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Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

chicagotribune.com

161–170 of 211 posts

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#161
post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Probably a correlation of lead exposure to anti-vaccines views then. I noticed it's mostly a slightly older generation to my own that are anti-vaccine.

People even older than that remember what its like to not have them.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#162

Earlier 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.

The current generation is "coddled", and they should be. I grew up in rural Alaska, in one of the snowiest spots on the globe. If other people had somewhat less hellish school commutes I would consider that civilized. If on the other hand the goal is to expose children to potentially lethal weather conditions, Alaska still exists.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#163
post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, the late '00s and '10s was about EDM and the resurgence of raves, as well as Ecstasy and so forth. Mega-DJs like Skrillex, David Guetta, deadmau5, Avicii, etc.

But are these Mega DJ's cultural icons ? I like Skrillex's and deadmau5's music, but can they compare in cultural impact to a Freddy Mercury or John Lennon? Why am I not seeing the skillex t-shirts ?

Maybe we're just less likely to have musical affinities when it's so easy to access a zillion different artists instead of what happens to be on the radio/in the record store. Could it be that the shirts you see around are for groups you don't know, and you don't recognize them?

It was quite a while (somewhat embarrassed by this) until I realized that abstract mountainous shirt I see around is for Joy Division. Similarly, if I had City of Caterpillar shirt on I'd be surprised if anyone recognized it.

More generally, there's a school of thought that the use of clothing as a signal of membership in a given group is becoming less necessary. One can discover who at their school likes punk through online means whereas before you might need to rely on who's wearing punk stuff.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#164

They'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.

Please cut the outdated ignorant bigotry about gender and sexual orientation.

Since someone got so offended as to flag my previous post(poor you), here a more censored version

[..] many interesting, relevant, revealing studies made it onto the frontpage of HN, [redacted] @"medification" of our food supply @evolving mixture of chemicals 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.

[..]

Is there 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 chemicals? 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 are being written about this for decades, even popular ones(Huxley & co). Publicly available lectures are given, well-meaning, manipulated [redacted] with doctorate degrees are _publicly_ advocating the move towards a new human species(world sci fest 2016 is a nice popular example). A 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?

#165
post #139
post #91

I wonder what it's like to grow up in a world you know was trashed -- likely to have more plastic in the ocean than fish, wars over resources, hundreds of millions of people displaced from their homes, population decreases, etc... all consequences of past generations' carelessness. Maybe not all those things will happen, but some will. That has to factor into your world view and behavior.

I thought you were talking about the present. It's only a mild exaggeration.

I think they were indeed talking about the present. Is it any exaggeration at all?

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please cut the outdated ignorant bigotry about gender and sexual orientation.

Since someone got so offended as to flag my previous post(poor you), here a more censored version [..] many interesting, relevant, revealing studies made it onto the frontpage of HN, [redacted] @"medification" of our food supply @evolving mixture of chemicals 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 causi…

You were likely flagged for spouting gibberish from a troll account, and you will likely be flagged again for regurgitating it.

Please try to find something more productive to do with your time.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#167
post #141

Good parenting? As a parent, I was proud that my sons waited to date, took public transportation or rode their bikes, don't drink cause they're not 21 yet, and decided to have sex at the perfectly reasonable age of 19. I did like how the end of the article mentioned how scary the world is today. They should try living through the Cold War, and the time of Crips and Bloods, and gas lines, and the housing crash. Now th…

> don't drink cause they're not 21 yet That's how you get drunk people once they're free to buy alcohol. Parents should help their children discover alcohol safely at home so it is not some mystical drink you can't wait to get your hands on. A glass of good wine here and there during family reunions, one or two beers with the barbecue, maybe some whiskey and vodka to learn what the good stuff tastes like. Suddenly it…

I think alcohol consumption is tied with the social circle of teenagers. I was a shy, silent pupil at high school, but I knew how to play guitar. So I joined a band, and instantly started going out once a week to drink. None of us were old enough to drink, but we managed to find bars which allowed us a few drinks.

For the dating part, I think this is tied up with the insecurity of kids nowadays. There is a lot of competition, the TV/internet is bombarding us with beauty ideals and perfect relationships. It is easy to give up and convince yourself that you'll be "forever alone". There are even communities online, where kids with no relationships hang out. And the longer they wait, the harder it gets for them to start a relationship.

IMHO the kids need to find a way to bite the bullet and be social.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

Yes, I was also thinking porn. Porn and gaming. Gaming and porn. Who needs to drive? Or bother with actual humans?

Humans are by-and-large terrible creatures anyways.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#169
post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From the female side, safer sex and pregnancy prevention can also get pretty expensive in terms of time and money. Getting on the pill requires multiple doctor's appointments, and the pill itself can cost upwards of $50 a month. Just that could be a reason young women who have received comprehensive sex ed can't be bothered to try PIV sex.

> the pill itself can cost upwards of $50 a month Wow! In Europe, at least in my part of it, it's like $3 to $5 per month.

Welcome to America, my friend.

Re: Why are today's teens putting off driving, dating and drinking?

#170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's surprising indeed, citations?

from https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/04/hey-par... > Even rubber surfacing doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference in the real world. David Ball, a professor of risk management at Middlesex University, analyzed U.K. injury statistics and found that as in the U.S., there was no clear trend over time. “The advent of all these special surfaces for playgrounds has contributed very little, if anyt…

>Ball has found some evidence that long-bone injuries, which are far more common than head injuries, are actually increasing.

My assumption is that has nothing to do with rubber playgrounds, but the fact more kids are obese than ever. The less you weigh, the less you splat when you fall.

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