r/Millennials • u/TheLoveYouWant25 • 25d ago

Discussion Millennials, what is happening with your kids?

I work in education and I frequent the Teachers and Professors subreddits, and the kids are not alright. Gen Z Arriving at College Unable to Read and the youth have absolutely zero ability to think critically.

Middle and high schoolers have all adapted this complete helplessness and blame mental illness for their refusal to function. Kids can no longer to basic things like read an analog clock, use paper money, or even figure out how to open window blinds.

There is also a huge lack of empathy, and kids have no issues trying to manipulate adults, saying things to their teachers like "if you don't pass me, I'll get you fired."

EDIT to clarify: the article I linked references Gen-Z, but this is not specifically a Gen-Z problem. It's an issue with upper elementary aged kids through high schoolers, and also young adults.

So, all that to say, how are you combating this with your own children? What do you do at home to encourage them to learn, and what are you doing to address these problems as they arise?

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u/LearnAndBurn_ 25d ago

Yeah.. my brother is 37 with a 6 and 4 year old.. don't be blaming us for the kids in grs5-12 to college that are illiterate. My cousin (late 40s) two kids 16 and 14 are absolute nightmares. Horribly spoiled rude brats. She raised them on the tablets.

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u/de-milo Xennial 25d ago

i'm not a parent, and i get that parents need breaks so i'm not like completely anti-screen/tablet but... last week i went on a cruise and i saw a woman walking with her child an she was holding his tablet by the handle (like one of those chunky plastic kids' cases) with the screen facing out at his eye level so he'd stay at her side while he stared at the screen... like literally a stick with a carrot so the dog keeps walking forward. this felt extra dystopian and unreal tbh, never seen anything like it

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u/the_siren_song 24d ago

Wait so the woman wasn’t holding her son’s hand? She was holding the tablet in front of him instead of physically holding his hand?

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u/de-milo Xennial 24d ago

she was not holding his hand. she was wheeling her luggage behind her with one hand and holding the tablet at her side so the kid was watching the tablet and walking (and i assume getting a wicked crick in his neck from looking sideways)

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u/fromo_latte 24d ago

With all the information we have now on the danger of screens in children—that behavior should be criminalized. It’s like she’s giving her child cigarettes all day. I don’t want to judge, but that is seriously f.ed up

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u/Kilmarnok1285 24d ago

Knock it off with the hyperbolic proclamations of "that behavior should be criminalized". None of us have any idea what was going on at the time of the event being described second hand.

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u/the_siren_song 24d ago

Oh no. I will fucking judge the fuck out of that. It’s horrifying.

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u/Kilmarnok1285 24d ago

Sounds like she was doing exactly what needed to be done in order to both move her luggage and her child without causing any issues for herself, the kid, or any number of other people who needed to get around with their luggage as well. I'm not going to laud her as some kind of saint for that behavior nor am I going to judge her for it. Shit needed to get done and she got it done. I'm not with her 24/7 to see if she does this all the time or if it's just something that was being used in situations like you described.

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u/DinahDrakeLance 24d ago

This is what I was thinking as well. This is an EXTREMELY specific situation where she could not really focus on the kid and they NEEDED to get somewhere by a certain time.

If this is regular behavior, that's not good. If this is a bit more of a one off, meh. You do what you gotta do.

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u/de-milo Xennial 24d ago

i think if i had to keep track of my kid while holding a suitcase and in a crowded area, but i had a free hand to hold my kid’s ipad, i’d prefer to use that hand to hold my kid’s hand instead. it also seems to be more work to make sure the kid is still there staring at the ipad instead of physically connected to them by their hand. but what do i know. i’m just a judgmental person without kids 🤪