What if you were a teenager today...

[carolinecupcake]

I was a teenager in the 80s - really giving my age away now! When I see my DD14 and the way she spends her time(Facebook, mobile permanently attached to ear, You Tube etc) I can't help compare it to the way we were. All phone calls made and received from phone stuck to kitchen wall ie no privacy,having to wait until Sunday evening to listen to the top 40 and trying to tape number 1! Now everything's instantly available.I was an easy teenager but I've often wondered if we were teenagers now would we behave differently?

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

I think I'd struggle with the constant testing & assessment. I was a bit of a one for revising at the last minute, but my secondary school children are constantly having to meet targets.

I am very very glad that I was a teenager before the internet. I did some very unwise and foolish things, but thankfully there is no evidence of any of them!

[chocoluvva]

I often wonder this too.

I would hate all the photos as I hate my appearance.

I'd probably be labelled as a geek and do a lot of tweeting rather than FB/instagramming.

I'd try to be 'indie'. I think I'd find it harder to be a teenager today although the academic resources available online would be a huge bonus for someone like me.

[FernieB]

I would have loved t'internet for homework etc. the constant messaging from friends would have driven me nuts though.

[Goblinchild]

I would hate the way that everything now relies on paperwork, you can't just womble into a part time or temporary job with a good attitude and no paper.
As a teen of the 70s, I had a lot more opportunities in that respect.

[ThreeBeeOneGee]

you can't just womble into a part time or temporary job

Lovely turn of phrase; may I borrow it please?

[Goblinchild]

[truelymadlysleepy]

I would probably have failed all my GCSEs due to the amount if FB/ Instagram/Snapchat that I would've needed to do.
^glares at DS2^
I'm also glad online clothes shopping wasn't available. The angst would've been too much.

[Claybury]

I often have the same thoughts. It is so different for teens now,( and I do realise how old I am saying that). My DC's cannot conceive of the fact that there was NO INTERNET when I was young and they think life is better now. But there are so many distractions now, it really is a wonder that any young people do apply themselves to stuff that required focus like instrument practice . Her music theory exam last week took her half the time the practice papers took her at home, and she was so surprised - I pointed out this was because her phone was switched OFF for the actual exam. FOCUS ! I think it is hard for them , she feels if she doesn't reply to messages instantly she is being rude.

[chocoluvva]

YES! It's apparently 'rude' to not reply quickly!!

[MrsDmitriTippensKrushnic]

I think it would have been good for me tbh. I was very much a 'brooding in my bedroom' insular, kind of teen - I still am to a certain extent as an adult. The internet has opened a whole world of friendships groups and like-minded individuals. If I'd had access to that when I was younger I think it wouldn't have taken until my late 30's to discover my inner self-confidence!

[TheZeeTeam]

I dunno, even if on the face of it teenagers have it very differently, in some ways, it's the same.

So, I would spend hours chatting to my friends on the one phone. I imagine if I was a teen now, I would just spend hours face timing my friends. But all of them, all at the same time. And the odd TERRIBLE and dreary poem would now be a morose, look at me style Tweet.

Shudder....

[chocoluvva]

My DD has a much more complicated social life than I did, coming from a smallish community, with no internet then, of course.

I pretty much had the one group of friends, we went out on Saturday nights. End off. Whereas with FB you can keep in touch with hundreds of people.

And then there are all the degrees of communicating with friends; 'liking' pic, commenting, messaging, texting, snapchatting, phoning (very intimate now it seems!), whatsapp...... I'd have made so many awful blunders!

[bigTillyMint]

I think life is much more stressful for them than it was for me - constant exams/assessments/pressure from the school to achieve, pressure related to social media, pressure to grow up more quickly and live a much more grown-up life with loads of drama (or maybe just DD who watches too much TOWIE/Hollyoaks/JK, etc, etc!)

[chocoluvva]

I agree. They're expected to be extremely well turned out from a very young age - shaving, tweezing, make-up etc.

And the pressure to be seen to be having fun/popular...

And everyone telling them they have a zillion career choices - while everything is competitive - and jobs are hard to come by....

[bigTillyMint]

Yep, chocoluvva. It's hard for them.

But probably less boring than it was 30 odd years ago!

[motown3000]

I would hate to have a ( Black Box in my Car) because it is the only way to afford Insurance. I would hate the thought of someone monitoring my Braking , Acceleration and how Much Fuel I was using and then Doubling my Insurance Costs based on a Bloody Machine.

[whoseturnisit]

another who wombled into a job in the 1970s. A bit more pressure from school might have kept me there longer.

What I would have really loved about today would have been the gaming. When I think back to the games we thought were magic on a commodore 64 I could not imagine the scope of things like minecraft or LoL.

[Claybury]

Whoseturn- that's the point though isn't it, they were magic at the time. All relative isn't it.