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U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

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Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#241

Post by cirgue »

Zak wrote: post #14

Part of the issue, I think is that teenagers are more restricted by parents, laws, and business owners than they used to be. As with younger children, parents are less likely now than in past decades to allow their teenage children to travel alone or hang out in groups without adults present. Legal restrictions compound the issue, with curfew laws being increasingly common, as well as increased driving ages and gradu…

This doesn't just apply to teens: we as a society suck at creating social spaces outside of the home and work for anyone. Churches failed catastrophically to adapt to changing social values, civil-society type organizations have done nothing but decline for decades, and people in general have less free time to devote to building communities outside of work.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#242

Post by ams6110 »

CalRobert wrote: post #238
Zenst wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true, in essence driving them into online friend interactions. Makes you wonder what life will be like for children 50 years from now, and how that would compare with today. After there was a time when making explosives was a childhood right of passage along with chemistry sets, making fires, even having a pocket knife. Today, such common activities would not end well at all, however innocent the intention. These…

50 years from now there's a decent chance they'll be coping with the fallout from climate change (or hey, maybe antibiotic resistance?) and the collapse of the power structures that stifles the existence of current teenagers.

Might end up being more fun. Sounds better than sitting in a bedroom in front of a screen for 12 hours a day.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#243

Post by dsfyu404ed »

bluedino wrote: post #219
Multicomp wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Before 9/11, kids could get away with more. Not so these days (so I'm told) Anecdote: my dad was stopped in an early 70s Mazda that was barely running and had a rusty floorboard hole so big you could stick your foot in it and flintstone down the road if you were a moron. He and a buddy loaded up 3-6 rifles and threw them in the back seat to go on down the road to shoot some skeets and/or whatever poor Cardinals were…

I've been pulled over in the last couple years with a handful of rifles in the back seat of my truck. On the way to/from the shooting range. Let the officer know what I had and why, they don't even bother to look back there.

I'd venture a guess you're not a male under 30 driving a beater car (i.e. the high crime demographic).

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#244

Post by cirgue »

hardwaregeek wrote: post #116

Idk if this is specific to my generation, but us young people suck at hanging out. People never confirm whether or not they're going to an event. They flake all the time, often without warning. If they're not flaking, they're perpetually late, often absurdly (nothing like getting to a place and getting a text about just leaving). It drives me nuts. But it's so ubiquitous, it's hard to take a stand against it. It's li…

> It's like people forgot how to hang out with friends.

This isn't unique, I grew up on the cusp of cellphone ubiquity, and I think it's that in the first few years after people have real latitude in managing their own time, there's a steep learning curve. In In my experience though, this started to change around 18/19 when people started to realize that being flakey isn't cool. Does it seem like that's happening/happened with your peer group?

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#245

Post by ams6110 »

ghaff wrote: post #236
roganartu wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The wording of their comment suggests heavily to me that they are from Australia. I participated in scouts in Australia about the same amount of time ago as we did somewhat similar things, going on camps where there was a reasonable amount of independence and I would have described it as arts and craftsy. You mention concern about liability these days, but it's important to remember not everywhere is America. I can't…

The US is a very large and diverse country. There are lots of outdoor adventure sort of activities in much of the country.

Very much so. Camping, hiking, fishing are very popular in a lot of places. There are still many areas where it's not uncommon for a boy to get a rifle or shotgun at around age 10 and start learning to hunt. This modern super-protective cocoon life is largely a suburban thing.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#246

Post by vorpalhex »

deepGem wrote: post #174
Zenst wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true, in essence driving them into online friend interactions. Makes you wonder what life will be like for children 50 years from now, and how that would compare with today. After there was a time when making explosives was a childhood right of passage along with chemistry sets, making fires, even having a pocket knife. Today, such common activities would not end well at all, however innocent the intention. These…

"even having a pocket knife" .. I must have given away at least 5 swiss army knives to TSA. The teenager in me still clings on to a pocket knife.

A good pocket knife has a lot of utility, and now you can probably afford a nicer knife to carry.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#247

Post by low_common »

Zenst wrote: post #50
Zak wrote: post #14

Part of the issue, I think is that teenagers are more restricted by parents, laws, and business owners than they used to be. As with younger children, parents are less likely now than in past decades to allow their teenage children to travel alone or hang out in groups without adults present. Legal restrictions compound the issue, with curfew laws being increasingly common, as well as increased driving ages and gradu…

So true, in essence driving them into online friend interactions. Makes you wonder what life will be like for children 50 years from now, and how that would compare with today. After there was a time when making explosives was a childhood right of passage along with chemistry sets, making fires, even having a pocket knife. Today, such common activities would not end well at all, however innocent the intention. These…

I want my kids to either grow up in a huge city like NYC where I live or a rural area. I spent a year in a small town in rural NC and your kids can grow up wild.

I think the suburbs are the stifling force here. They're too safe.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#249

Post by SubiculumCode »

beenBoutIT wrote: post #138
SubiculumCode wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some maybe but for my son and all his friends they just rather be on their phone. i dont understand it personally

Think of them less as 'phones' and more as 'portable strip malls'. A video arcade with every game next door to porn shop with every porno next to a theater w/ every movie and there's places to meet up with friends, meet girls or buy drugs. There's a phone there if you need to make a call but it's not the main attraction.

My son said that most of the kids that actually hang out in person do so to party with drugs or alcohol. He chooses to stay home and rebuild motorcycles and play games.

Its as if all the casual socializing has moved to digital.

Re: U.S. teens are spending less time with their friends in person

#250

Post by loriverkutya »

ux-app wrote: post #168
hbosch wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The absolute futurist-cynic inside me wants to reply, badly, to this statement: > you still have to raise your child irl. with the fact that increasingly I see children being strolled around with tablets mounted in front of their faces, by parents with phones in front of their faces. Imagine these strollers were self-guided, say, they were monitored and could tram children around the park while they played on their p…

> we ended up with a mamaRoo they're actually ok for when you need 20 minutes to cook dinner or do some other small task.

We mostly used it to encourage bowel movements and it never left us disappointed.
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