The Overprotected American Child • Hacker News Board

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#41

Post by JackCh » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:39 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #35

JackCh wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has there been any change in the rate of depression or other mental disorders in minors, and if so, is loss of autonomy one of the factors in this?

It is hard to say, since we diagnose more then before. Anecdotally, some say that yes there is such rise. Then again, teenagers are now less violent then before, commit less serious crime, get pregnant less often and take drugs less. It is hard to weight those against each other.

Do they take less drugs, or do they just take less recreational drugs? Anecdotally, I'd wager kids are taking more drugs than ever before, specifically the kind that come with a prescription. And we could really get into the weeds with which recreational drugs are/were popular with kids...

And I'd also wager that the number of kids negatively impacted by poor mental health today is a lot more than the number of kids negatively impacted by violent youth crime and teenage pregnancies in past years not so far removed from our own.

Furthermore we've got a baby/bathwater situation going on here specifically with respect to teenage pregnancy as it relates to minor autonomy. Teaching kids to use condoms and birth control needn't be thrown out with the bathwater that is overprotected children. In fact, I think you could argue that sex education for minors is an exception to the rule, where minors are being given more autonomy today than in the past.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#42

Post by golergka » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:40 PM UTC

closeparen wrote: post #15

viburnum wrote: post #3

Child poverty is the real problem. https://peoplespolicyproject.org/2018/02/16/americas-bizarre...

> "20 percent of US children live in families with incomes below 50 percent of the national median income" This is a bizarre metric. If richer families started having children at a higher rate, or poorer families slowed down, the problem would be fixed? What if we simply cut the pay of the upper 50%, not even redistributing the income? That would lower median income, and therefore shrink the "less than 50% of median…

> If richer families started having children at a higher rate, or poorer families slowed down, the problem would be fixed?

This does sound like a great idea.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#43

Post by DoreenMichele » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:42 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #40

DoreenMichele wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you are okay with people with no spine basically running this country? Because that's what high paying professionals typically do. It may not be politics, but they typically have a lot of power and their spinelessness impacts a lot more people than just themselves. I don't think this is at all a good thing.

Luckily, these people rarely have enough confidence to stay in positions of real responsibility.

#silverlining

But I don't know how much that mitigates the damage. If good leaders spend all their time cleaning up the mess left behind, it goes pretty far in preventing anything really good from happening.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#44

Post by toomuchtodo » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:46 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #43

toomuchtodo wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily, these people rarely have enough confidence to stay in positions of real responsibility.

#silverlining But I don't know how much that mitigates the damage. If good leaders spend all their time cleaning up the mess left behind, it goes pretty far in preventing anything really good from happening.

Part of being a good leader (IMHO) is realizing you’re going to be spending time mitigating the actions of others who derail progress, for whatever reason (intentional & unintentional). You are the tip of the spear, blocking the impediment of progress for those who report to you.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#45

Post by DoreenMichele » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

toomuchtodo wrote: post #44

DoreenMichele wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

#silverlining But I don't know how much that mitigates the damage. If good leaders spend all their time cleaning up the mess left behind, it goes pretty far in preventing anything really good from happening.

Part of being a good leader (IMHO) is realizing you’re going to be spending time mitigating the actions of others who derail progress, for whatever reason (intentional & unintentional). You are the tip of the spear, blocking the impediment of progress for those who report to you.

I do a whole lot of that. I have aspirations of someday getting paid for (some of) it.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#46

Post by watwut » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:48 PM UTC

JackCh wrote: post #41

watwut wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is hard to say, since we diagnose more then before. Anecdotally, some say that yes there is such rise. Then again, teenagers are now less violent then before, commit less serious crime, get pregnant less often and take drugs less. It is hard to weight those against each other.

Do they take less drugs, or do they just take less recreational drugs? Anecdotally, I'd wager kids are taking more drugs than ever before, specifically the kind that come with a prescription. And we could really get into the weeds with which recreational drugs are/were popular with kids... And I'd also wager that the number of kids negatively impacted by poor mental health today is a lot more than the number of kids…

Less heroin and similar addictive drugs. Probably also less marihuanna. Point was they are less likely to be junkies.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#47

Post by toomuchtodo » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 5:56 PM UTC

DoreenMichele wrote: post #45

toomuchtodo wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of being a good leader (IMHO) is realizing you’re going to be spending time mitigating the actions of others who derail progress, for whatever reason (intentional & unintentional). You are the tip of the spear, blocking the impediment of progress for those who report to you.

I do a whole lot of that. I have aspirations of someday getting paid for (some of) it.

Based on my limited knowledge of you from your HN posts and your history in corporate america, you’d be a great fit for a Chief Of Staff role, or any other executive role where you’re unblocking progress through mediating relationships (internally) and partnerships (externally).

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#48

Post by a_imho » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

detaro wrote: post #5

novaRom wrote: post #4

[flagged]

HN explicitly allows circumventable paywalls, please don't pollute discussions with complaints about them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html > Are paywalls ok? > It's ok to post stories from sites with paywalls that have workarounds. > In comments, it's ok to ask how to read an article and to help other users do so. But please don't post complaints about paywalls. Those are off topic.

Is there a place to give feedback to ycombinator or voice your opinion? I'm very well could be in the minority here but I would rather paywalled articles were discouraged.

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#49

Post by dang » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 6:00 PM UTC

a_imho wrote: post #48

detaro wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

HN explicitly allows circumventable paywalls, please don't pollute discussions with complaints about them. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsfaq.html > Are paywalls ok? > It's ok to post stories from sites with paywalls that have workarounds. > In comments, it's ok to ask how to read an article and to help other users do so. But please don't post complaints about paywalls. Those are off topic.

Is there a place to give feedback to ycombinator or voice your opinion? I'm very well could be in the minority here but I would rather paywalled articles were discouraged.

Yes there is: email us at hn@ycombinator.com. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.

The paywall question has long been decided though, and there are lots of previous posts that explain why: https://hn.algolia.com/?sort=byDate&dateRange=all&type=comme...

Re: The Overprotected American Child

#50

Post by JackCh » Sat, Jun 02, 2018, 6:03 PM UTC

watwut wrote: post #46

JackCh wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do they take less drugs, or do they just take less recreational drugs? Anecdotally, I'd wager kids are taking more drugs than ever before, specifically the kind that come with a prescription. And we could really get into the weeds with which recreational drugs are/were popular with kids... And I'd also wager that the number of kids negatively impacted by poor mental health today is a lot more than the number of kids…

Less heroin and similar addictive drugs. Probably also less marihuanna. Point was they are less likely to be junkies.

I've seen sources for less cannabis, but I'm skeptical that the proportion of opioid/prescription medication abuse is down. Furthermore there is also the very serious issue of adderrall abuse, which is very common, and doubtlessly related the issue of modern social expectations forced on kids.

And beyond that, I'd wager caffeine consumption is also through the roof. When I was a kid it was virtually unheard of for minors to drink coffee, and I never saw colas let alone energy drinks sold in vending machines in schools.