How things have changed . ( and not for the better )

[KnittyNorah]

You must have been living on a different planet to me. I remember pensioners (And most people over 40) having no understanding at all of youth culture in the sixties and seventies. In fact most adults back then seemed a right out of touch and miserable bunch, much more so than their modern counterparts.

And most people became very old, very quickly, horribly soon after retirement. Only one of my uncles and aunts on my father's side made it beyond 60 - and only one of them on my mother's side beyond 70. Kids thought they knew old folks because their grandparents lived down the road or something - but these 'old' grandparents were probably in their mid 50s ... and they were indeed old, much older than a 55yo is today.

The healthy, active, lively, mentally-agile persons in their late 60s, their 70s and more, who we are all so familiar with nowadays (in fact lots of us here are those people!) were a rarity back then - something special to remark upon.

 

[DaveReading]

We walked to school no matter what the weather was like or how far it was.

I never walked to school. It was too far.

 

[KnittyNorah]

That may be part of the problem now. When I was young, we were rebellious, independent, and loved experimenting. With drugs, drink, the opposite sex, fast cars, motorbikes, travel, whatever... And our parents and grandparents were outraged! We had rock and roll, punk rock, illegal substances, and all sorts of good new stuff going on, that the oldies couldn't handle.

As an earlier poster said, the youth of today are mainly hard working and well mannered. And bland. Like their music, bland. So bland that they like stuff WE listened to in the 70s and 80s. No way would my parents have listened to my music! They drive bland cars that all look the same, and drive them to their bland jobs putting bland information into a bland computer. No more factories, no ship yards, no merchant navy, no anything of any interest to anyone with a bit of adventure.

Bollox to all that blandness. I'm so glad I was young during a period when it was great to be young. I went to sea 2 months after my 16th birthday, flew out to Abadan, Iran, to join my first ship and had the time of my life for the next 4 years. I wasn't always an angel, but I learned a lot about life. Most 16 year olds I see these days are treated like children. By their parents and the state. And this is progress?? All elements of risk are being squeezed out of their lives to the point of stupidity. I know of parents who rush home from work during their lunch break just to make sure that their "children" aged 14 and 12 are out of bed, and have eaten something. At that age I was perfectly capable of going to the fridge and sorting some lunch for myself. In fact at 14 I had a job during school holidays, which paid for my first bike, a Puch Alpine. Still reaping the rewards of that 48 years later. As I said in an earlier post, the world is going into reverse and future generations are welcome to it....

You're right about the adventure thing wrt travel, that's for sure. Travel was, in general, a whole heap more adventurous back in the 60s and 70s - but there again, wrt the world changing - in 1976 I would never have dreamt of being able to wander around, independently sightseeing in Dresden. At that time, though, I was having a wonderful holiday - alone, a young single Western woman - in of all places the NWFP of Pakistan, including the Khyber Pass, Peshawar and Chitral, meeting with nothing but friendliness and hospitality. Just a short 25 years later I was sitting in a square in Dresden enjoying coffee and cake in the sunshine and thinking that the NWFP was the very LAST place I would want to go for a holiday ...

 

[cougie uk]

I bet the Daily Express in 1970 was getting letters very similar to this one.

 

[gbb]

I'm a teacher and have been since 1980. Now as supply teacher I work quite a few different schools
Most of them are good but some pupils obviously don't have to pick things up or tidy up after themselves. In the 80's and 90's they seemed to be more self disciplined and helpful.

My wife has worked in schools for 25 plus years she notes now how the kids just walk away from the classes they look like bombs have hit them, if nothing is expected of them, why would they ?
I take our grandkids to the school park mist Sundays after dinner...it looks like rubbish tip.
No expectation from lots of people nowadays but if schools don't even try...

 

[guitarpete247]

Last night watched "Woodstck 99" on Netflix. What a difference 30 years made.
But the again Altamont was only 4 months after original Woodstock, and that showed an attitude shift.

 

[Smokin Joe]

And most people became very old, very quickly, horribly soon after retirement.

An uncle of mine died in an accident aged 41. He was a decent bloke, but he was more like a modern ninety year old in attitude and outlook and was typical of his generation. He once told me I'd never get a job if I turned up wearing slip on shoes! He was part of a generation that became their fathers the day they left school, same clothes, same outlook and the girls became their mothers.

I can well remember more than one middle aged workmate getting red faced with anger when the subject of the Beatles came up and my first boss refused to believe that anyone with long hair could write the songs the that were in the charts. Gays? they didn't exist, they were effing queers.

 

[Arrowfoot]

I guess every generation had its wayward kids. Some turned around in time to make the best of it, others did not. Maybe with all the media, the internet etc, we see things more graphically.

However OP’s comments are indeed spot on on the young ones’ behaviour in the house. They seem to have rights, given choices, and even not to attend meals with the family when they felt like it. Not disrespectful but individualistic.

Other things have not changed. When they are in trouble, the parents seem to be of sudden value for that money to tide them over, pay for that mortgage, buy a car even when they are way past 30 years of age etc.

Count your blessings when they turn out right.

 

[BoldonLad]

I guess every generation had its wayward kids. Some turned around in time to make the best of it, others did not. Maybe with all the media, the internet etc, we see things more graphically.

However OP’s comments are indeed spot on on the young ones’ behaviour in the house. They seem to have rights, given choices, and even not to attend meals with the family when they felt like it. Not disrespectful but individualistic.

Other things have not changed. When they are in trouble, the parents seem to be of sudden value for that money to tide them over, pay for that mortgage, buy a car even when they are way past 30 years of age etc.

Count your blessings when they turn out right.

Indeed!

 

[PaulSB]

When I look around with families nowadays, I can't believe how much educating your kids have changed.
Gone are the days when children helped doing chores in the house, sharing the same meal, sitting at the table , both for lunch and dinner. None of that " what do you want to eat? "
I know we had no computers, tablets and mobile phones then but even so, I am absolutely sure we wouldn't have been allowed to use them whilst eating.
We walked to school no matter what the weather was like or how far it was.
To be honest, I struggled to share today's parents way of educating them children. I very much prefer the way we were educated by showing respect, discipline and doing our bit to help at home. I think we were better prepared to face the real world in adulthood.
I will be for ever grateful to my parents for bringing me up the way they did. It certainly help me a lot as an adult.

I'm not sure your correct in the assumption things were better in times gone by. My children were raised with more freedom than I was. Yes, they had a period of rebellion but that aside we've always had and still do have a great relationship. My relationship with my sons is far better than I had with my parents at a similar age.

We have friends in their 30s and early 40s, their children are happy, relaxed and well behaved in our company. We're on first name terms, no Mr PaulSB, we chat about all sorts of stuff as we treat them as adults at a very young age.

My own granddaughter, not yet two, already has a grasp of putting toys away, asking and so on.

The big, very positive change is the barriers between generations have been broken down and we all have fun together. Far, far better than 60 years ago when I was being raised.y

 

[Andy in Germany]

I can't comment on British kids because I've not lived there for 20 years.

What my kids will have to deal with scares me more than I care to admit to them, not to mention the borgarups I've managed in their upbringing.

 

[chris667]

As an earlier poster said, the youth of today are mainly hard working and well mannered. And bland. Like their music, bland. So bland that they like stuff WE listened to in the 70s and 80s. No way would I have listened to my parent's music or vice versa! They drive bland cars that all look the same, and drive them to their bland office to do their bland jobs putting bland information into a bland computer. No more factories, no ship yards, no merchant navy, no anything of any interest to anyone with a bit of adventure.

That is simply not true. There are kids like that, but that certainly doesn't mean they're all exactly the same! There's a woman who works in a bar near me - her last adventure was driving an old van around Spain for a year. She's working while saving up for her next trip round Australia. I bet she's no more than 23.

The thing that I dislike most about this country is we make all young people choose their paths really early in life. In many cases, if they want to get an entry level job, they have to start with a degree which puts them in an amount of debt that would have bought us a house. Absolutely rotten.

 

[Cycleops]

That may be part of the problem now. When I was young, we were rebellious, independent, and loved experimenting. With drugs, drink, the opposite sex, fast cars, motorbikes, travel, whatever... And our parents and grandparents were outraged! We had rock and roll, punk rock, illegal substances, and all sorts of good new stuff going on, that the oldies couldn't handle.

I remember my best friend (late sixties) who lived a few doors down was thrown out of the house by his parents because he had an Afro and wore the then fashionable old military jackets (think Sgt Pepper). Many parents were ‘up tight’ as we used to say.

@chris667 said:
That is simply not true. There are kids like that, but that certainly doesn't mean they're all exactly the same! There's a woman who works in a bar near me - her last adventure was driving an old van around Spain for a year. She's working while saving up for her next trip round Australia. I bet she's no more than 23

Same back then, only it was India and the hippy trail, which is what my friend referenced above went on to do.

 

[Andy in Germany]

I remember my best friend (late sixties) who lived a few doors down was thrown out of the house by his parents because he had an Afro and wore the then fashionable old military jackets (think Sgt Pepper). Many parents were ‘up tight’ as we used to say.

@chris667 said:
That is simply not true. There are kids like that, but that certainly doesn't mean they're all exactly the same! There's a woman who works in a bar near me - her last adventure was driving an old van around Spain for a year. She's working while saving up for her next trip round Australia. I bet she's no more than 23

Same back then, only it was India and the hippy trail, which is what my friend referenced above went on to do.

To be fair, if my kids generation were as rebellious, we'd be complaining about that too.

 

[cookiemonster]

When I look around with families nowadays, I can't believe how much educating your kids have changed.
Gone are the days when children helped doing chores in the house, sharing the same meal, sitting at the table , both for lunch and dinner. None of that " what do you want to eat? "
I know we had no computers, tablets and mobile phones then but even so, I am absolutely sure we wouldn't have been allowed to use them whilst eating.
We walked to school no matter what the weather was like or how far it was.
To be honest, I struggled to share today's parents way of educating them children. I very much prefer the way we were educated by showing respect, discipline and doing our bit to help at home. I think we were better prepared to face the real world in adulthood.
I will be for ever grateful to my parents for bringing me up the way they did. It certainly help me a lot as an adult.

Spot the old fart!