Walking to School Barefoot

Sometimes, I don’t know who had it better – us or them?

It’s easier for each generation to point to the next one and say “They have it better than we did.” We all think our generation was the one that had to walk to uphill to school, barefoot, in the snow.

But going beyond that cliché, I think you could easily make the argument that those of us who are now parents of teens and twenty somethings had an easier time growing up than they do now.

I recently learned about one kid, in particular, who is pounded by the untold stress of modern teendom. When I hear stories like this one I think my argument grows stronger.

The modern generation is blessed with countless technological advances – cell phones for constant contact, the internet at their fingertips for easy research on any topic you can imagine, laptop computers that make for easy typing and printing of papers.

When I think about how my own fingers used to ache after pounding a paper on the old IBM Selectric, I imagine how modern technology would’ve facilitated my own studies.

On the other hand, our childhoods weren’t uber-programmed. When we thought of helicopters, they were machines flying through the electric blue sky while we played outside for hours on end. They didn’t describe moms and dads hovering over their kids’ every activity.

The courses they take in high school are so advanced compared to the classes we had and, yet, we all seemed to enjoy a good high school football game or basketball game on the weekends or possibly a play or concert.

There are times these days I’m not sure I’d recognize my high school alma mater.

Now, I hear some kids don’t go to these events because they want to make a statement. Or, more likely, they have other activities that get in the way.

‘Stress’ for us was working up the courage to ask a girl for a date (or, for her, waiting for the guy to call). Now, that’s the least of their worries. They’re in constant contact anyway. They always know where they stand.

Stress for them is studying for AP Exams or Honors courses; it is applying to numerous colleges until they get the best possible package. It’s preparing monologues for auditions; recording clips to send off. It’s trying to get the GPA over a 4.5. For us the scale topped out at 4.0.

And they need those higher grades to be competitive at the 10 or 20 universities they seek. Generally, for us, our college search meant applying to one school; maybe two.

We worked, more, I think. Some teens work now. Some simply don’t have time! At times, there wasn’t all that much entertainment for us – remember just 3 channels on tv – so work was an outlet.

Every generation has its own unique challenges, its celebrations, its milestones.

Just hearing about all the things our current high schoolers have to juggle, I’m just glad we went through when we did. And I marvel at all they are able to do.

JG

(Source: farraguths.knoxschools.org)

Originally posted 1/22/2013