Worried about future generations lack of personal history

[Allonthesametrain]

Just had a big family get together and sharing experiences of growing up. GPs stories of WW2, growing up on rations, real history dialogue, which we as DC know, also our DC were enthralled.

Us as parents, growing up in the 1970s and 1980s in our youths, we tell them how we lived before major technology, they listen to our music and love some if it.

I do wonder, our DC will share their experiences of growing up and, not all I know, but had a gender reveal, had princess outfits every birthday, told how beautiful I was every day on SM by parents and everyone.

Just such a vast contrast when as kids we were expected to be not seen and heard to being the centre of attention.

So going forward, being the centre of attention within the sphere of adoring parents and all attached, is this realistic for expecting everyone else in the real world our DC has to go in to?

Of course not. Our DC and are indeed the centre of our world but posting on SM every birthday, how amazing he/she looks, does set a predecent to expectations.

Our DC know first hand about the struggles of the past, but go forward a few generations, no matter what has been passed on, it's irrelevant.

Am I being a bit concerned that several generations from now, not for all but many people, will only know the newest false eyelashes, plastic surgery, pumped up lips, following a sheep fashion of long straightened hair or whatever is in vogue for model perfection.

I know this is beyond my time on earth but it's natural to worry about what the future holds for our future world 🌎

I had as bad a time during Covid as anyone, but I really, really don’t think it’s comparable to the suffering endured during something like the wars.

I understand what you mean, OP - I have had a fairly interesting life with lots of “adverse experiences”, but at the end of the day my grandmother fled the holocaust as a child, some of her family died in concentration camps. Another of my grandparents was working down a mine age 14. Every single one of my grandparents lost more than one sibling at a young age, and this was seen as somewhat of an inevitability. Nothing that happens or has happened in my cushty 21st century life is ever going to be comparable to the sort of lives my grandparents lived where hardship was simply a given. I do notice an significant difference in resilience even between my grandparents and my parents generations, let alone my generation.

I don’t think so.

I don’t share anything about my Ds on social media. Most people we know are very conscious of not oversharing children so it’s rare to post publicly

We have very few family left and live in different countries so Ds doesn’t get family gatherings anyway

well gaming and texting friends won’t produce much story I don’t think, on the other hand some kids do so many hobbies

I think there should be some appreciation for moving past the past, too.

England, as a whole, should appreciate their history but we also need to move from it and towards some kind of future.

It seems to me that England peaked in WW2 and everything since then has been desolate and bleak.

It's actually quite depressing and I find the youth moving from it, finally, to be refreshing.

It shouldn't be forgotten but it's time a new history was forged from the youths present and future.

Mum and Step dad were the same as @Sallysparkles , born in 28 and 38 they grew up in the war years and that trauma turned them into hoarders . Three months after mums death Im still doing charity shop and dump runs and I haven't even started on the attics or shed or garage.

But they were also young adults in the 50's and 60's , where they could walk into any job at anytime, could rent or buy easily , benefitted from the great social housing post war building boom and then benefitted again from the great social housing sell off in the 80s

My childhood of the 70's was all about shortages, stand pipes , fuel shortages, the three day week, national strikes ,high unemployment and making do and mending - but at least the music was fantastic

Grandchildren have covid, wars, mass unrest and climate change to traumatise them . Add to that they are now seeing their parents struggle with the cost of living and making do and mending

When today’s children are grandparents, the world will be a very different place to how it is now. Our DC will share stories of the world they grew up in. I imagine living through the pandemic will be something that’s talked about for years to come!

When my dc are 100 they will sit round their underground bunker sharing stories of how they were once allowed in the sunlight before it got too hot.

I totally get your point OP.

Younger generations have no perspective on life because they are brought up as the centre of attention, given unrealistic expectations that they can do anything, too much focus on rights without the balance of responsibilities.

Of course this doesn't apply to every young person but in general I agree with you.

It was thought at the time it would be the war to end all wars.

My grandfather fought in World War 1 - in Palestine - and was awarded the Military Medal, the highest award available to non officers at the time.

Not sure I really understand your worry OP, but I’d say history is interesting to people because it happened so long ago. They won’t be describing immediate family events like gender reveals to future generations they will talk about world events - of which there are many. You didn’t live through WW2 and statistically the baby boomer generation have been the best off https://fortune.com/2024/10/03/boomers-wealthiest-generation-millennials-biggest-losers/ so they could say the same of you. There’s good and bad for every generation surely…

What a bizarre post. Lots of vast generalisations. I don’t know anyone who posts birthdays on Facebook. I work in social care and a lot of kids are not spoilt. You seem to live in a. Very narrow world

Praying for WW3 so my daughter and I have something to regail to the great grandkids over Sunday lunch one day 🙏

😂

I remember watching an experimental realityTV show in which pupils from a modern state school attended a secondary modern school of the 60s. They all found it hard - one of them mentioned that they were used to being listened to and their views being taken into account, and that did not happen at the 60s sec mod.

My teenager knows that as an adult he can look forward to some pretty catastrophic events thanks to climate change. Including food shortages due to crop failures.

He knows that the post world war 2 stability we have experienced in the west is slowly being eroded thanks to far right populism becoming increasingly prevalent.

He knows that it's pretty unlikely he will be able to afford to buy a house until he is well into his late 30s or 40s.

Older teenagers are already looking a job market that has been decimated. And we haven't even begun to fully experience the upcoming oil shock. Reserves are being burned through and even if the Strait opens today, we are still looking at major global shortages by August.

So, I'm glad his childhood has been generally lovely with no major hardships (COVID notwithstanding). Because he doesn't have much to look forward to in adulthood.

Me too- let's all hope for WW3 so that we have something to talk about over our roast potatoes.

Its especially concerning given that no other topics of conversation exist

Covid, the birth of AI, the end of capitalism and beginning of technofeudalism, mass biodiversity loss, eventually climate collapse and when it does, they can tell the younger generation about Farage.

They have the pandemic, wars that threaten the stability of their lives even though they're fought elsewhere, AI, and climate change. I think that's more than enough. And that's without looking further than what's right in front of me.

One thing that bothers me is a lack of curiosity about the past. If it is not current , no interest.
Growing up past generations have been curious about things in the past. Not so much now it is noticeable.
From music to history because something happened decades or centuries ago wouldn’t stop young people being interested and therefore learn and be influenced by the past.
Now it is just what is now. That bothers me.

To be honest if I was a parent sat listening to that I’d just be grateful my child hadn’t lived through a world war?

Wow!!! That's a dire prediction!!! Hope your teenager has some other influences besides yours!

I think there’s a deeper issue that even middle aged adults suffer from, and that not knowing our full history and therefore not really knowing ego we are. A lot of kids learn very little history before the 20th century. They might touch on Viking longboats, the Battle of Hastings and the six wives of Henry VIII, but they never learn about the unification of the English under one crown in 954AD, or Magna Carta or the Battle of Agincourt or the Putney Debates during the English civil war. These were all defining events in our national story. Nor do they learn about our own founding myths and legends, like the stories of King Arthur.

Most children no longer experience the joy of dancing around a Maypole and a worrying number of children never get to enjoy many of the foods that sustained our ancestors for centuries because they are no longer cooked at home or school and, while they can buy a cookbook or look up recipes online, the thread of heritage passed down successive generations has been broken or buried. It’s an act of massive cultural vandalism so deep that it would take a national effort to fix it and I see no interest in doing that.

You seem to be talking about WWII experiences a lot. There are other life experiences to talk about as well.

But we got on the housing ladder in our 20s/30s in the 80s and 90s, ( many of us, not all, albeit a 2 up, 2 down).
Our children now, late 20s can't even contemplate that...added to which, they are struggling to get jobs...I'm not sure that's 'fortunate'
I think they have it tough.
I felt fairly carefree, had a good career, changed jobs within that career to suit my personal circumstances...met my now DH, bought a house together in 1992, was never out of a job...the insecurity now is insane.

Inbreeding also played a part 😉

OMG. What is she talking about?
Be careful what you wish for. You don't know what will be waiting for your children tomorrow.
War (just look at Ukraine)? Religious wars? Extremists coming to power? Climate catastrophes that could lead to conflicts? The rich wanting to become even richer and making us eat insects instead of meat? A new virus with a higher death rate than COVID?
Let your children and the people around you enjoy their lives. It's not for long.