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Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

economist.com

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Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#211

Post by jimmaswell »

_5yps wrote: post #27

16-year-old here. My experience is probably markedly different from most teenagers in the US (I'm an immigrant who goes to a competitive school full of other immigrants) but I find that, for the most part, this article hits the nail on the head. High School is nothing like the usual media portrayal - I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even…

So absurd that college admissions care about your hobbies etc. If they want to receive public funding they should have to only consider academic performance, maybe with some weighting for life circumstances. Are we missing out on the most qualified mathematicians and doctors because they didn't attend volunteer programs and play sports?

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#212

Post by daptaq »

Taek wrote: post #205
daptaq wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok, there's been more education on STDs and teen pregnancy, but even still, because of WhatsApp/Facebook messenger, a lot of what used to happen in the hallways (or at least how Hollywood depicts it) can how be "virtually" hidden.

Less than being worried about the 'why', I'm just stating the facts. These studies usually collect information via anonymous surveys, and generally there's reason to believe that these surveys are reliable. Saying "it just happens virtually now" doesn't change the results of the studies. We aren't measuring by listening to hallway conversations, we are measuring by directly asking teens "are you sexually active?", in…

I totally agree, for whatever reason it's decreasing. The reason I mention hallway conversations is that that's the way OP or any non-statistician would perceive these things. That's why he says

> nobody's f*ing or even dating at all.

while your link claims

> In 2015, 41% of high school students reported having sexual intercourse.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#213

Post by allannienhuis »

pantalaimon wrote: post #188
allannienhuis wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

because the bug tech companies are more likely to pay big $$. There's a huge gap in salary potential between FAANG and the rest. There's always outliers among the rest, but that's generally the case. So if you're optimizing for $$ and prestige, you optimize for getting into FAANG.

Sure if money is what you want to optimize for, that's the route to take. For me it was always more about the passion in building things, money is nice but IMHO other things are more important.

I'm pretty confident that most of the young people optimizing to get into the very top schools, are optimizing for $$.

Perhaps to some extent some are optimizing for social class (staying in the one they grew up in).

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#214

Post by flattone »

_5yps wrote: post #27

16-year-old here. My experience is probably markedly different from most teenagers in the US (I'm an immigrant who goes to a competitive school full of other immigrants) but I find that, for the most part, this article hits the nail on the head. High School is nothing like the usual media portrayal - I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even…

My girlfriend didn't k omw what we'd was until 18, didn't try it until college.

I on the other hand was a total loser by age of 13.

Key takeaway one experience of no drugs no body fucking etc. . Can't appear to be total reality to one person and not others.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#215

Post by kazinator »

Teens typically look up to pop culture produced by people who are about ten years their senior.

For current teens, that consists of vapid millennials.

No music, no cool behavior, no new anything.

The only cool stuff teens can find is from their grandparents' generation or older.

So then all they can do is go to YouTube and post a comment under some 80's video "Sigh, I was born at the wrong time" and then go back to behaving nicely.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#216

Post by jalk »

user5994461 wrote: post #187
daptaq wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even dating at all. That's easy to explain: You don't have to talk about these things anymore, because of IM & co.. It's all still happening, but it's easier to hide it from the "dweebs". I've seen both sides, and it's really surprising how well this unwritten system works. At best you realize a few year…

The partying portrayed in the media is more representative of student life in universities. There's not much going on in high schools, 15 years old kids living at their parents who can't even buy alcohol.

So laws and parents are stopping teenagers from drinking and having sex? When did that happen?

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#217

Post by tensor »

watwut wrote: post #105
dataduck wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For almost the entirety of human history, 12 was old enough to get a job and look after a family. It's modernity that's the aberration here. Our obsession with keeping children immature has nothing to do with their well-being, and everything to do with adults deriving a sick emotional satisfaction from it. I think history will judge our obsession with keeping children from growing up in the same way we judge foot bin…

> For almost the entirety of human history, 12 was old enough to get a job and look after a family. And a lot of those kids ended badly, exploited and literally had no future. The people who could afford it, did not had their 12 years old working in factories nor being responsible for "looking after a family". In good times in family farms, the kids contributed to work basically from 5 years old (and yes, 5 years old…

The ultra wealthy in that time never looked after a family as kids or adults. They had servants who did. That was not and is not "normal", it's a weird edge case.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#218

Post by [deleted] »

jalk wrote: post #216
user5994461 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The partying portrayed in the media is more representative of student life in universities. There's not much going on in high schools, 15 years old kids living at their parents who can't even buy alcohol.

So laws and parents are stopping teenagers from drinking and having sex? When did that happen?

[deleted]

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#219

Post by gen220 »

_5yps wrote: post #27

16-year-old here. My experience is probably markedly different from most teenagers in the US (I'm an immigrant who goes to a competitive school full of other immigrants) but I find that, for the most part, this article hits the nail on the head. High School is nothing like the usual media portrayal - I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even…

I think this is what Thiel would call peak “indeterminate optimism”.

You don’t seem to be afflicted by the indeterminate side, which is good, but it also means this dissonance is not going away anytime soon: the majority of most of the institutions (read: 75% of ) that you’re trying to get in to are equally as determinate and character-forming as the one you find yourself in now.

They won’t challenge you to commit or reward you for vertical growth. Their communities will encourage you to seek out internships that will not challenge you or make you rounded, but are rather designed to “keep your options open”. When postsecondary graduation comes around, they will encourage you to pick a career path that matches those internships. It is very hard to escape those social pressures.

You have a good head on your shoulders and you should feel proud of that. Don’t let others’ anxieties be your own.

Re: Teenagers are better behaved and less hedonistic (2018)

#220

Post by esoterica »

kradroy wrote: post #189
_5yps wrote: post #27

16-year-old here. My experience is probably markedly different from most teenagers in the US (I'm an immigrant who goes to a competitive school full of other immigrants) but I find that, for the most part, this article hits the nail on the head. High School is nothing like the usual media portrayal - I've never heard anyone even talk about a party, nobody's doing anything stronger than weed, nobody's fucking or even…

Dear trend-following worrier, For all the effort you're making know this: you'll eventually be evaluated by a Gen-X or Millennial hiring manager. We largely don't care where you went to college. We've learned that name recognition means very little. It'll get you a job, but if you're one of those kids who "does nothing" on an extracurricular team, it'll show through on the job. You won't get promoted. We fucking hate…

I mean, you might not care but where they went to school, but the Goldmans and McKinseys and Cravaths of the world still do.
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