Sunday, October 30, 2005

Somebody else come up with a title; I can't

Had a short discussion with a friend today regarding today's kids. I'm interested in hearing y'all's viewpoints, so I'll give you the topic, and you can talk amongst yourselves here in the comment section. I'll share my thoughts later. Anyhow, the topic was the issue of maturity. Do kids today mature sooner or later than kids of years past? (I'm not talking physical maturity...) Let me hear what you think, and be sure to explain what you consider "mature" to mean.

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It's been a productive weekend. Time spent with the kids, a flag football game that ended in a tie ("A tie's as good as a win," according to Coach Walt), some laundry, a couple of movies (one in the theater and one here at home... Batman Begins was great!), and a small potluck after church this morning. Brian and I managed to make a run to a couple of stores without the kids and have some uninterrupted conversation and discuss plans/ideas for the upcoming holiday in December (like many people, I don't like saying the word too early in the season). All in all, not a bad weekend. We've had busier, and we've had ones that were more relaxing.

We did hit a bad patch of traffic shortly after we left the church building to come home today. When it was finally letting up, we realized that traffic on the other side of the highway had been totally stopped, the road closed, and people were being allowed to turn around and exit the highway on the onramp. There was a guy threatening to jump from a sign on that side of the road. I guess we will need to watch tonight's news to see if we can find out any more information on this. Traffic was backed up for what seemed like 5 miles. Hopefully, the guy is safe now and getting whatever help he needs.

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One last note: Emily has a new page with more samples of her work.

7 comments:

Donna G said...

I do not think kids today are as mature (ready to live on their on and support themselves) as the kids of my generation were. It is our fault. We have sheltered our children and given them too much and encouraged them to stay at home rather than pushing them out the door...

**Bear Bryant (in my opinion the best coach ever!) used to say that a tie was like kissing your sister!**

Thumper said...

Kids are exposed to more than previous generations, and their base of knowledge is greater (in terms of "wordly" things--can't think of another way to put it) but that doesn't necessarily translate into earlier maturity. If anything, I think kids today are a little more confused than their parents or grandparents were, and they're a whole lot more jaded.

I'm pretty sure my parents were saying the same thing about my friends and I when I was a teen, though...it may just all be one skewed perspective.

Caltechgirl said...

I agree with Thumper, but I think the end result is that kids are less mature than we were 15 years ago when hubby and I were teenagers. I think it's because the parents are (in large part) afraid to discipline the kids and work hard to avoid bad consequences because they don't want their kids to be hurt. I understand that an all, but the really doesn't help them acquire the maturity or life skills you need to be a successful adult.

jettybetty said...

I sure wish *you* would have defined maturity. Young people are taking longer to grow up, but I don't think that's all bad. They marry later, but I've heard several comment, they don't want to divorce--so they are taking their time. I don't see that as bad. They are taking longer to move out--but it just costs so much to live on your own any more, I don't know that's all bad either.

I suppose what I am saying is it's a different world from when I was maturing. There's some good things, and some bad things. (You can take that as a yes and a no!)

Shane said...

I'm a grand ole 19, so I'm still a kid by some people's standards, but I'll weigh in nonetheless.

Young people today grow up with a whole lot of knowledge and very little motivation. Maturity, among other things, is optional to a degree it never was before. Yeah we're jaded, maybe even cynical, but we know how vapid and empty buzzwords and pop culture (or subculture) can be.

Our societal roles are vaguely defined at best, and we're generally dissatisfied with even that. General confusion and apathy mean even if we could do anything, as we've been taught (and know is false), we generally wouldn't care to.

James Old Guy said...

Shane

"Our societal roles are vaguely defined at best, and we're generally dissatisfied with even that. General confusion and apathy mean even if we could do anything, as we've been taught (and know is false), we generally wouldn't care to. "


Kids,and teenagers are suppose to be dissatisfied with everything, that is their role, they are the changers, the carriers of the future burdens of a society. This group if full of knowledge but low on experience, has not learned the hard lessons that life will give out. The role of the parent is to harness this energy , direct it, help them control it. To many parents want to be friends with their kids and not parents. They fail to teach the basic truths of life in a hope to avoid any of lifes pain and suffering. It results in kids who go past the accepted lines if social tolerance and when society accepts this behavior the lines are moved once again closer to no control. The value of anything is proportional to the effort to achieve it. So are the kids of today more mature, maybe physically but that is all. They lack the very basic knowledges of right and wrong and reward and punishment. Some smart guy said for every action there is and equal an opposite reaction, that in a nut shell is life and we don't teach it..

Dana said...

I can only speak from my experience with my kids....I don't feel that they are anywhere near as mature as I was at their age. I do think it's a sign of the times though. You can't let your children do the things you, as a child, were able to do. It's a far scarier world we live in now. I also happen to have 4 boys and I do think they tend to mature a little on the slower side. They are all such individuals and really their are different aspects of maturity. My oldest is VERY responsible when it comes to getting his schoolwork done (I never have to remind him) doing chores (some reminding but he doesn't argue) and getting himself up and ready in the morn. The middle two have issues which prevent them from being as responsible......

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