Feeling terrified for all our children in the future

[Horseskeepmesane]

I am really panicking about how terrible lots of things in the world are at the minute. And we are raising our children in this state, what will the world look like soon?

how will we cope with…

childrens mental health
lack of teaching staff
social media
tbe constant warning of what damage processed foods can do
pressure of earning on both parents
the climate crisis

how do you all see the future panning out?

My motto is I'll worry about things when they actually happen. I have no idea how the future will pan out so why worry at this stage? I can't send my child back and I'm not going to spend my life worrying.

My great grandparents worried about having having enough to eat, paying the rent, dying in childbirth and disease.

My grandparents worried about being killed in combat or a bomb dropping on them.

My parents worried about the Cold War and nuclear annihilation.

Each generation has things to contend with.

Panicking seems an awful waste of energy.

I have spells like this. I try to tell myself that every generation worried. The biggie for me is climate change. Especially after the floods in Libya.
MY DC are young adults, so when I had them nobody was talking about these concerns as much.

childrens mental health
lack of teaching staff
social media
tbe constant warning of what damage processed foods can do
pressure of earning on both parents
the climate crisis

As parents, there's so much we can do to help and support our children, and instead of panicking, we should be proactive.

nottaotter, I agree with you, everyone has to have a label,a diagnosis,be medicated, inspite of the fact that a lot of antidepressants come with warnings they may cause suicidal thoughts. I see it in younger friends children. I speak as someone who is carer for a DS with rapid cycle bipolar, severe anxiety and depression.

By keeping it in perspective.

While you are worrying about generalised issues, something really shit could happen, like finding out your 13 year old son has a neurodegenerative condition and won't get the chance to become an adult.

Every generation of parents worry about the future.
My parents in the 60 s thought the worlds had gone to pot —- drug taking hippies everywhere, demonstrations about everything , what sort of future was that🙄 from them. mortgage rates went up to 14% in the early 70s lots of people lost their homes.
Me as an 80 s parent we were inundated with the world will be incinerated by nuclear bombs, leaflets, tv adverts.
Previous generations had polio, diphtheria, pneumonia, tuberculosis et al to contend with.
There’s always things to worry about, always advances and something good.

I think you need to read about the low sea Ice levels in Antarctica …Climate change deniers are the biggest risk to our children’s future !

Yes...my mum died in the mid 90s. My dsis and I were 8/13. I had one day off school and no one ever spoke to me about it. I was sort of expected to just live my life as if it never happened. In my dcs primary class, several children had lost parents and all had counseling and spoke openly with the other kids about that fact. So different nowadays thankfully.

Most of it pale into insignificance when climate change really starts to bite.

It willl affect everyone. We won't be ok because we are a temperate climate. We won't be able to use technology to get out of it.

I'm childfree by choice and it was a major factor for me.

Generations before us have had it hard too, perhaps harder during the war and post war depression and the very real threat of nukes going off at any moment, but they seem to have rolled their sleeves up and got on with life.

Teach your children essential skills and a good dose of scepticism.

They will figure things out by themselves.

It's true that older generations had their own issues, no-one disputes that. However, they were 'localised' or personal problems.
They are all eclipsed by the problem of climate change, which actually threatens the human race.
I think the planet will survive, as it has for billions of years, but humans may not.

Very similar experience here. It happened on a Tuesday. We took the rest of the week off school and then it was back to school for us. It was probably 20 years before we became comfortable talking about our dad. We’d always just thought we weren’t supposed to mention him for fear of upsetting each other.

I'm worried about climate change. That millions are going to die in fires, floods or due to crop failure. It's happening already and this is just the start. The BBC news article this morning about Antarctic sea ice really hit hard.

Life is going to be harder for everyone. We all need to play our part in making the corner of the world we inhabit better. We cannot wait for politicians to act.

There is a video going around of Elon Musk saying the world will be unrecognisable in 3o years. AI will be dominant. To be honest all those you mentioned, are just pushed by MSM. The real threat is far more terrifying.

Where did I say I was a climate change denier! I have been doing my bit for many years. Riding a cycle, got rid of my 15 year old diesel astra estate. Recycling for over 50 years. I don't have a passport, haven't had a holiday for 15 years, dont wash jeans after one wearing. Rarely use a tumble dryer, clothes from charity shops. Have had my trenchcoat 40 years. Most of my furniture is second hand...charity shop purchase.Try to grow as much fruit and veg as I can, don't buy the rest out of season. Haven't eaten meat for over 40 years. This little island, isn't going to make a dent,in warming, while the rest of the world carries on.

I am teaching my kids to be resourceful, adaptable and resilient. I'm not dooming them to immobilizing pessimism by modeling hopeless and catastrophic thinking.

@Notlaughingalot

It's true that older generations had their own issues, no-one disputes that
However, they were 'localised' or personal problems
They are all eclipsed by the problem of climate change, which actually threatens the human race

World War I
World War II
The Holocaust and other genocides
The Cold War and threat of nuclear annihilation

Were global not 'localised' or 'personal problems' and your post is minimising of their magnitude.

We also spent every penny we had last year on 12 solar panels and 2 batteries.

I'm not minimizing these truly horrific events, or the effects they have on individuals.

By 'localised' I meant that they did not affect the whole world, in the way that climate change will, eventually. The UK hasn't yet been dramatically affected, (I know there has been flooding in some areas, massive storms and periods of heat), but nothing on the scale of what has happened in some other countries.

The same applies to the word 'personalized.' I meant that individuals are affected, as opposed to the whole population of the world.

The melting Arctic ice is a current topic that is very worrying. On that basis, I do fear for the future that my children and grandchildren will have to cope with.

I am extremely sorry to hear this, I know it gets a lot worse, I really do.

Step away from the news, stop doom scrolling, and focus on what you can change. Children thrive on a stable and loving home enviroment, and that will go a very long way towards mitigating most of the issues you're worried about. Climate change is a major worry I agree, but not one we personally can solve. The best we can do is teach our children survival skills (girl guides / scouts, martial arts, self defence, swimming) and raise them with positivity. Raising them with negativity and worry will make the problem worse. I agree the world feels heavy but there's so much joy to be found if you look for it.

Invest for them.
If you look at any point in human history if you have a bit of money you have more choices.