my generation did with everything that has gone on in the past 6 or 7 years or so.
@Lola1 I understand that your experience 30 years ago was different from most people who were living in the US, but the “safe space” dig is uncalled for. Both my kids work. One pays the rent on an apartment too. The other is still in high school. Most of their friends also work. They don’t need a “safe space” and they aren’t any of the other names that people like to throw around. They are very cognizant of what is going on in the greater world and are not solely focused on themselves and what they can and can’t buy with the money that they earn. They are trying to carve out a space for themselves and are doing so pretty successfully in their own ways, but that doesn’t mean they are oblivious to the other things happening in the world.
And again, the question isn’t are you positive or negative about the future or do you think kids should be positive or negative about the future. The question was do you think kids view the future more negatively than their parents when they were teens? Is their view affecting their plans for the future (marriage, kids, buying a house, taking risks in a career).
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This discussion has been interesting. It will probably get shut down soon for becoming too political.
Yes, like right about now.
I am closing temporarily for review.
I’m reopening this with a reminder that engaging in debate is against Forum Rules. You all agreed to the rules when you joined CC. FAQ - College Confidential Forums
I think most people commenting here are very aware that political posts are probably going to be flagged, edited or deleted, so please, keep your thoughts about socialism or other heated topics to yourself.
This is indeed an interesting thread. We are all concerned about the current state of world affairs and how it affects our kids. That’s the topic. Keeping the thread open depends on you. Thanks for your cooperation.
In an attempt to get things back on track, let’s focus on the original question. I think there’s quite a lot of agreement that kids do view things more negatively. Whether they should do or not is besides the point.
Some have pointed to disappointment with politics in the last few years as one explanation. But is that because of the contrast with their formative childhood years? Today’s age 18-22 college kids are too young to remember 9/11 and probably too young to have their views shaped directly by the 2008 recession unless their family saw very lasting effects.
But at least in my case, my formative early teen years were the first half of the 1980s, from the Iranian hostage crisis to “Morning in America”. And there was (mostly) a steady upwards trend after that, culminating in the fall of the Berlin Wall, with no change in politics under a 12 year Republican administration.
My kids at least saw a dramatic swing in politics between the first and second half of the last decade. Even if the economic trends continued in a generally positive direction (eg falling unemployment), I can see that being a shock, especially when they were told by the media it wasn’t going to happen. But is whiplash an explanation for their negative outlook?
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I think what is going on right now in Ukraine will certainly affect young people. And based on the opinion of several experts, I do not share the confidence shared by some that Putin will not use nuclear weapons. Breaking that barrier would certainly affect young people’s view of the future.
I am afraid that the more effectively Ukrainians fight heroically, and the more support is given by Europe and the US, the more likely the use of nuclear weapons is. Of course with escalation of the conventional weapons now being used, nuclear may not be necessary.
The young adults I know are profoundly affected by empathy for Ukraine as well as fear of what is going to happen. It is a sort of loss of innocence and a shock.
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As Mr Fred Rogers said, “Look for the helpers, they’re always there.”
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deleted, not posting here again
In terms of geopolitical concerns 30 years agos Sadam Hussein (supported by Russia) invaded and took over Kuwait and the entire world (primarily the US) militarily extricated him from Kuwait and invaded Iraq. There were concerns that could precipitate a WW as well. I was in my 30’s then and not just out of school so my perspective was different but I remember that for a time we were very concerned.
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I was just past 20 years old then and remember it well. It certainly heightened my worry but I don’t remember it making me think hard about long range plans.
I don’t disagree that these things need to happen. But we should be careful in these type of positive/forward efforts to not ignore the terrible devastation of their cities, the injuries and deaths, etc.
Turn on the light, one person at a time - all that. But don’t let it cloud the truth and daily real life situation which is a real-time crisis.
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