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 🌎

My mother was just about alive in WW2 but has no memory of it. Was nearly killed by a bomb in London but they didn't evacuate. Found food quite boring during rationing. Enjoyed school and felt no pressure at all. Did some O levels but not in maths or science. Found them quite fun and passed them all despite leaving early to meet friends in town in one them. Left school at 16, trained as a secretary and went to London. Had a good time and walked in and out of jobs. Lived in a very nice area on very low rent and got paid peanuts. Got paid to emigrate, so did that for two years and found it fun. That takes her to her mid 20s. My daughter's experiences are not totally dissimilar . She was much more focused academically and there was a lot more pressure. She didn't like covid lockdowns, enjoyed school, is currently studying at university abroad, probably won't be walking in and out of jobs. My mother thinks it's more stressful for my daughter's generation but I guess it depends on who you are.

I was going to say similar.

My childen are 27 and 20 and we've had some hilarious and heartwarming conversations about their childhoods and their memories and how differently they remember things and their perspectives. Little comments I made once that they'd constructed whole narratives around.

Of course people from all generations will have personal memories. That's just how it works.

Is this a joke? This current generation have experienced lots of adversity already. A pandemic, really cagey political landscape, climate change and not to mention a cost of living crisis and increasing unemployment among the young before AI has even got a hold!

Just because there are more material comfort, doesn't mean they are without challenges.

This thread reminds me of one of those fake nostalgia posts you used to see on Facebook, where people reminisce about stuff that’s still fully available. Who remembers bread rolls? Who remembers toothpaste- putting it on a little brush? Ah, those were the days.

My dad lived through it too, he would be in his early 90s now. He was young enough that I don't think he remembered much about it though, he was a very young child.

That depends on the parents and whether they’ve bought into their kids being the centre of the universe nonsense. Lots of parents are more realistic, don’t constantly post their kids pictures on sm, don’t constantly buy them princess dresses etc or give them professional hair dos, make up etc, etc from primary age, don’t perpetuate the “you can do/be anything you want” crap etc. ie bring them up with a more realistic and practical outlook. That way they don’t get the crushing disappointment when reality of adulthood hits them!

If you were born in the late 50s, 60s or 70s then you really were the luckiest generation in a lot of ways compared to before and after. Jobs were plentiful, houses were affordable on a standard, single income, women could often stay at home, government support was easier to access etc.. Of course that’s not the whole picture and things were awful for minorities although better than prior generations.

Younger generations have had a lot to deal with. Houses are inaccessible, education is a must and takes at least 3-4 years of adulthood, the cost of living is crippling so most people can’t travel. We had 9-11, Covid, the banking sector collapse, Trump etc..

I fear for the next generation. I’m quite confident that they’ll be telling their children what it was like to have jobs before AI took them all. We need to get to grips with the idea that all entry level professional jobs will be gone in 5 years and they’ll be no professional jobs left in 20. Entire professions are going to disappear. What would be the use of accountants or lawyers or copy editors? I suspect young kids will be wide eyed in wonder at try idea that almost every person got a job in the 2010s because we actually needed humans to right reports.

You might want to be grateful for what you have / had and appreciate that young people are going to have it so much worse.

I think you’re being mad tbh! Yes to older people who lived through the war (though even my 96 year old grandmother doesn’t remember it that well and also thinks things are harder now!). Young people today have lived through 9/11, Iraq war, Covid, financial crash, now Iran/US war, massive cost of living. Huge housing costs, paying huge amount for uni degrees. They have not had it easy at all and if you’re children don’t show gratitude that’s on you!

Have you ever watched Ghosts on BBC OP? There are wonderful interactions between the ghosts of different eras discussing their memories/history. For example Pat describing his holidays in the 1980’s to Mary who talks about never leaving her village of birth in the 15/1600’s.

i know it’s just a tv programme (although i personally think it’s genius) but it demonstrates the development over time and changing perspectives.

100% this. Also surely a goal should be improving conditions for future generations. None of us remember what it was like to live without working plumbing, penicillin etc. Shall we go back to living in caves and harvesting our own food just to make sure we're resilient enough?

This is just another whinge about 'the young people of today'.

They will have plenty to talk about with their DC, and all the people I know of my kids' generation (they're 23, 24 and 25) have absolutely suffered enough. We've got climate change, plenty of wars to go round and the pandemic. And I don't see the self obsessed relentlessly posting every minute of their lives online that you see to see, so maybe look for some better young people to hang out with? There are plenty.

Thats a shame, my dad was evacuated from London and remembers the farm he was sent to, then his mum joined and they lived nearby a different family member and then she took him and his sister right back to London, right in the thick of it. We have taken him down there a few times to drive around the area.

We also have to appreciate that for youngsters sm is their community and social life as they simply don’t have the options their parents had re playing out, youth clubs, freedom to roam, pubs and discos, etc. They’re typically no longer living close to friends and relatives in the way people did a few decades ago. They can’t get part time jobs because most of the local small shops, pubs, guest houses etc have closed down. Sm is the way they build their networks now - it’s the only way they can do it.

Kids from my sons primary were spread across 8 different secondaries when they left primary, at his secondary, there were no kids in his year who lived near enough to us for them to get together without parent cars! That wasn’t their fault. It’s fragmentation of society. Like family having to move away from home town to get jobs - fragmentation again. None of our sons aunts and uncles and therefore cousins etc live near us anymore - all had to relocate for employment, like our own son has had to do.

Communities were really important for child development, but fragmentation has been disastrous in so many ways, and kids have turned to sm to fill the void.

People will always talk about themselves.

I don't think it's a shame. My maternal grandad lost his brother during WW2, his mum found out many months later that her son was dead via telegram. I think they'd all prefer to have fewer memories of that time. I think my dad was pretty lucky not to remember much about it. And if anyone wants to experience life in a war zone, there are plenty of wars still going on to pick from.

Nail on the head. It does sound as if some oldies actually want our younger generations to suffer. It was always the way for parents to want their kids to have better lives, but some of the current generation of parents and grandparents seem to want their kids/grandkids to suffer a worse life. Utterly unfathomable.

Yes, and even though presumably none of the people posting here actually experienced living through WW2 themselves. It is unfathomable.

Well, that's nonsense. My mum lived through the London Blitz, remembers the VE Day street parties and rationing and is 88. Every child was not evacuated.

You're incredibly naive if you think future generations aren't going to suffer.

No, but it seems like the end of their world. All they've known and are used to. Takes some adjustment. We/they are used to having the world and its knowledge at the tips of our fingers, literally.
On a separate point, I don't think appreciation of previous generations comes till a little later in life when people begin to see the whole person, not just mum or uncle Fred and realise they too had hopes and dreams and expectations.

They had Covid lockdowns that had a profound effect on many of their lives.

Like others I’m not entirely sure I understand what the AIBU is here.

But- if it’s worrying that our children use Social Media so much that they don’t have “real life” experiences then that’s just using your own values to judge someone else’s. SM is part of their real life experience- in years to come they will look back with friends and remember the craze for doing the ice bucket challenge or the floss or saying six sevvvvvven until your mother weeps (looking at you DS3) and this all comes from SM.

I use social media as much as my kids. We still manage perfectly fine to do real life things, we do stuff as a family all the time, they do clubs, we see friends and family, have hobbies, conversations about the big life stuff, engage in local community and so on.

They will not be lacking in memories when they’re older- if this is what you are worried about I think you probably don’t have children in your home because if you did you’d know that real life still happens. It’s a bit odd to think that it doesn’t.

Same. My GPs were in the war and never told glorifying stories about it or in fact any stories. I think it would have triggered massive trauma flashbacks if they did.

You have a very negative view of young people OP! It’s not all skincare and false eyelashes. I feel quite insulted on all of their behalf and my own preteens to read your view of them. I encourage my daughter to think about the past. I talk to her about the experiences I had growing up in the 80’s and she’s always quite interested to hear what life was like for me, my favourite toys, what were the ‘fads’ of my time and what school was like. My parents talk to her about their childhoods too.

I make sure she knows about the sacrifices of those who fought in the war, but I don’t beat her over the head with it. She’s quite anxious about the two wars that are going on right now if you hadn’t noticed. Are you pleased that our young people will have that to talk about when they are older?

Our young people will have plenty of unique experiences to share with their children and grandchildren. Covid, being homeschooled, queuing in supermarkets for essential items, a brand new vaccine being developed in their time that changed the course of the illness, students cooped up in halls or residence, being fined for having parties, living through more prime ministers in a short space of time than any other era in history, the concern over global warming, electric cars becoming a real thing, they’ll be shocked that people used to actually be allowed to smoke indoors, they’ll commiserate with future generations over the harm that’s bound to be caused by vapes, some will remember the death of the longest reigning Queen in British history, the implosion of the Royal Family, Scotland going to the World Cup, etc etc etc.

Young people are more enlightened these days on things like global warming, Women’s Rights, mysogyny and clean eating than your generation ever were.

What are you on about? Many of them lived through a worldwide pandemic… there are currently multiple wars on, the economy is trash. You’re romanticising.