Page 2 | To thank god I was a teenager in the 90's

TheThoughtOfIt · 2022-12-27T22:14:39+00:00

Every so often I get little flash back of my teen years. A wave of mortification washes over me and I get palpitations at the thought of what would happen if I was a teenager now. I think of being mid teens and being absolutely obsessed with this boy. I can imagine if it was now with social media, I would be a borderline stalker, and I would never get anything else done. I also can't imagine if there was an actual record of what I would have said existed. The worst one is thinking of a time I was kissing a guy in a doorway and he opened the button of my pants and they fell to my ankles and I had to hurriedly pull them back up...it wasn't in a secluded area, and I'm sure if I was a teenager today, there's a good chance it would have been recorded and circulated...and loads of people including my parents could have seen it. It genuinely makes me shudder, and I can't imagine how stressful it must be being a teenager now. My DCS are still under 10, but AIBU to think that it is so much harder to be a teenager now?

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 00:25

Adelant · 28/12/2022 00:15

So true.

I think a lot of these threads do look at the 80s and 90s with rose tinted spectacles.

I remember teen pregnancies, 19 year old men picking up 13 yo friends up from school, girls losing their virginities to men on school trips. And I had a very sheltered upbringing, God knows what else my other friends saw.

And yet we’re supposed to just be grateful there were no phone cameras and Snapchat.

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Yes, I agree there is alot of rose tinting going on.

Aquarius1234 · 28/12/2022 00:28

People can be private if they choose to be.
It's possible to get children to not be into selfies. You don't have to be infront of the camera. It doesn't make you weird not to want your pic taken.

FTY765 · 28/12/2022 00:28

I agree.
I was 18 in 2005. Phone cameras were only just coming in really, and most people still had digital cameras up until around 2010, so I think we were the last generation to not have every single thing recorded. Plus, MySpace etc have all gone!

Appalonia · 28/12/2022 00:30

I went to a play a few years ago about a girl who was drugged and gang raped. They filmed it and put it on social media. She tried to go to court, but because she was blamed so much by her community, including the school, she had to leave school and eventually dropped the case as it has made her life a living hell.

It really affected me as I thought, that could have been me ( this was the eighties ) and the fallout for me, after telling a friend, was horrendous.

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 00:32

Appalonia · 28/12/2022 00:30

I went to a play a few years ago about a girl who was drugged and gang raped. They filmed it and put it on social media. She tried to go to court, but because she was blamed so much by her community, including the school, she had to leave school and eventually dropped the case as it has made her life a living hell.

It really affected me as I thought, that could have been me ( this was the eighties ) and the fallout for me, after telling a friend, was horrendous.

There was no social media in the 80s
Is that a typo? Did you mean 2008?

AffIt · 28/12/2022 00:35

I mostly think about some of the many terrible haircuts I had in the late 90s / early 00s and feel thankful for the lack of evidence.

EineReiseDurchDieZeit · 28/12/2022 00:37

I'm not sure I am rose tinting.

I knew a lot of girls who ended up in very dangerous situations owning a mobile would have fixed, but at least and I think particularly of the girl taken home by a total stranger after bring found lying in her own sick (luckily he did not hurt her) at least there aren't photos of it anywhere. I remember the shocking part for those of us who knew her was that she ended up like that because her parents had asked her to find somewhere to stay that night because they wanted the house to themselves but she had already been so drunk she nearly died 2 years prior

It doesn't seem like shit like that happens as much now, and that's definitely a good thing

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 00:37

Appalonia · 28/12/2022 00:30

I went to a play a few years ago about a girl who was drugged and gang raped. They filmed it and put it on social media. She tried to go to court, but because she was blamed so much by her community, including the school, she had to leave school and eventually dropped the case as it has made her life a living hell.

It really affected me as I thought, that could have been me ( this was the eighties ) and the fallout for me, after telling a friend, was horrendous.

I’m sorry, are you saying this happened to you in the eighties and the play made you think what if it had happened when social media was around? I’m so sorry you went through that.

However unlike you, this young woman could later press charges as there is evidence of historic rape. You are left with no choice but to survive without any chance of justice.

Appalonia · 28/12/2022 00:37

No what I meant was , I told a friend about what had happened to me, and it went round the school and I was bullied for it. Watching that play was the modern version of what happened to me. I don't know how to explain it to make it any more clear.

Onnabugeisha · 28/12/2022 00:41

Appalonia · 28/12/2022 00:37

No what I meant was , I told a friend about what had happened to me, and it went round the school and I was bullied for it. Watching that play was the modern version of what happened to me. I don't know how to explain it to make it any more clear.

Sorry again 💐 for misunderstanding your post, it appears I’ve got a bit of brain fog going on.

MystifyMe · 28/12/2022 00:46

I totally agree, I was a teenager in the mid to late 90s and I have a teenaged son now. My life without social media was so much easier. I dread to think of the photos that might have surfaced from my years of clubbing and drinking but I also wonder what they won't do now from fear of it being splattered all over the place. My teenage years were life changing and will our young people have those experiences now? We are bringing up a generation of people obsessed about what other people think.

Aquarius1234 · 28/12/2022 00:46

FTY765 · 28/12/2022 00:28

I agree.
I was 18 in 2005. Phone cameras were only just coming in really, and most people still had digital cameras up until around 2010, so I think we were the last generation to not have every single thing recorded. Plus, MySpace etc have all gone!

I was 19 in 2005. I was that person that hated Facebook.

Hailingfrequenciesopen · 21/07/2023 20:35

I'm so glad that I left high school just as mobiles were becoming a thing. The first type with no cameras and Facebook was waaaayyy in the future, that other steam of bullying is not fair and that's just the start of social media issues.

Forced grateful!

IfLoveBelievesInMe · 21/07/2023 20:37

YANBU I was bullied as an 80s child and a 90s teenager . I'm glad SM wasn't a thing then.

JustAnotherRandom · 21/07/2023 20:38

Agree 💯 OP

SirVixofVixHall · 21/07/2023 20:39

I was a teenager in the late seventies and eighties and I am a mother of teenage girls now. I think things are harder for them.

coxesorangepippin · 21/07/2023 20:43

All we had was those disposable Max spielman cameras and let's face it, no-one could be arsed getting them processed most of the time

Abbimae · 21/07/2023 20:48

What kids do now with phones is terrifying. In school daily we deal with serious issues involving social media or recording. I feel sorry for kids

booomshackalack · 21/07/2023 21:44

Abbimae · 21/07/2023 20:48

What kids do now with phones is terrifying. In school daily we deal with serious issues involving social media or recording. I feel sorry for kids

Agree, my DS was attacked outside of school by two boys in his year and a third filmed it then sent the video round snapchat to their peers. That dumb little prick helped us get one of the boys charged as there was evidence of what happened.