xtcian

Since I have a 16- and a 14-year old at home, and a 20 year old close by, I have some experience with this topic.

While I'm wary of generalizations, I'll go ahead and generalize. Teenagers today are very savvy about some aspects of the world, especially pop culture, sex, music, and hot-button issues such as race relations. (Note that we live in a racially diverse city, so this may skew my answer somewhat.) The tough kids get a lot of attention sometimes, but most of the teens I've come to know at my kids' schools over the years are sweetly idealistic, often involved in public service of some kind, and hopeful/excited about their personal futures.

When I think about myself as a teen in the 1960s compared to my kids now, I feel I may have been more grounded in the facts of history and geography, but my kids are far more sophisticated about aspects of today's world than I was. The Internet is largely responsible for this, as well as the content of many TV shows that we watch.

God, this is sounded clunky and lifeless. Too early, I guess! Maybe I'll check back later.

My 16-year-old neighbor is obsessed--obsessed!--with MySpace and Facebook. She also loves music (Stone Sour, Brand New, Kill Hannah, Vertical Horizon, We Are Scientists, the Decemberists, TV on the Radio, and, oddly, Jethro Tull and Simon & Garfunkel--either they're retro, or somebody has taught her to appreciate them, like my dad did with Johnny Cash for me when I was little). She's surprisingly self-confident, way more so than I was at her age, although maybe that's partly attributable to her living in the city or other family-related reasons. She describes herself as a "good" kid, I think because she doesn't drink or do drugs, but she's right: she is a good kid, as narcissistic as any teenager but also aware that there's a world beyond hers and that she'll have to negotiate it soon. I also like her friends. They're smart and funny and respectful. And they have a leg up on our generation in that they've grown up with the digital age.

Listen to the last Hold Steady album. Sums it all up.

I have been impressed with this group of kids overall. They are well mannered and determined. Their parents expect them to be great and they seem to wear it well. I have two youngsters working for me and they seem to just 'get it'.

I am encouraged.

I too am concerned. i was reading that China and India have more 'gifted' students than North America has students. How long can the US continue it's relative position in the world given the population growth in other parts of the world? It will have to be through immigration. This time it will not be Euro-centric. I am not so sure this is a bad thing.

I've worked with early-teens for the last twenty years, and I gotta say, the kids today seem so much more mature, so much more put together than kids when we were young. They are probably over-sexualized and stuff like that, but the kids I've worked with seem to have a really good sense of what their futures could be, and they seem to be, overall, a lot more hopeful than our generation.

I felt like, growing up in the 80s, there was an over all sensation of depression about the future, but kids today seem to think anything is possible.

Horrible, horrible generalization. But we were listening to The Cure, and they're listening to... well, I was gonna make a Top 40 joke, but the truth is they're listening to anything and everything they want to. Which is awesome.

All good. I'm also interested in your immediate picture of someone that age, ie., when you think of kids in their mid-teens, what is your mental image?

I don't really know what to say because I hang out with my kids, and don't do demographic surveys of their friends. I don't think my kids are typical, in positive ways that I won't waste time bragging about.

I do hang out at shows and know somewhat a large number of people in the 16-25 range, and again, since I go to rock, techno, and experimental noise shows, I'm self-selecting to meet up with the more artsy, drunk end of that cohort. They mostly remind me of the people I knew when I was in that age range.

I will say that the consequence of E-Mail, IM'ing, cellphones etc means they're more logistically organized. Back in my day, sometimes you had to walk over to someone's house to try and find them, and if they're not there you leave a note on the door. Now my kids set up events in a flurry of IM's and text messages, and people are very rarely out of touch.

Instead of taking a bus downtown to go to the Public Library reference room, people just open their laptop where ever they happen to be and Google up their information. Instead of trying to track down special magazines in bookstores to support your own obscure avocation, you can find an international group of people with that same peculiar obsession with which to communicate.

General mental image of girls in the OC: long, flat-ironed hair (no curls allowed these days);nicely done makeup, not heavy; nails done; spaghetti strap top, low slung jeans and flip flops.
Boys: Ian-style hair, meaning longer and curly is totally fine; baggy jeans which drag the ground and a t-shirt.

General feeling they give me: they are smart and worldly. They understand the global consequences of our actions. They work hard and therefore feel they deserve the best in everything.

Concerns about todays teens: because they work so hard to excel in school, they don't have time for jobs. Their rich parents spoil them and don't teach them the value of a dollar. $100 jeans, $40 t-shirts, new cars, trips to Hawaii, skiing in Colorado, these are the norms in my wealthy neighborhood. Keeping up with the Joneses is expensive, and not everyone will be able to do it as adults.

My comments will probably sound extreme to some, but that's the reality of where I live. To this teacher's daughter from Kannapolis, it all seems CRAZY!

I apologize for my lack of big words.

Can you be more specific? Which lids are you talking about? White, black, asian, latino? Rich or poor? City or suburban?

I think there are some pretty huge differences...

I guess I don't actually know any kids in this age range, but I see them in my neighborhood and am always struck with how things haven't changed. There are the giggling, awkward mixed-sex groups of middle-schoolers walking home together, the sixteen year old couple sitting on the curb on warm nights and the group of guys smoking pot on the back porch (which is practically in my backyard) at 3:00pm before parents get home.
They seem to be ok. At least as well as we were.

Being in the world of horses, I see lots of girls this age. While I do have many grounded, realistic teens, I have a larger amount of girls that have this amazing aura of entitlement that is very off-putting. I see them sizing each other up by school, car, neighborhood and horses. I can't blame them because you aren't born feeling entitled, but guided there by your parents. When you're given a horse that cost as much as my house, it must skew your perspective on things. They don't respect adults just because they are adults as I did. I find myself telling them I went to private school, UNC and lived in the "fancy" part of town. You see the change in their eyes and demeaner when they realized I grew up like they did. I hate it that I feel like I have to play that game to get any respect. It's even more interesting is to see how taken aback their parents are when I tell them about James' investment banking job and our plans for his MBA. One mom asked me if I had ever thought about going to college. I told her I thought a lot about while I was at Carolina.

I work with teenagers in an inner city school district, so my impressions might be a bit skewed, but I do have two of my own, and spend a fair amount of time around their friends, as well. Anyway, when I reflect on the differences between the youth of my generation and today's teenagers, I often think in terms of music. The music of the late sixties and early seventies reflected a time of revolution, as well as a desire for peace. For the most part, we were optimistic, and had high hopes for the future of the world. Furthermore, we believed that WE could and would play an active role in the necessary changes. We felt empowered, and these beliefs were very evident in the music we listened to. Young people today don't seem to be quite as driven, at least not in the same ways. Their motivations are less altruistic and more self-centered. The much ballyhooed issue of self-esteem is often cited as the root of their problems, perhaps even their apathy. Violence explodes on their streets, and in their schools. This is the stuff that is evident in much of their music. There is also a disturbing sense of entitlement, as "Salem's little sister" pointed out. Of course, there are many wonderful teens out there. Nonetheless, it seems to me that the times, they are indeed a-changin'.

The immediate picture I get is moody and awkward around adults outgoing and more sure of themselves around their peers. Pretty much the same as when I was growing up. I have been around my nieces and nephews enough to have hope for the future, much more involved in everything then I ever was.

In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, heaven knows, Anything Goes.

Good authors too who once knew better words,
Now only use four letter words
Writing prose, Anything Goes.

They are ALL better than me at online video games.

Claverack Weekender seems to sum it all up in my opinion. I'm directing a production of GREASE in the NYC area and it's easier for me to explain to the cast who those angry inner-city kids were in 1958 than it is to explain to you who these kids are today. But I'll try.

I think the kids of today are sweet, jaded, innocent, troubled, ignored, pampered, coddled, self-entitled, worldly, savvy, frightened, dismayed, discouraged, challenged, enlightened, strong, creative, eager, hungry, loving and needy.

And I thought I was worldly when I discovered my dad's Penthouses at the age of 10. Then I thought I was in command of the universe when I got a Commodore 64 in nineteen eighty-something...

But I grew up in and continue to live in New York City. This bubble tells me nothing of life outside of it, unfortunately.

That's all.

I think they are less innocent than I was at that age. Certainly they have it easier than our generation (X) did because of computers. I think a lot of them are more advanced sexually, in their actions if not in their thinking or maturity, and that worries me, because they deserve more time to be kids without worrying if they're giving proper B.J.'s. (Of course, plenty of kids are still innocent, but I'm generalizing due to media...I think there have always been precocious kids who have done more at early ages, whether in the 1970s or 1950s). They are also liberal with regard to music - willing to appreciate '70s punk and not just current stuff, and that's a good thing.

To further comment on:
"In olden days a glimpse of stocking
Was looked on as something shocking,
But now, heaven knows, Anything Goes...."

It always makes me laugh that this song was from the 1930s...everyone thinks life was much more innocent during their generation, don't we? Heavens!

Man, are these kids savvy. Intelligent, driven, and generally damn straight kids. I've meet a few bad apples but all in all this age group seems pretty together. I'm not sure I like it. Kids, teenagers, are suppose to be a collage of emotional wreckage, zits, hormones and hope. These kids seem like hard charging career types with schedules to complete each day: Sports, tutoring, UIL speech, volunteering, studying for SAT, then dinner at 7:30 before really getting serious.... it's just crazy but amazing at the same time. (ALso, have you noticed these CA girls? Jesus, they are like 15 going on 35.) Whatever happened to being a teen?

Wow! I feel like I just woke up on the dark side of the moon, I see some really optimistic viewpoints toward today's kids. I just can't agree with nearly anything I've read so far. Sure they know about sex, but that's nothing new, kids have been obsessed by sex since the beginning of time. As for being more being more savvy, I doubt that. If they were savvy they would be waiting for sex in marriage more rather than less. As for generally knowledgeable, not so! Sure they know lots of trivial things such as who's who in rap and hip hop, but those things don't matter when it's time to make a buck. Today's kids tend to believe political correctness rather than truth. There is that age old defiance of old age, but with a mean streak, there is little respect for the knowledge of the elders (this is a huge problem for their future) I find it almost a daily occurrence to correct a young cashier's failed effort at giving back correct change. I find there is virtually no understanding of our basic form of government, other than regurgitating a collage of liberally biased cliches. But most of all I find today's youth to be narcissistic, and vain. There seems to be a general sense among youth today of entitlement, as if whatever they want should be given them without having to earn it. For most of this I blame the parents who seem to have neglected to correct their children, and partly I blame government interference which has for some time now posed a threat to parents who dare to correct their kids. Digging a little deeper you might find an epidemic of kids using legal yet dangerous drugs for recreation, I.E., triple C, Dramamine, Dextromathoriphan, Nitrous Oxide
and those power drinks with Ma Huang and Caffeine. These would explain those mysterious trips to the emergency room which have yet to be understood by the parents. Today's youth are not the little cherubs you people have been praising, and that is precisely why they aren't, you aren't paying attention. When a whole generation has been raised with a sense of superiority and entitlement, when coddled and petted so much so that they grow up believing half steps are good enough, when crunch time comes, they will falter and they will fall.