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Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

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Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#291

Post by prox »

mbg721 wrote: post #142
cloutchaser wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something went wrong in the US after 911. I don’t think it’s just the government. The entire capitalist machine realised just how profitable fear can be, and that’s been one of the big marketing angles in the 2000s. Especially in media, but elsewhere like supplements and drugs too. But the society wide impact of that has been a much more fearful people, obviously making parents more protective too.

The seeds were planted long before 9/11. I was born in the 80s, and even I saw something wasn't right. The Nancy Reagan War on Drugs and Stranger Danger were there already.

I see three comments saying it was there before 9/11, but really, the fear dial was amped to 11 then. It was a milestone in that sense. Furthermore, journalism changed dramatically. Instead of more open ended questions, especially TV interviews started treating guests like enemies for example “Why didn’t you do X?” to a guest, instead of saying “Can you tell us what you did?”

Also more subtle changes in how media reports things in general. I haven’t seen a study on this, but it would be an interesting subject.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#292

Post by hackerlight »

escapedmoose wrote: post #87
Mikeb85 wrote: post #36

It's because there's nothing for them to look forward to. People keep asking why is X group struggling? And there's been enough articles about different groups that X is basically nearly everyone. Things are not getting better for anyone except the extremely wealthy.

The kids I know these days are fantastic. They’re empathetic, smart, polite, and all-around much better people than my friends and I were at their age. They’re so good and they give me so much hope. But they’re also troubled. They struggle with anxiety and depression (and younger) more deeply than anyone I knew growing up. My theory is that we’ve simply handed them a more difficult world to grow up in. They’re handli…

  "They’re handling it admirably, but we really did them dirty."
Because of social media?

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#293

Post by leobg »

alfor wrote: post #192

Wait to see what will happen in the next few years. With cellphones, videogames and the pandemic kids have almost zero free play outside with other kids. I don’t know how to change this, even if I become strict with my kids, there is no kids outside anymore. It’s going to get much worse.

Not to forget advertising and social media that specifically target kids and condition them to care about artificial goals.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#294

Post by scajanus »

autoexec wrote: post #272
UncleOxidant wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if those children continue to live with their parents as they enter adulthood, since their parents will be able to help them as they adjust. (Supposedly this happens in Italy.) I lived in Italy for a while and yes this does happen. Kids often continue to live with their parents well into their 30s. But this is mostly due to a shortage of new housing.

> Kids often continue to live with their parents well into their 30s. But this is mostly due to a shortage of new housing. That just seems really awkward. By their 30s people are often having kids of their own! Does italy have something like love hotels for teens and young adults who don't want to make out with their parents in the next room?

I don't think Italians are that squeamish about sex. They would have sex and then join the family for breakfast.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#295

Post by williamtrask »

xabotage wrote: post #241
williamtrask wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

.

I don't help the poor as a hobby or because I was told to. I help the poor because I have compassion and empathy. Animals also demonstrate these same pro-social behaviors, and I'm pretty sure none of them are Jewish or Hindu.

I think the big question here is “why do you and I have compassion and empathy when many (many!) in human history have not?”

Related: do animals act pro-socially because of rational scientific rigour or because they blindly inherit behaviours from their peers/ancestors?

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#296

Post by another_story »

geysersam wrote: post #259
darknavi wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not that it _should_ be this way, but me and my friends would scooter/bike to school all the time in elementary/junior high (~2002-2008) and it was easily a few miles each way in Western Washington (not rural). I don't plan on having kids but I wonder if I'd let them do that today. Now that I think of it, I'm not sure I ever told my parents I did that.

Biking a few miles took 15-20 minutes I imagine. Why would you not let your 11+ year old kids bike that route? Sounds okay if there's not too much traffic.

Just let kids ride slower on the sidewalks and follow pedestrian street crossing rules.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#297

Post by TedDoesntTalk »

refurb wrote: post #275
rychco wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The stereotypical American helicopter-parent/soccer-mom can be viewed as a direct result of poor zoning practices & the resulting suburban sprawl. A typical child is completely incapable of going anywhere without the guidance of a car-driving parent. It is unlikely, either on foot or bike, that they are able to get to school, get to/from sports practice, meet with friends, shop at local stores, run errands, have a pa…

Not really. I grew up in the suburbs. Nothing but houses and maybe a strip mall 2 miles away. By the time I was 12 I was allowed to bike wherever. We rode all day long, to the strip mall, the even bigger mall (3 miles away), to each other’s houses, to hiking trails, etc. It was a great childhood. Lots of autonomy and a safe environement.

Agreed. OP’s comment makes no sense in the suburb I live in now (built around 2000), and the suburb in which I grew up (built early 1970s). Both have nearby schools, supermarkets and plazas with retail businesses, working teenagers, playgrounds, parks, etc.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#298

Post by barry-cotter »

heavyset_go wrote: post #228
granshaw wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find this pretty interesting - does it go hand in hand with younger generations seeing no hope for their future, whether it be climate change, being financially stable, having a fulfilling life, finding a partner?

I mean, housing markets have ensured that they will live at home for longer periods of time and may never be able to own, or even rent a place by themselves. Same thing goes for starting families, the costs are insane and even if you have kids, you will barely see them in order to just pay for their childcare itself. Good luck if you can't afford health insurance and care, either. The opportunities to do "adult thing…

> I mean, housing markets have ensured that they will live at home for longer periods of time and may never be able to own, or even rent a place by themselves.

That’s not an inevitability; it’s a policy choice. If zoning was less restrictive more housing could be built. The people are getting what they want, good and hard.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#299

Post by watwut »

this_user wrote: post #125
OJFord wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Yet they also expect children to live away from home fairly early for college Except American children away from home 'for college' are still exactly 'children', home with different parents. The culture of halls and canteens and the way it's funded is much more 'provided for you' than 'you're providing for yourself now'. I don't get the sense (from NA undergrads I've known, film, etc.) that much learning to cook go…

As a European, US colleges/universities seem more like boarding schools. Here, no university would think that they have any business interfering with students' personal lives or anything they do outside a lecture hall, because they are considered adults. More broadly speaking, there seems to be a tendency in current US culture of infantilising young adults. I have repeatedly seen people in their early 20s referred to…

I think that point is overstated. The EU universities provide housing to students too and it is not that massively different, except Greek life. And I swear overwhelming majority of these comics comes from frats who are in power play against university. Every time I dug into specific issues, it turns out being just a bunch of manipulative claims.

Re: Young adults and mental health: Is more childhood independence the answer?

#300

Post by Dudeman112 »

yucky wrote: post #80
Max-q wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To be fair, I don't blame them. I think it’s fair to say that the blame is on us, the current parents generation. We have formed todays youth differently than our parents formed us.

That's a cop out, and only reinforces their internalized belief that literally nothing is their own fault. Find a Gen Z person who is fully accountable for their own actions and you will have located a unicorn. It's uncanny how in-sync that entire generation is with the idea that they are not only owed the world, but have no fault. They are crippled by the actions of "others" (whoever the others are doesn't matter -…

Imagine thinking parents being responsible for how their children turn out is a cop out

You think 15 years old are capable of being responsible for the level of responsibility they developed? Guess they should have made better decisions for their development when they were 10

The age-old shitting on new generations is also an age-old acknowledgement of one's own failures

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