I'm just hoping HER generation (she's genY or whatever comes after "X") can straighten some of this stuff out.
I put this under "humor" because I find it most amusing, your mileage may vary.
I’m genX. The article is complete nonsense.
I prefer Gen Y so much more than Millennial.
First of all, the generation starts in 1980, and ends in the early 90s, how can that be Millennial?
The Gen Xers kids should be called such.
Generation X, millennials, me generation, baby boomers, war generation—stop, I have lost count and really don’t care. Why is this necessary and how do we delineate “generations” as every one melds seamlessly into the next? Sorry, this is unnecessary and tiresome...
Our playgrounds were construction sites, heaps of dirt, creeks filled with snakes and turtles we collected as pets. We climbed trees, muddied our Garanimals, scaled fences between neighbors' backyards. We spent Memorial Day to Labor Day barefoot, the soles of our feet blackened like coal, dirt clumping underneath our toenails. Skateboards, roller skates and bikes defined our boundaries -- our Baby Boomer parents would scoff if we asked for a ride somewhere.
I'm a boomer, and construction sites were a mainstay of my childhood in Union County NJ circa 1960. I ran barefoot all summer, so this was scanning for me. Then I hit skateboards. You know we invented skateboards in the early sixties, when I was in high school, by nailing the back and front of metal wheeled skates to a board, a 1" plank, usually. It was a fad.
So this whole scenario is crossing my signals. And Garanimals ???
I don’t see how this is any different from prior generations .... just to make sure I’m not off base I was born in ‘67
Well there IS something to be said about childhood before computers, video games and cell phones. All the rough and tumble outdoors all day long and yes, even after dark, entertaining the hell out of ourselves with boxes, bikes, tents, tree houses, rock fights, play acting after the Saturday matinee, etc - THAT was kidhood. Now they’re addicted to little glowing screens, withering on the vine, becoming asocial angry drones full of liberal programming. They’ve been robbed, I tell you.
No, we didn't carry any housekeys with us, because our houses were never locked (we lived in the boondocks, and the house never unoccupied anyway).
Parents greeted us with "Put your school bags down, get your work clothes on - you've chores to do!" (Full disclosure: They never actually had to say that - we knew it already.)
After supper, more chores, then dropping dead into our beds.
Regards,
Our gen ping...
Along the same line of thinking:
The Overprotected Kid
A preoccupation with safety has stripped childhood of independence, risk taking, and discovery—without making it safer. A new kind of playground points to a better solution.
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/03/hey-parents-leave-those-kids-alone/358631/
I wonder when generation (fill in the blank) fatigue is going to set in?
I do agree that Gen Xers raised their Millenial kids like "helicopter parents", which has its own set of issues.
I blame the parents. Anyone who shuttles their kid to 4-10 “games” a week around the region and spends entire weekends shuttling kids to multiple away games in any sport is plain NUTS or imbalanced.