Danah Boyd has written some awesome papers. Her latest on social class and online social networks came to a good (tangent) point: With the hegemonic teens, I’m very worried about the stress that they’re under, the lack of mobility and healthy opportunities for play and socialization, and the hyper-scheduling and surveillance. I’m worried about their unrealistic expectations for becoming rich and famous, their lack of work ethic after being pampered for so long, and the lack of opportunities that many of them have to even be economically stable let alone better off than their parents. I’m worried about how locking teens indoors coupled with a fast food/junk food advertising machine has resulted in a decrease in health levels across the board which will just get messy as they are increasingly unable to afford health insurance.
Hasn’t every generation always been concerned for the world in the hands of the next (or next two) generations? Don’t we always say “kids these days”? Remember how frustrating it is for old-timers to be concerned about our generation?
I think we’re doing okay so why don’t we give these kids some time to prove themselves before we start making the same mistake.
Yeah, that’s fair. Then again, it’s debatable whether or not I’m “okay.” ;)