Some version of “kids these days” has dripped from the lips of older generations for time immemorial. It almost seems inevitable that people get to a certain age and start looking at youth with the eye of judgment, comparison, and sometimes outright antagonism. Hence, pretty much every generation of elders has deemed the younger generation as lazy, soft, undisciplined, immoral, disrespectful, or otherwise “a problem.”
Since we’re supposed to learn from history, perhaps there’s something we can learn from this perpetual demonizing of youth. What if all those curmudgeonly criticisms of “kids these days” were just…wrong?
Examples of adults blaming youth throughout history
A video from History Hustle shares quotes from across the centuries illustrating this impulse to complain about the younger generations. Here are some highlights:
“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life…They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” – Aristotle, 400 B.C.
“Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We their sons are more worthless than they: so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.” – Horace, 20 B.C.
“Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased…The ordinary spoken language also steadily coarsened.” – Japanese Buddhist monk Yoshida Kenkō, 1330 – 1332
“Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie . . . the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.” – Thomas Barnes, 1624
“The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth…” – Reverend Enos Hitchcock, 1790
“[girls who] drive coal carts, ride astride upon horses, drink, swear, fight, smoke, whistle, and care for nobody…the morals of children are tenfold worse than formerly.” – Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, 1843
“An attitude on the part of young folk which is best described as grossly thoughtless, rude, and utterly selfish.” – Hull Daily Mail article, 1925
“Many [young people] were so pampered nowadays that they had forgotten there was such a thing as walking.” – Falkirk Herald article, 1951
“…it’s the first generation in American history to live so well and complain so bitterly about it.” – Washington Post article, 1993
“They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb the corporate ladder.” – Time Magazine article, 2001
What if we purposefully challenged that instinct?
We know that there’s some human urge, instinct, or impulse to roll our eyes at the younger generation and decry what we perceive to be lacking in them. We don’t even have to look back at history to see it; we hear it all the time in our own lives: Gen Z can’t cope with the real world. Gen Alpha is the worst-behaved generation of kids ever. Kids these days [insert rant about screens, responsibility, respect, social skills, etc. etc. etc.]
But what if we resisted it? What if we looked at young people and saw ourselves when we were young? What if we remembered not just our youthful foolishness or mistakes, but the positive qualities we possessed? Instead of seeing them as the downfall of society, what if we celebrated the inherent characteristics and capacities of youth as potential drivers of progress?
I’m not saying young people have everything figured out and don’t have things to learn. I’m not saying they’re never lazy, soft, disrespectful, or immoral. For sure, the internet age has influenced today’s young people in ways that don’t apply to previous generations.
But every generation has had some version of that. Some previous generation had to be the first to grow up with books, cars, telephones, radio, television, rock music, pants for girls, and so on. And if every older generation for thousands of years was right about young people sucking more than they did, then theoretically, each younger generation would have gotten worse and worse, to the point that today’s young people should be barely a step above rabid animals. Objectively, that does not appear to be the case.
Young people are ideal protagonists in building a better world
First, let’s acknowledge the negative: Young people can be impulsive, cruel when not taught better, cynical when disempowered, and unwise in the face of peer pressure. But most of that is true of many adults as well.
Youth also possess qualities like idealism, openness, willingness to learn and adapt, a desire for connection, and passion for things they care about. Many adults have those qualities too, of course, but in young people, they tend to shine the brightest.
Those qualities are what make youth ideal protagonists in humanity’s ongoing progress. We see them in young hero stories that transcend generations. We see them in youth-led movements to protect the environment and advocate for human rights. When empowered and guided with wisdom, young people have shown they can play a significant role in solving the world’s problems.
As the United Nations states, “Youth can be a positive force for development when provided with the knowledge and opportunities they need to thrive.” That starts with viewing young people through a positive lens, recognizing their capacities, and refusing to demonize them for not being fully mature adults.
“Kids these days” can be pretty darn impressive when they’re invited to the table, empowered to participate, and appreciated for what they have to offer. That’s always been the case, despite the laments of elders in every millennium.
