All of those things cost money.
Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
71–80 of 211 posts
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#72They're not smoking either. Those things are no longer cool badges of maturity, independence, or rebellion. Instead, they're getting piercings and tattoos, identifying as alternative genders, sexting, and claiming more flexible sexual orientations. Alarms the old folks just as effectively.
:) "identifying as alternative gender"
Given how many interesting, relevant, revealing studies made it onto the frontpage of HN, wondering why did the ongoing silent chemical and psychological war against most of humanity didn't made it into the list. Nobody is mentioning the "medification" of our food supply as one of the (possible) causes for that part. That evolving mixture of chemical weapons being purposely introduced into every part of our environment, its effects on pre-natal development in humans, havoc that some of the same chemicals are causing in nature. Do you think it's an accident that you won't find anything in your bathroom that does not contain SLS? (what was it, 5 days halflife? not bad for an endocrine disruptor used daily, absorbed through the skin, don't worry, they even add it into children's toothpaste, gotta love the FDA). How many mutilated children are being born because their mothers were exposed to those weapons? Have you seen the numbers? How would you explain those? Not to mention the targeted destruction of families, values, the fabric of human nature. Don't hipster folk watch TED videos anymore? Why are you not capable of making connections that would at least have a chance to make the world a better place? Is it some kind of mental block, a fallacy by association electrical wire knotted around your intellect with a buzzer held by some sociopath in an expensive suit? Modern-era mental slavery disguised behind "political correctness"?
Humanity is being transformed. Books have been written about this for decades, even popular ones(Huxley & co). Lectures were given, well-meaning, manipulated idiots with doctorate degrees are publicly advocating a new human species. Hipster with a PhD, the perfect slave, the right soup of ideology and ego stimulation and he'd kill 100 million people for whatever "higher purpose" we convince him he is fighting for. Power never had it easier.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#73Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every 10 years someone posts this. The message it sends is this "I don't actually take time to understand the unique situation of being a kid in today's economy and culture. I do not acknowledge that the experience is rapidly changing. I am uncomfortable with this new world and would rather put the blame on kids being 'coddled' without any data to suggest this than confront my own lack of understanding."
Every previous generation thinks the current generation is coddled. When I was a kid, I had to walk through 10 miles of snow to get to school. "Snow day"? Schools are creating sissies I tell ya.
That doesn't make it not true. It's very possible (and seems likely to me) that each generation has been more coddled than the previous in recent memory.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#74There are a pile of different answers to these questions (not question), ones that should be asked separately. For example, excluding factors that affect all the questions, putting off drinking is likely a combination of consumer education and the difficulty in getting alcohol pre-21. Fewer adults want to provide their younger peers alcohol because of legal risks. Driving is the combination of increasing expense to d…
My prior is like yours: There are likely different answers to the various points listed above. Regarding this one: > Sex probably includes factors of better sexual education. Higher pregnancy rates are seen in populations with no or bad sexual education. Also, you are 'held to the fire' by the state if you get someone pregnant. It's possible that the easy availability of porn has a lot more to do with this than just…
>> Less sex
When I was in high school, I had no idea of what STDs looked like. We learned about it in sex-ed but none of us knew tangibly. There were rumors it was like the flu. Now, google "Genital Warts" and you get an up close view in no time. That alone drives far more caution than what I exercised 25yrs ago.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#75There are a pile of different answers to these questions (not question), ones that should be asked separately. For example, excluding factors that affect all the questions, putting off drinking is likely a combination of consumer education and the difficulty in getting alcohol pre-21. Fewer adults want to provide their younger peers alcohol because of legal risks. Driving is the combination of increasing expense to d…
There's strong correlations as well. Less working likely means less money. Less money means less alcohol. Less alcohol means less sex.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#76No one mentions video games? It seems like they really cut into both the desire and the time to do those things.
Likewise homework. Anecdote: My kids have vastly more homework than I ever had.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#77Because todays kids are coddled and have a 'safety net' of being able to stay home and not join 'adulthood'. I mean when I was a teen ager - my parents couldn't afford to support me. I had no way of staying home and riding it out. If I wanted anything in my late teens (car, fuel, guitar, computer, books, money for dates - etc.) I had to come up with the money for it - my parents provided shelter, food, clothing and a…
>> Today, I see plenty of kids having iPods, Mac Book pros, flashy clothes and driving cars all provided by their parents. Why work hard? Why take chances? Life isn't that bad after all.
I see the same thing happenning, but IMHO nothing has actually changed -- I have just been lucky, educated, and hard-working enough to have gone up several socio-economic tiers. What i'm seeing was likely the case even back when I was young, except on the other side of the tracks. Now i'm living on that other side.
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#78They're not smoking either. Those things are no longer cool badges of maturity, independence, or rebellion. Instead, they're getting piercings and tattoos, identifying as alternative genders, sexting, and claiming more flexible sexual orientations. Alarms the old folks just as effectively.
Federal taxes on cigarettes went up 250% to pay for health care/SCHIP in the past 30 years or so. There is a pretty good correlation with smoking rates and cost of cigarettes.
http://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/abs/10.2105/AJPH.82.1.9...
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#79I'd be curious to hear how this trend compares across countries. Are teens in, say, England drinking less and having less sex than their American counterparts, or this an entirely American phenomenon?
Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?
#80Reduced exposure to lead probably has something to do with it. http://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2014/08/childhood-lead... "This means that lead exposure is likely to be associated not just with violent crime, but with juvenile misbehavior, drug use, teen pregnancy, and other risky behaviors."
Wow... that would have to be almost as good correlation as vaccines cause autism. I have a feeling it is more likely due to easier access to knowledge.
Except it's well known that
lead exposure during childhood can cause irreversible brain damage.