I was bullied, too - I was the "short/fat/smart kid" in middle school....punch a couple bullies in the nose and you stop getting bullied pretty quickly.
The issue these days is punching a bully in the nose, even in self defense, often results in a kid getting arrested.
I don't mean to downplay the effects of bullying. It's a serious matter. But how many of us 40 and over can recall the bullied kid in our class going on a murderous rampage? Is the bullying of today that much more severe, or are we raising children with less ability to deal with it?
The only reason people are not able to make rational decisions until 30 is because they were never required to when they were 12.
I get what you are saying but bullying today is ten times worst than back in the old days. Now with social media a kid can be harassed and bullied for the world to see and publicly embarrassed like you can't believe.
My older brother was a scrawny nerd. He got bullied constantly. In 8th grade he took on three bullies and beat them bloody. He got a three day suspension. But yes, most bullies are cowards and when fists fly numbers don't always mean everything.The problem with this attitude is that bullies travel in packs. You think you can take down 5 or 10 kids, who are bigger than you? Also, why do you think bullies taunt kids? They're just BEGGING for a violent altercation. Do you think any other kids will take the side of the victim? No, because that just paints a target on their back that they don't want.
You punch a bully and you've just escalated the war. You'll always be looking over your shoulder for the retaliation, and it will come, and there won't be much you can do about it.
I've walked that road. The only thing that worked for me was to shut down my soul so all of the taunts and insults would just roll off my back. I was emotionally numb for the better part of my adolescense.
I was the bullied kid, and you'd be surprised how many are thisclose to acting out but don't.
I do think the bullying is worse. Do you recall the video of the kids that taunted and insulted the woman on the bus until she cried? Imgaine putting up with that all day every day for 180 days a year for 12 years.
Are kids unable to cope today? Sure, the decline in active church participation means that people of all ages, one, don't have a higher authority to answer to, and two, have no everlasting hope on which to cling.
I disagree that people aren't making better decisions simply because we coddle too much. Young people making bad decisions has always been around. Only maturity and wisdom, which come with age, experience, and strong character, will allow you to make good decisions.
Now, some people never grow up, and this isn't really new either.
My older brother was a scrawny nerd. He got bullied constantly. In 8th grade he took on three bullies and beat them bloody. He got a three day suspension. But yes, most bullies are cowards and when fists fly numbers don't always mean everything.
...Young people making bad decisions has always been around. Only maturity and wisdom, which come with age, experience, and strong character, will allow you to make good decisions.
Now, some people never grow up, and this isn't really new either.
Young people being mean to each other has always been around. It is just in recent years that we named it "bullying." I good excuse for not having to face and deal with life as it is.
I heard Adam Carolla talking about his 6 year old son who complained that he was being bullied. When Adam asked him how he was bullied, he said he was trying to talk to another kid and that kid put his hands over his own ears and did not want to listen. Adam's son got the impression that anything anyone did that didn't make him feel good was being "bullied". This is symbolic and points out a problem.
In 10 years nearly half of our population will be retired. Currently Baby Boomers are 50 and older.
Millennals are 15 to about age 34, Gen-X are 35 to 49. If 74% of the Millennals are so screwed up that even the military will not take them then what jobs can they hold? Less than 25% have a college degree. And most of them are not in engineering or science. A large percentage of Millennals are just like Simeon Adams. After who had children, it was the minorities. Guess who is out there.
Yeah I have a number of Gen-Xers and Millennals in my office. Good kids, educated. But so clueless at times. So ill prepared by their parents, by their schools. We spend a lot of time retraining them on basic life skills that they should have had before they went to college. And these are the elite kids.
Just remember that by 2025 over half of the US population will be retired. HALF!
I'm a millennial. The military "wouldn't take me" because of Ocular Hypertension (that actually isn't ocular hypertension, but rather high read pressures due to thicker-than-normal corneas...but since the Pentagon doesn't prescribe to modern ophthalmology here I am), so I fall into your ever-quoted 74% that the military "won't take". Despite scoring a 423 out of 500 on the Air Force PFT.
I manage two airplanes and fly a jet at 45,000ft by myself.
I'm not "unique" in being highly educated and capable of employment, yet unqualified for military service.
The Death of the Republic due to the "failings" of youth have been spoken since probably 1776...and yet, the Republic is still here...
Look we hire lots of Millennals and Gen-Xers at work. University trained, mostly in science. We have to teach basic life skills. They have never changed a tire (we do field work where we might be too remote for someone to come to help). Most lack tool knowledge so we have to teach them how to repair equipment, to build things. Most have trouble troubleshooting or thinking logically through a problem.
Frankly we want college educated farm boys. City kids have too many holes in their basic education.
I didn't realize I qualified as a Gen Xer... I do agree that having a Dad that grew up in the depression and fought in WW 2, gave me a different outlook than many of my fellows.So how old are you? The oldest GenXers are over 50 now! (the original definition when the term was coined was born 1960-1980).
Of course, the oldest of the group vary quite a bit based at least in part on how old their parents were. Those of us who had "old" parents have more in common with boomers and those of born to then 18 year olds are probably more likely to fit your stereotype.
rhino out!
So how old are you? The oldest GenXers are over 50 now! (the original definition when the term was coined was born 1960-1980).
Of course, the oldest of the group vary quite a bit based at least in part on how old their parents were. Those of us who had "old" parents have more in common with boomers and those of born to then 18 year olds are probably more likely to fit your stereotype.
rhino out!
In 10 years nearly half of our population will be retired. Currently Baby Boomers are 50 and older.
Millennals are 15 to about age 34 (thats me) , Gen-X are 35 to 49. If 74% of the Millennals are so screwed up that even the military will not take them (yep, they sure wont...but its because of a heart condition i was born with) then what jobs can they hold? (currently? Design Engineer and Project Manager for a fabrication company specializing in material handling equipment working with very large, well known companies worldwide) Less than 25% have a college degree. (yup, got me one of those too...man, im batting a thousand) And most of them are not in engineering (guess again ) or science. A large percentage of Millennals are just like Simeon Adams. After who had children, it was the minorities. Guess who is out there.
Yeah I have a number of Gen-Xers and Millennals in my office. Good kids, educated. But so clueless at times. So ill prepared by their parents, by their schools. We spend a lot of time retraining them on basic life skills that they should have had before they went to college. And these are the elite kids.
Just remember that by 2025 over half of the US population will be retired. HALF!
No, we did not start complaining about youth in America until 1910 when the Frontier ended. Before 1910, if a kid could not make it, he died. But with prosperity we became softer, fatter and lazy each generation.
While you may be successful, you are a very small minority of your age group. Well over half of your age group was born into a minority family. And often into poverty. Simeon Adams is more typical of a Millennal than you are.
Look we hire lots of Millennals and Gen-Xers at work. University trained, mostly in science. We have to teach basic life skills. They have never changed a tire (we do field work where we might be too remote for someone to come to help). Most lack tool knowledge so we have to teach them how to repair equipment, to build things. Most have trouble troubleshooting or thinking logically through a problem.
Frankly we want college educated farm boys. City kids have too many holes in their basic education.
I didn't realize I qualified as a Gen Xer... I do agree that having a Dad that grew up in the depression and fought in WW 2, gave me a different outlook than many of my fellows.