Are young adults being dumbed down?

[Kizzy]

For a while now I've noticed people in their early 20's being treated like teens, with programmes like 'Barely legal drivers' and ' sun , sex and suspicious parents'
The news reports of young adults having 'immature brains' .generally being accepting and excusing of the irresponsible and hedonistic attitudes of some.

But is this right, young adults are having to stay at home longer due to the expense of branching out but is it right that they are effectively treated like children and absolved of responsibility like a child this way?

Is it mollycoddling, do you agree that parents and society as a whole are restricting young adults by not expecting them to function independently?

Do young adults like being defined in this way and resist the need to grow up and accept responsibility?


It seems so scary to me that even in their mid 20's some are seemingly so underprepared or unaccepting to be considered 'adult'.
Before we all become BB obsessed again what are the thoughts on this, it was inspired by the discussion on the predicted ages of housemates and the roles they adopt in the house when there are differing peer age groups.

[arista]

Yes they are being Dumbed Down


Even on Made in Chelsea

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/cm/cosmopolitanuk/images/Nf/MadeInChelsea_groupshot.jpg

[Kazanne]

I think there maybe something in that Kizzy,going by my moms generation she had left home at 15 and was in a bedsit had a job and she says she was really happy being independent,she is still very independent now,as for me I was studying graphic art and got the opportunity as an 18 year old to be a nanny in NY,I took it and went for a year,I went on my own and never looked back,I feel some of her independence has rubbed off on me.i see lots of kids now living at home well into their 20s,which would not have happened years ago,as much as I love mom and dad,I would hate to live with them again,I like my space,I know some of the young adults are desperate to get a place of their own and it can be hard,but some are so molly coddled they will just stay put as long as possible,but I have to say I do think some young adults are very immature and wouldn't last 5 mins on their own.

[smudgie]

I think it is more down to lack of choice.

We could all afford to leave home early in my generation, now it is an uphill struggle with rent/ house prices.


Even though your 20 odd year olds still live at home, they can still make decisions for themselves and live their life the way they choose....up to a point.

[Loukas]

I think we are yeah :(
Can't give you a reason why though as i don't know :laugh:

[AnnieK]

Some are I guess, but I think its a gradual generation thing...as Kaz said, if you look back by early 20s most people were married and living in their own homes. When my mum had me, she was classed as an older mum (she was 26) but now that's fairly young to be starting a family.

Cost of living and lack of jobs are causing people to stay with parents longer and I guess whilst you live in their home, old habits die hard and the parents still tend to "take care" of the children regardless of age.

[Kazanne]

I think we are yeah :(
Can't give you a reason why though as i don't know :laugh:

As smudgie said Loukas ,some of it is probably due to it being harder now to get somewhere you can afford to live ,but I think some are just happy to stay at home.

[Loukas]

Yes they are being Dumbed Down


Even on Made in Chelsea

http://www.cosmopolitan.co.uk/cm/cosmopolitanuk/images/Nf/MadeInChelsea_groupshot.jpg

Lucy Watson :love:

[arista]

Lucy Watson :love:

She would Slap you

[Loukas]

As smudgie said Loukas ,some of it is probably due to it being harder now to get somewhere you can afford to live ,but I think some are just happy to stay at home.

Yeah i guess that's right!

[Loukas]

She would Slap you

http://images.sugarscape.com/userfiles/image/AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMAY2014/Charlotte/tumblr_mv2vyrI5E81rpyl2po1_500.gif

I doubt she would, i met her at an Aquila event and she was even more beautiful/lovey in person :love:

She's the only one that keeps that stupid show in check :love:

[Me. I Am Salman]

we are far more tolerant, educated (exam pass rates) and better looking so no

[Tom4784]

Young adults aren't being dumbed down it's just that there's not as many opportunities out there at the moment, people are staying at home for longer since the cost of living is rising while employment amongst young adults is at an all time low. Most people I know still live at home and the ones that don't either popped out a kid after they finished school or are one of the few that got lucky and found a good job that allowed them the freedom to live on their own.

Going to Uni isn't the guarantee for employment as it used to be either, I know a few people that have gone to Uni and have been unemployed since they graduated a year or two ago because there's a lack of opportunities for them.

[Saph]

yeah but i'm dumb anyway so it works in my favor

[arista]

Young adults aren't being dumbed down it's just that there's not as many opportunities out there at the moment, people are staying at home for longer since the cost of living is rising while employment amongst young adults is at an all time low. Most people I know still live at home and the ones that don't either popped out a kid after they finished school or are one of the few that got lucky and found a good job that allowed them the freedom to live on their own.

Going to Uni isn't the guarantee for employment as it used to be either, I know a few people that have gone to Uni and have been unemployed since they graduated a year or two ago because there's a lack of opportunities for them.



Yes another way of looking at this Dezzy.


But so many young give up to much.


Yes and University is wasting your Life away
get a job - learn trades
a better future.



Feel The Force

[Toy Soldier]

I wouldn't say "dumbed down" exactly, based on the many plainly ****ing thick and pig ignorant middle aged and elderly people I've had the misfortune to encounter, but yes, I agree that the youth of today are "babied" for far too long. I don't think teenagers are given anywhere near enough responsibility or control over their own lives, and the result is fairly pathetic 20-something year olds who can barely wipe their own arse without phoning their mum for instructions.

My own personal belief is that it should start much, much younger. I speak to my 4 and a half year old "like an adult" (most of the time) and she has far more control and decision making in her life than half of the teenagers I know.

When you see a young adult huffing like a toddler... Don't blame them. Blame the people who have treated them like toddlers their entire lives.

[arista]

I wouldn't say "dumbed down" exactly, based on the many plainly ****ing thick and pig ignorant middle aged and elderly people I've had the misfortune to encounter, but yes, I agree that the youth of today are "babied" for far too long. I don't think teenagers are given anywhere near enough responsibility or control over their own lives, and the result is fairly pathetic 20-something year olds who can barely wipe their own arse without phoning their mum for instructions.

My own personal belief is that it should start much, much younger. I speak to my 4 and a half year old "like an adult" (most of the time) and she has far more control and decision making in her life than half of the teenagers I know.

When you see a young adult huffing like a toddler... Don't blame them. Blame the people who have treated them like toddlers their entire lives.


Thats Good

[Kyle]

yeah but i'm dumb anyway so it works in my favor

It's 'favour' dumbass

http://coffee-and-cakes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Smiley-Face-Grin-2c++2012.png

[arista]

yeah but i'm dumb anyway so it works in my favor


No you are just staying at a Level
and not moving up.


Feel The Force

[arista]

It's 'favour' dumbass

http://coffee-and-cakes.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Smiley-Face-Grin-2c++2012.png


But computer says OK
as it is a
USA spelling of it.

[Z]

Complex question. Advances in medicine and the rapid development of our society since World War II have meant that people are living for much longer and are much richer than they ever were before. Accordingly, costs of living have rocketed up, it's more expensive to get a foot on the property ladder and a change in lifestyle means that teenagers and young adults nowadays are generally less prepared for living independently than their parents were before them. We are the generation that grew up with the internet, we look up things we don't know how to do, we don't figure it out ourselves - and I think that's true of many aspects in our lives. I'm now living back at home with my parents - I went to university so I can have a qualification that shows I'm intelligent. That was literally the only point in getting a degree for me. Hopefully it'll get me a job that will pay me well enough that I can move out before I'm 25. That's just the way things are now - if I'd finished school when I was 17 and gone straight into work then maybe by now, aged 22, I'd have my own place; but perhaps I wouldn't have gotten a very good job.

[Cherie]

I wouldn't say "dumbed down" exactly, based on the many plainly ****ing thick and pig ignorant middle aged and elderly people I've had the misfortune to encounter, but yes, I agree that the youth of today are "babied" for far too long. I don't think teenagers are given anywhere near enough responsibility or control over their own lives, and the result is fairly pathetic 20-something year olds who can barely wipe their own arse without phoning their mum for instructions.

My own personal belief is that it should start much, much younger. I speak to my 4 and a half year old "like an adult" (most of the time) and she has far more control and decision making in her life than half of the teenagers I know.

When you see a young adult huffing like a toddler... Don't blame them. Blame the people who have treated them like toddlers their entire lives.


Obviously your child so you can do what you want but my personal belief is that children grow up too quickly as it is and it's a bit of a shame that you treat a 4 year old like an adult.

Back to the original question I do think that teenagers aren't as independant as they used to be, some of which is due to parents having a bit more cash to splash and also due to economic issues and difficulty getting work that will enable them to leave home.

[Ammi]

..no I don't think that younger people are being 'dumbed down', I know that 'back in the day', in general a lot of people got married much younger/had children much younger etc and didn't live at home as long as some young people do now but for me, young people have many opportunities to go travelling etc and have much more choices than we had if they want them...and other things they do a lot later when they've experienced things they want to do first...and the cost of homes makes it impractical for many young people to move out of their family home until they're a little older, but they do have the opportunities do do things in that time and living in the family home can mean they have more available money to do those things and to save for their own home as well....

[Toy Soldier]

Obviously your child so you can do what you want but my personal belief is that children grow up too quickly as it is and it's a bit of a shame that you treat a 4 year old like an adult.

Back to the original question I do think that teenagers aren't as independant as they used to be, some of which is due to parents having a bit more cash to splash and also due to economic issues and difficulty getting work that will enable them to leave home.

She's not sitting around doing the Sunday times crossword :joker:. She's very much a child who enjoys child-stuff. We just don't dumb down or language or baby talk / simplify things. If she doesn't understand a word, she asks. As a result she has an extensive vocabulary, and as an example, when a midwife came to visit her pre-school, she could explain the entire conception, development and birth process when asked when most of her peers were still piping up with whatever fairytale version they'd heard.

Her thoughts, opinions and decisions are respected equally to any other member of the household.

If anything, it gives her much MORE freedom to be a child, because she's respected as an individual, not ragged from pillar to post as a possession, which far too many parents do with their children, right through the teens into adulthood. It all has a knock on effect. As an extreme example, I know a 36 year old woman still living at home who recently had to check with her dad if it was OK to "sleep over" with her boyfriend. I mean really... What the **** is that?

[Nedusa]

Quite the opposite actually , young people now are smarter than ever before thanks to improved education and Internet .

[Alf]

Quite the opposite actually , young people now are smarter than ever before thanks to improved education and Internet .
Nobody under 25 has ever made it in to The Eggheads team

[Nedusa]

Nobody under 25 has ever made it in to The Eggheads team

That may indeed be true but a disproportionate amount have made it into the final elimination round....

[Nedusa]

I think we are yeah :(
Can't give you a reason why though as i don't know :laugh:

My name is Loukas and I live on the second floor....

[MTVN]

I guess these days there are more opportunities in education - way easier to go to University despite the moaning about fees, education now compulsory till 18, improvements to technology have helped massively, schools are now better regulated etc. etc. - but maybe there's less opportunity to enter into a good time full time job immediately after leaving and move out

I think its only recently where its seen as embarrassing to stay at home a long time, maybe the previous generation were able to move out straight away but in the past it was very common for people to stay in their family homes long into adulthood perhaps until they married, and in a lot of countries it's historically been the case that the whole family have lived under one roof. You're not dumb if you don't move out on your own as soon as you hit 16, 18, or even 21, there's plenty of time for all that in the future when its a better option

[Kizzy]

I guess these days there are more opportunities in education - way easier to go to University despite the moaning about fees, education now compulsory till 18, improvements to technology have helped massively, schools are now better regulated etc. etc. - but maybe there's less opportunity to enter into a good time full time job immediately after leaving and move out

I think its only recently where its seen as embarrassing to stay at home a long time, maybe the previous generation were able to move out straight away but in the past it was very common for people to stay in their family homes long into adulthood perhaps until they married, and in a lot of countries it's historically been the case that the whole family have lived under one roof. You're not dumb if you don't move out on your own as soon as you hit 16, 18, or even 21, there's plenty of time for all that in the future when its a better option

I doubt they would agree in Birmingham atm...
I didn't say anyone was dumb for staying at home either, the contribution to the household either financial or practical is lacking as young adults are made too comfortable in their role as 'child' to change.
Bringing wages in line from 18 not 21 would be a start to enable some young people to save or just not have to rely too heavily on 'the bank of mum and dad'?
I used the phrase 'dumbed down' not as a derogatory term but just a way of encompassing how by showing young adults as people who are not adequate decision makers, workers and drivers. Being accepting of this makes it a societal norm... and I don't think it should be at all. It detracts from the millions who are perfectly capable and competent.

[Mystic Mock]

I know that I could not survive without my parents helping me sometimes, who knows maybe it's because I am being treated like a toddler but I would like to think not lol.