Do you think teens these days are extremely different then from how they were in the past?

Yep. The word “morality” is not being taught to them. Also teens today lack manners and civility. Not all of them, but most do.

@ducky_dnl Yeah agreed XP

I don’t think so. I think they just have more access to technology and have been told from the day they were born that they’re special and amazing.

I feel like more teens today are depressed, bipolar, or have some other kind of mental illness. It could be because we overdiagnose these things, but it could also indicate a serious problem.

Every generation thinks the younger generation is “awful”; that’s been going on for thousands of years. Nothing new. Socrates over 2000 years ago complained about the unruly children of his time who didn’t obey their parents. 2000 years later, nothing has changed.

I have two teen aged nieces, two teen aged nephews and a kid on the verge of teendom, so I am fairly familiar with today’s teens.

That being said, my nieces are both great girls, much better and more together than I was at their ages. They have respect for others and respect for themselves which, in my opinion is half – if not more of the battle. I on the other hand at that age was kind of a smart ass, trouble maker who did everything I could to avoid being around other people. The male teens in my world are good kids too. Overall they seem to be pretty decent, if confused and adolescent fellas. The way I see it teens today are all over the spectrum from great kids to trouble makers to down right disturbed. Not all that different from teens through the ages.

Nope. They are exactly the same as ever.

What @Ben_Dover said.

It makes me laugh how people think generations very so much. The kids haven’t changed. The circumstances have.

Aside from morality, its the disrespect for others, concerning loud music. i did not do this when i was a teenager. i listened to loud rock and roll music, but it was either in my home or at a rock concert. it was not in my automobile and the volume jacked to the moon. i agree that we did not have the audio equipment back then, like today. but, we did have a volume control on my dad 1937 Oldsmobile and i was never allowed to touch it. this also reminds me of permissivness. we were very limited on sexual encounters, when i was a teen.

How far in the past? We don’t generally live in trees and caves any more, and mate at pubescence for life, and we generally live past our thirties.

There is a quote im looking for that I can’t seem to find, its from an 18th century monk, in the quote he lists a series of complaints he has about adolescents, his complaints are basically a mirror image of modern complains. I suspect they are more alike than we would think.

I think the easy access they have to what used to be viewed as adult materials has allowed/forced them to grow up much faster than before.

“We live in a decaying age. Young people no longer respect their parents. They are rude and impatient. They frequently inhabit taverns and have no self control.” -Inscription, 6000 year-old Egyptian tomb

What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?” -Plato

“Children are now tyrants…they no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize over their teachers.” -Socrates

@BarnacleBill Teens haven’t changed in thousands of years! LOL

I’m not that old (mid-thirties) but old enough I suppose to answer this. I think when I was a teen we were more physically active, less computers, no public internet, no cell phones, etc. Communication is much more quicker and easier today than when I was a teen so we didn’t have to deal with such issues as cyber bullying or whatever else. I notice there are more white teens that listen to rap/hip hop now. For guys one ear piercings were popular (never both ears) but today I see many with both ears pierced now.

I guess it is always the same with every generation. The only thing certain is change itself. It also seems many teens are lazier today. At several places I’ve worked at the 16 to 20 year olds will last maybe 2 weeks (at the most) on a new job before quitting. The work ethic isn’t as strong today. There is alot more disrespect against authority or adults I have noticed as well. This has always existed but it is in much larger numbers today. Issues with sex are way more open as well. Teens are definately losing their virginity quicker today than when I was a teen.

It seems as though not all, but many of the typical teenage activity deemed problematic by the older generations are only problems when compared to what said generations would have expected of themselves and others at a similar age. This system of thought is used in spite of it being impossible for the older generations to accurately understand life at that age in the current environment which is significantly different to that which they grew up in. To offer an example the teenagers of the current younger generation are indeed losing their virginity earlier, however should this age stay relatively stable come the next generation I believe there would be very little issue taken with it because from the perspective of (what would then be) the older generation it would be normal as that’s how they did it.
Much of the matter seems aptly summarised by the phrase, “This is how we did it and we turned out well so if young people do it differently they’ll turn out badly”. Obviously this is not applicable in all cases as there are and always will be some issues with the younger generation that require intervention but I feel it’s important that older generations learn to distinguish between when action is necessary and when romanticised nostalgia is leading them astray.
It should be noted that I myself am young and as such lack credibility on this subject; I can only hope my perspective proves useful regardless of this.

I think most of them are, but not everyone.

Teenagers today are full of crisis, HUR-CON one mode. Drama drama drama, everything is drama. And they’re self centered and think that what is happening to them is earth shattering and that everyone else on the planet is concerned. As opposed to teenagers from thirty years ago when they were self centered, crisis, HUR-CON one mode…wait.