Is life to easy for young people?

[DeletedUser]

This is a question that popped up in my mock exam that other day and I thought it we would be quite a good topic to discuss. I'm not a good debater as the rest of you lot so I tend to take a seat back and read. My format will be based around something that you do in high school, well that's because I'm in high school.

Question being: Is life too easy for young people?​

Yes: They have technology at their disposal. They have a lot of support from people and organizations. Lifestyles today are much more easier than ones only 50 years ago.

No: A lot of more confusion in terms of being disconnected from other generations so a lack of advice and help. Each generation is meant to be smarter than the previous, so of course the education becomes more difficult. Something that not everyone can put up with. Media influences teenagers to 'fit in' to certain groups and act a certain way.

Sorry for a rubbish starter but hopefully I'll get better.

 

[DeletedUser]

Do you mean is life too easy for youngsters in comparison to youngsters from previous generations or youngsters compared to adults?

You have to consider economic prosperity of the youngsters in question as well as the region of the world we are looking at.

Is the life of a poor eight year old boy living in the slums of Mumbai going to be easier than the life of a middle class 50 year old man living in New York City? Vice versa?

 

[DeletedUser]

Yes, is life too easy for youngsters in comparison to youngsters from previous generations?

I think comparing two different regions may just over complicate it slightly, perhaps later on in the discussion someone may want to mention it. I think for now lets just compare to a 16 year old fe/male in the UK/US as compared to a 16 year old fe/male in the UK/US - 50 years ago.

 

[DeletedUser]

Young people is a broad generalization.

 

[DeletedUser]

The answer is: What sort of question is that?!?!

Of course kids have it easier today. And, they have it worse. Just because things are different doesn't mean it's better or worse, it's just different. It's simply too broad a question.

 

[DeletedUser17043]

The question is way to broad. however....

Each generation is meant to be smarter than the previous, so of course the education becomes more difficult.

Education is nowhere near as hard as like say 40 yrs ago,its amusing how many adults tell me that(especially my physics teacher,evil dude so he is...).But it's true,some of the things they teach us is basic and so easy to understand that I think its silly to not be able to get a decent grade in exams and such with just a little effort.Yet at the same time there are people doing papers several grades below what I'm doing where sometimes the answers are in the question,and they're sitting completely blown away saying "how the heck do you do that".
I'd say that the current generation of "young people" are too lazy to be more intelligent than the previous one
I'm not yet doing my higher exams but if a huge portion of young people aren't coping at the stage before it,they're not exactly more intelligent than the previous generation. Just puttin' that out there to make a more specific argument maybe.

 

[DeletedUser]

I very much agree with fire, This generation is incredibly lazy. Obviously I never experienced the previous generation as I wasn't born yet, but me and the vast majority of my friends do absolutely nothing for school. I'm doing the highest level of education possible in this country and yet I get decent grades with absolutely zero effort, so it wouldn't surprise me if school was much harder 40 years ago.

I don't think that this generation is getting less intelligent per se, but I think that the gap between the higher and lower levels of education is growing more and more.

 

[DeletedUser]

I very much agree with fire, This generation is incredibly lazy. Obviously I never experienced the previous generation as I wasn't born yet, but me and the vast majority of my friends do absolutely nothing for school. I'm doing the highest level of education possible in this country and yet I get decent grades with absolutely zero effort, so it wouldn't surprise me if school was much harder 40 years ago.

I don't think that this generation is getting less intelligent per se, but I think that the gap between the higher and lower levels of education is growing more and more.

My life story is pretty much the same as yours, however I do believe that the younger generation go through a lot more stress than the older generation.

The younger generation have been brainwashed by propaganda, that stresses material gains. The younger generation are constantly worrying about how to achieve these high goals which have been instilled into them from a young age.

Also the social aspect has changed, media bullying now allows for less privacy in a youngster's life, allowing more scope for attack from other youngsters. The social environment has changed from a more friendly, welcoming society (the older generation), to a dog-eat-dog environment, where there is a lot of dramatics about 'best friends' and 'enemies for life'.

The stresses and strains on these youngsters have been proven in the increased number of suicides in the younger generation.


(Btw I feel like a good debate so bring it on!)

 

[DeletedUser]

My life story is pretty much the same as yours, however I do believe that the younger generation go through a lot more stress than the older generation.

Nope, not more stress, just different.

The younger generation have been brainwashed by propaganda, that stresses material gains. The younger generation are constantly worrying about how to achieve these high goals which have been instilled into them from a young age.

So were the older generation.

Also the social aspect has changed, media bullying now allows for less privacy in a youngster's life, allowing more scope for attack from other youngsters. The social environment has changed from a more friendly, welcoming society (the older generation), to a dog-eat-dog environment, where there is a lot of dramatics about 'best friends' and 'enemies for life'.

Umm, the social environment wasn't friendly in the older generations. It was dog-eat-dog. As to the dramatics, they existed then as well, or did you never watch the silly movies like Sixteen Candles or the Breakfast Club? Those were mild examples of mid-high income social settings.

The stresses and strains on these youngsters have been proven in the increased number of suicides in the younger generation.

And that's where you lost your argument:

The suicide rate decreased from the 1950-1980 rate of 13.2 to the present rate of about 11, with ages 5-24 (youth suicide) increasing dramatically from 1950 to the early to mid 1990s but then decreased thereafter.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

If you wish to argue internationally, suicide rates increased substantially after the collapse of U.S.S.R., but have since returned to their dismal numbers within those same regions. It is argued that the rates increased merely because they were being reported, which may not have been the case prior. All other nations, except South Korea and some Eastern European nations, have had a decrease in suicide rates.

 

[DeletedUser]

May I point out that the suicide rates do increase for the younger members of society from 1950-2003.

Ignoring the rise when the Great Depression hit (which influences the suicide table remarkably), I'd say that the rates have substantially increased.

From 2.7/100,000 to 7.3/100,000 in just 53 years, which is a drastic change.

 

[DeletedUser]

The youth of 2010 is now 17-26 years old with a suicide rate of 10.5*
The youth of 2000 is now 27-36 years old with a suicide rate of 10.2
The youth of 1990 is now 37-46 years old with a suicide rate of 13.2
The youth of 1980 is now 47-56 years old with a suicide rate of 12.3
The youth of 1970 is now 57-66 years old with a suicide rate of 8.8
The youth of 1960 is now 67-76 years old with a suicide rate of 5.2
The youth of 1950 is now 77-86 years old with a suicide rate of 4.5

So yes, it grew up until the 1990s (older generations). Since then, it went down and holds relatively steady at 10.x out of 100,000. The generations of 1980-1995 (and yes they are older generations), those who are now 32-56, had it the worst.

* http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr60/nvsr60_04.pdf

 

[Lugosi]

The question is way to broad. however....



Education is nowhere near as hard as like say 40 yrs ago,its amusing how many adults tell me that(especially my physics teacher,evil dude so he is...).But it's true,some of the things they teach us is basic and so easy to understand that I think its silly to not be able to get a decent grade in exams and such with just a little effort.Yet at the same time there are people doing papers several grades below what I'm doing where sometimes the answers are in the question,and they're sitting completely blown away saying "how the heck do you do that".
I'd say that the current generation of "young people" are too lazy to be more intelligent than the previous one
I'm not yet doing my higher exams but if a huge portion of young people aren't coping at the stage before it,they're not exactly more intelligent than the previous generation. Just puttin' that out there to make a more specific argument maybe.

I agree, I also get that from my Physics teacher a lot but nowadays exams aren't marked on the diversity of your knowledge, its about how you apply the knowledge of the course in your answers. I guess its so your mind is more efficient for the working world . . .

There will always be people who find school hard but they usually excel at other things. The thing that annoys me is that people who disrupt classes and don't appear to put much effort in sail past with Cs and Bs when people in lower sets put loads of effort in then get the same or lower than them.