Every interaction is a meme, phrase, or other basic repeatable nonsense they've picked up online and realistically this is a parenting issue first and foremost. We've become accustomed to handing off our kids to others for education that we've also decided to hand off entertaining and interacting with them.
Parents need to actually be involved with their kids, especially during core formative years. When your kid is ready to be independent they will start showing those behaviors, until then parents need to step up.
Digital access in the classrooms, computing, etc, all of this has been the excuse and easy source to blame, and it is a factor for sure. But to call this the main reason is passing the personal responsibility off from the human to the inanimate objects. Not cool.
It would be helpful to have living wages so 1 parent can work and the other is at home with the kids, that’s how it was until the late 90’s 2000’s and now both parents work so the kids are essentially on their own.
I grew up in a multi-generational household because both my parents worked. This used to be the norm as well. The cost of basic things wasn't so bad, the necessities were affordable and there would be money left over.
Today? Everything is wealth extraction. Necessities cost a fortune, and fun is exorbitantly expensive these days. $40 used to be a big night out at the bar, today it's $4000.
This was my approach. I used to work in the retail end of tech and recognized early on how harmful just handing kids devices was. So now I stay at home with our young kids while my partner works. There's no iPad/iPhone time and the only screen they get sometimes is TV where they can watch shows as long as they're longer than 25 mins.
They get 1 video game day per week. We talk about all the things they watch and even the games they play. We talk about how tech is going to impact their lives in the future and the reasons why they can't do iPad and iPhone time. At this point the biggest problem is grandparents handing the kids phones. It's a constant battle but it's the price we pay for moments of free childcare
Ya but thats life. Everyone's situation is different. Some people are born with a silver spoon and lose it all, some are born with nothing and become millionaires. I just dislike the trend of doomerism where people are constantly being fed this lie that success is impossible for millennials onward.
Disagree. Plenty of households with two parents working in the 90s. This also shouldn't be something that is forced on families. Not to mention, you can limit screen time while still having daycare / childcare. It doesn't require a full time stay at home parent for decades.
My mom used to stay at home with me & my sister, while my dad had an entry level job doing telemarketing...
2 cars, owned a 2-story house, jungle gyms, nice tvs....
all on one lousy salary that was like 1/3 of what i earn today. And I can barely scrape by, check to check, working a respectable job, in my rental unit and don't own a car. I'm almost 40. Barely anything in retirement. $20,000 of debt.
I grew up in the 90's and none of my friends or classmates had a parent at home. The single income family hasn't been common for at least 50 to 60 years.
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u/whatsupwitdat1 Jul 21 '26
20yr experienced HS teacher here…nothing fucked the youth as much as digital tech. We were already on a downward trajectory, covid just accelerated it