Do we coddle the kids too much these days?

[Aristotle]

Different skills are required for different eras.

What is a shame is that there is a tendency towards requiring "specialists" (with certificates) to do everything.

There is suspicion around the motives of people.

Risk is often seen to be something to be removed entirely (often at great expense, monetarily or otherwise) rather than managed.

Many things are not allowed by organisations for fear of future legal action. Legal action that could be extremely costly under UK law.

 

[Toddy]

So why is that ? can you identify it? and then how do you stop it ? ( respectfully )

You engage with them. You talk, you explain and you live the life with them.

We have written words, four thousand years old written words, and every century thereafter, of older folks complaining about the youth of the day, of how they are spoiled, of how they are 'coddled', know no respect, no care.....yadda, yadda, yadda....Babylonian, Chinese, Korean, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, British, German, Viking, African, Indian....the cycle goes on and on, and yet, really, look at our world.
We know it's a mess, we know humanity is violent, but we keep moving forward. In my life alone we have wonders, in my Grandparents lifetime the world has gone from science fiction to reality.....we just keep moving along. That the population is growing is the surest sign that we're succeeding.

Now virtually every child will learn to read, to access the internet, engage with electronics....it's a different world.

At base we still need to eat, to drink, to deal with waste, to have decent housing, medical care, etc., I think that would be something for humanity to actually aim for. That every child has that, that every person has that, and no war.

Maybe this generation will manage it ? Who knows I don't think people are soft or coddled though. I think some things are very much easier than they were when we were young, but others are so very much harder.
I think there is a divorce in the basic reality and understanding of how our food is produced though and how we buy and use that food. I think that needs to change.
I think too that many never learn how to physically work hard, hour on hour, day on day for weeks, months and years. They go to the gym instead of working hard.
Different times, different lives.

 

[Pattree]

Some of this is my childhood, some is the next generation.

Health & Safety bulletin.

Edited to add:
A few of us were injured.

 

[Glow_worm]

four thousand years old written words, and every century thereafter, of older folks complaining about the youth of the day

Spot on Toddy, an excellent post, same goes for 'the state of the world today'.

Human nature doesn't change much.

Technology does allow humans to do stupid things faster though.

 

[grainweevil]

Have you ever watched an eight year old designing with Minecraft.

My science teacher daughter wanted to give a student 150% for designing an interactive periodic table with Minecraft.

I haven't, no. Sounds like your daughter has a gifted pupil. If we lived solely in a virtual environment I would have far fewer fears for their future.

 

[Silverclaws2]

I don't think we 'coddle' them so much as that we have to accept that they're growing up in a very different world to the one we did.

Physical punishment was common in schools....physical punishment of children and animals was common.

It's neither common, acceptable, or legal, nowadays. Indeed every single teacher I had would have been in jail for child abuse. Yet these were upstanding, educated and 'decent' people.

I grew up in an area where the attitude was, 'Hit me and I'll hit you back harder', in a country who's national motto is Nemo me impune lacessit......no one provokes me with impunity... that can really be translated as, "Try it!".
It wasn't really conducive to pacifism

As for the social opprobriums, the disconnect from the natural world, from the reality of food production...yep, there are generations who are utterly divorced from reality.

We used to teach our children to look for the agenda behind the propaganda. Nowadays they're taught to believe whatever mince comes up on their phones

Thing is though; humanity is the ultimate (well, at present) predator on the planet. There's nothing we haven't been able to kill.....even rats, just look at Woody Girls's photos
One way or t'other our adaptability seems infinite, and relearning old skills is well within our means.

It's just a different world to the one we remember.

Instead of commerce existing to serve the consumer perhaps a transition has occurred for society to be conditioned to serve commerce where we may even come to find our governance

 

[Silverclaws2]

So who is involved in say Scouting to be in a position to teach the kids what perhaps they're not learning, for sure if folk don't get involved we can't expect the kids to learn what we think they need to learn

 

[Toddy]

I once refered to an enormous superstore supermarket as a Cathedral to the gods of consumerism....did not go down well with the company I was in


As to my earlier comment, I knew I'd read this a while back.....a teenager complaining to his Mum that she's not giving him the latest fashion to wear, and it's showing that she mustn't love him, unlike his friend, who is lower down the social totem pole and is only an adopted son of one of their employees...
.....this was nearly 4,000 years ago .......

Letter from Iddin-Sin to Zinu - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Pattree]

I once refered to an enormous superstore supermarket as a Cathedral to the gods of consumerism....did not go down well with the company I was in

A friend venerates the Goddess Bargantia attending the middle alter of her temple on Thursdays.

@grainweevil
If we lived solely in a virtual environment I would have far fewer fears for their future.

You make my point. This concept, so alien to many here, is not particularly seen so by many of my grandchildren’s generation.

 

[Silverclaws2]

Bargantia as opposed to Brigantia - lol.

 

[demographic]

Is this one of those "The Youth Of Today" type of narratives?

I'm pretty sure that story was first written down shortly after writing was invented.

Extra points avaliable for suggesting National Service where they're taught to risk their lives to kill foreigners they don't even dislike so toffs end up richer and complaining that "Kids these days" can't work like we used to.
I clearly remember being young and can assure you that lots of people dossed about at work then after a night on the lash when I was a teenager and I frequently remind them of this fact when they're in moany old git mode.

 

[Woody girl]

Yesterday's threats are very different to today's. We face a lot more today in real life than most of us did as kids. Society isn't as safe as it once was, especially for young females.
Society is ruder and less caring. We never grew up with the threats posed by the Internet and certain other demographics (if you know what I mean.)
It's scary for adults who understand, and I can see why parents might want to be a bit more over protective.
Our local school has just had a huge fence put around it, with a buzzer entry system with cameras to see who wants entry.
This is apparently to stop children getting out, and running away.
For the last 25 years, a simple armpit high post and rail fence , with chain link fencing inside this was deemed good enough.
Never had a problem before with children escaping. Makes me wonder what the real reason for such security is..I think I can guess.
It's a rural all white school.
Recent incident in Scotland, shows how safe kids are when out alone.
It would be wonderful for kids to have the same freedoms as we had in the 60,s and 70's, but the uk has changed dramatically in the last 10 yrs.
As someone who reluctantly watched her son leave the house one evening, and never come home, I understand all too well.
You can never prevent everything bad happening, it's always been a factor of life, young or old. We can only try to reduce potential harm. Some might go overboard on the protection factors. But can you blame them in todays world?

 

[nigelp]

Do we coddle older people too much?

They can’t be bothered to learn the metric system in place since 1971 that uses an easy base ten system of numbers.

Too lazy to learn to use computers and smart phones to access services that have been in place for at least 20 years.

Moan because they can’t go to a building and spend 45 minutes having a form filled out for them because they can’t read basic instructions?

Poor loves can’t remember a few 4 digit pin numbers but seem to remember the phone number they had for every house they owned or how much a pint of beer cost in 1976!

Get confused scanning the shopping when all they have to do is pass a barcode over a glass screen?

Fail to grasp that things have changed and society is now shaped around the next generation of children and adults.

Of course that all tongue in cheek and luckily old people aren’t all sensitive like the snowflake children of today so take criticism and advice well.

 

[Pattree]

[Patree sobs]

 

[Laurentius]

You engage with them. You talk, you explain and you live the life with them.

We have written words, four thousand years old written words, and every century thereafter, of older folks complaining about the youth of the day, of how they are spoiled, of how they are 'coddled', know no respect, no care.....yadda, yadda, yadda....Babylonian, Chinese, Korean, Egyptian, Greek, Roman, British, German, Viking, African, Indian....the cycle goes on and on, and yet, really, look at our world.
We know it's a mess, we know humanity is violent, but we keep moving forward. In my life alone we have wonders, in my Grandparents lifetime the world has gone from science fiction to reality.....we just keep moving along. That the population is growing is the surest sign that we're succeeding.

Now virtually every child will learn to read, to access the internet, engage with electronics....it's a different world.

At base we still need to eat, to drink, to deal with waste, to have decent housing, medical care, etc., I think that would be something for humanity to actually aim for. That every child has that, that every person has that, and no war.

Maybe this generation will manage it ? Who knows I don't think people are soft or coddled though. I think some things are very much easier than they were when we were young, but others are so very much harder.
I think there is a divorce in the basic reality and understanding of how our food is produced though and how we buy and use that food. I think that needs to change.
I think too that many never learn how to physically work hard, hour on hour, day on day for weeks, months and years. They go to the gym instead of working hard.
Different times, different lives.

Yep I am older generation now and feel justified in making comments about the kids of today, I figure though that compared to my parents generation experiencing the depression and the war, we never had it so good, to quote a certain Prime Minister

 

[MikeLA]

Agreed not just the kids, everyone. We even name the weather and panic everyone. Saw far worse weather when I was a child and played out in it

 

[demographic]

Aye, even the nostalgia was better when I was a nipper.
Jumpers for goalposts and I still ad enough left over for a fish supper etc.