Is it worse growing up now than previous generations?

[dayslikethese1]

I often hear this from my friends; that they would hate to be a teen now and feel sorry for teens etc. We are early 30s so I guess the last generation who didn't have the internet as children and no social media till we were late teens/early 20s.

What does everyone think? Esp interested in what those who are parents of teens think; is it really so much worse to be young now? Are they still having any fun? There always seem to be endless arguments about young people are all depressed and dont go out anymore etc. but I really have no idea (I kinda assumed I'm just not young/cool enough to know what they are doing anymore, lol).

I hate the idea that pictures of the bad choices you make as a teen (clothes, make up, hair, boyfriends) will be photographed and stored for all eternity. Every night out seems to be photographed. I’d hate to see some of the things I did when I was a teen now.

Also if you are being bullied in school there is no escape. Even at home bullies can still message you etc.

Some teens can feel very pressurised into looking a certain way and I think it is far too easy for children who feel they don’t fit in to get bad advice and possibly fall in with a crowd who don’t have their best interests at heart.

All that said there seems to be so much more support for young people today. We never had careers advice at school. I had no support for my GCSEs. I clearly had some kind of breakdown at school one day and not one teacher gave a single shit.

I think every generation probably thinks the same tbh. A combination of progression both in terms of what teens have/can access etc and the fact that when you reach your 30's and beyond you yourself have a greater understanding of the world and life in general. I wouldn't want to go back because I would have hated to be a teen with social media etc, but also because I'm in my 40's and the older I get the more chill I am. I like it.

Many Teens around here seem pretty happy dossing & playing in rivers.
But many can't see their friends easily at all, and that makes them super unhappy.
It's the lack of fun social contact that will get them very down. They are just supposed to suck that up.

I would have loved Instagram as a teen I was quite attractive (not anymore!!( and definitely would have tried my hand at making it as a teen influencer.

I'm also early 30s.

It was fun being a teenager in the Sixties. Looking back at some photos though - you wince with pain at what you really looked like, when you thought you looked fantastic. But the horrible uncertainty and awkwardness of the teen years must be made much worse now by social media.

I loved growing up in the 60s and 70s and think life was much more carefree then. Teens these days have a lot more pressure on them to do well at school and social media must be hell for many of them. We couldn't see what others outside our social circle were doing so it didn't bother us. Also bullying is so much worse now that you can't walk away from it.

I wouldn't swap my 90s teen years and coming of age around the Milennium for being a teenager now.

Quite a few of my friends were angsty, but the internet was a new and slow, clunky thing on dial up so there wasn't constant unedited, (but filtered) pressure like there is now via social media.

There is grainy photo evidence hiding away in the loft.

Haha, no! How would you like to grow up with no heating, a high likelihood of getting the shit kicked out of you at primary school on any given day, during a time when it was acceptable to stand around a refugee and taunt him until he vomited?

I dont know if it's more accepting now re certain things...so like for example when I was a teen calling someone retard or gay was pretty common. I'm hoping this doesnt still happen? I certainly had friends who self harmed, friends who drank to cope, friends who had poor body image and so on. So I just wonder if its worse now? I really dont know so curious I guess. I dont have kids and dont know any teens.