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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To say that the next generation is primarily screwed in terms of resilience

863 replies

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:14

And WTF do we do about it?

Obviously many young people are wonderfully resilient but the overall trend I’ve seen in my line of work (behavioural education) is that there are vast, and I mean VAST numbers of young adults who cannot leave the house, come into a classroom, look someone in the eye, make a phone call, speak infront of the class (if they make it in), cry when pronouns are wrong (daily occurrence), take responsibility to revise/get a job/learn to drive.

What is going to happen to these humans in the future?

OP posts:
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Cazpar · 26/02/2024 13:15

cry when pronouns are wrong (daily occurrence)

Of course it is.

BoohooWoohoo · 26/02/2024 13:17

I’m not sure what behavioural education is but I assume you see kids who have issues rather than the ones who live normal uneventful lives?

CheesecakeandCrackers · 26/02/2024 13:19

I too worry about this. My kids are young at the moment and one seems resilient the other less so but it's not just the young, I see a lot of my colleagues at the early stage of their career so post uni lack resilience. It's a real concern, I spend far more time managing that cohort than I do their counterparts who are older when they enter our business. I wondered whether it was due to the impact of the lockdowns on confidence and skills.

Forhecksake · 26/02/2024 13:19

I'm concerned about the number of teens I know who are frequently unable to attend school as a result of anxiety. If they can't go to school, how will they get a job or support themselves?

MandyRiceDavies · 26/02/2024 13:19

Sounds like balls to me, sorry. The young people I know are perfectly resilient and capable. Perhaps your line of work brings you into contact with people who have more issues.

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:19

BoohooWoohoo · 26/02/2024 13:17

I’m not sure what behavioural education is but I assume you see kids who have issues rather than the ones who live normal uneventful lives?

Yes but we used to have 10 a year. Now over 200 a year.

OP posts:
Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:20

MandyRiceDavies · 26/02/2024 13:19

Sounds like balls to me, sorry. The young people I know are perfectly resilient and capable. Perhaps your line of work brings you into contact with people who have more issues.

I wish it was but we’ve seen number leap exponentially since Covid, although they were on the up previous to that.

OP posts:
EricaJohns · 26/02/2024 13:21

It ain't just the kids.
There's plenty of people on this here website that gets their arse in their hands over meaningless bollocks.

Forhecksake · 26/02/2024 13:22

Is it just Covid that changed things? Kids got out of the routine of going to school and suddenly it was viewed as optional?

dimllaishebiaith · 26/02/2024 13:22

You mean the generation who was taken out of school, educated in challenging circumstances and has then had to adjust to being back in school again, so long as there are no strikes (which I support) and their classroom isnt about to collapse in on itself...

I would say just turning up is showing so flipping resilience in the context to be honest

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:23

Forhecksake · 26/02/2024 13:22

Is it just Covid that changed things? Kids got out of the routine of going to school and suddenly it was viewed as optional?

It had a huge effect but was already happening before that. It just seemed to magnify it.

OP posts:
TiredArse · 26/02/2024 13:23

Just seen this on the bbc - significant numbers of young people out of work due to health. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-68399392

KissMyArt · 26/02/2024 13:23

EricaJohns · 26/02/2024 13:21

It ain't just the kids.
There's plenty of people on this here website that gets their arse in their hands over meaningless bollocks.

Exactly my first thought too, and the demand for trigger warnings seems to be ever increasing.

HelloMiss · 26/02/2024 13:23

I agree op

And it's not just school kids it's been going on a long time

Covid restrictions ( I feel) exacerbated it

Many twenty somethings are in this category

Justkeepswimmingswimming · 26/02/2024 13:23

Is it really worse? When I was at secondary in the 90s students weren’t required to talk in class and loads of kids just didn’t finish year 11. Expectations have changed a huge amount.

10 years ago I was teaching a year 10 class and most of them weren’t able to write their own address. Some didn’t even know it.

MotherWol · 26/02/2024 13:23

No-one's born with all the skills they'll need in adulthood, they have to learn them, so it's our responsibility as parents, teachers and colleagues to help them acquire those skills. I've benefited from more experienced colleagues showing me things like how to have productive meetings, phone calls (including having a script and making notes!), how to have difficult conversations. That's not new and it's not unique to this generation.

rooftopbird · 26/02/2024 13:24

I've been thinking about this all morning after a few observations made last week and this weekend.

It's as if young people are unable to deal with minor issues or conflicts in real time which I feel ought to have been readily brushed off. It's a concern.

greatwesternmailman · 26/02/2024 13:24

I did all of those things you listed (speaking in front of the class and etc) at school and in other settings, was often told how mature I was. Turns out I’m autistic and have ADHD and was heavily masking the whole time. I’m a perfectly functional, successful, happy adult, but it’s taken a while to get here.

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:25

Justkeepswimmingswimming · 26/02/2024 13:23

Is it really worse? When I was at secondary in the 90s students weren’t required to talk in class and loads of kids just didn’t finish year 11. Expectations have changed a huge amount.

10 years ago I was teaching a year 10 class and most of them weren’t able to write their own address. Some didn’t even know it.

Yes, it’s a lot worse than 10 years ago.

OP posts:
Justkeepswimmingswimming · 26/02/2024 13:27

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:25

Yes, it’s a lot worse than 10 years ago.

I was worried that would be the case. What do you think the causes are?

Forhecksake · 26/02/2024 13:28

It's hard to understand. I have 2 DD. One now frequently misses school through anxiety and burnout, had lots of therapy, etc. (Previously was top of her class, did lots of after school stuff and had a great friend group.)

The other is still top of her class, involved in clubs, D of E, very proactive. Same upbringing but different outcomes.

mightydolphin · 26/02/2024 13:28

I do enjoy the fact that you're asking what we should do about it, surely that's how the whole problem started? The previous generations babied them into adulthood and now many are in an anxious state because they don't know how to be confident in themselves and use their initiative? You don't learn resilience from getting everything handed to you and by being told you're great all the time. Imagine being treated that way and then BAM, you go into a workplace and suddenly you actually have to make an effort to become competent (let alone great).

I'm not saying all of Gen Z is like this, I've worked with some lovely Gen Z adults.

BoohooWoohoo · 26/02/2024 13:28

Namechangechangeobv · 26/02/2024 13:19

Yes but we used to have 10 a year. Now over 200 a year.

How many schools in your area have behavioural education ?
Is that 200 from year 7 to year 13?
My kids go to a school which is 240 kids per year so 200 doesn’t sound excessive but happy yo hear why I am wrong.
Is it covid backlog catching up? Or are there more teachers available to deal with this?
The exponential increase is big but do you think that you are paying for resources at younger ages being cut and that some of these kids would have been seen at primary age?
I have a young adult child who had intervention at school back when Labour was in government. He was in year 2 at the time but it helped him become much more confident and able to cope with school. What I’m trying to say is this the repercussions of lack on investment in children rather than the current school children lacking resilience ?

AgnesX · 26/02/2024 13:31

I think it depends on the circles you're in. The ones I work with, while very different from my peers or their parents, are very stable, bright and very hard working.

There are drama queens as there always have been but in terms of a positive working environment and the world around them they have more input. And they aren't afraid to share their thoughts. That appears to be a surprise for a lot of people.

PS I'm referring to the current crop of new new graduates.

SometimesIchangemyname · 26/02/2024 13:31

I can’t meet with a group of friends now without hearing about a new MH problem in one of their DC (young adults). Feels like half of them can’t cope with uni for example.

Are we just more aware and more open? Is it a good thing? At work since it’s become acceptable to openly own one’s MH issues it has definitely become an exhausting problem for managers.

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