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We didn't have television in my early years except for the winters, when my dad rented one in order to watch hockey. It was such a novelty that we watched along with him, but that was to see the commercials! I can't remember when we got television to stay for good. I think by the time I was 16 or 17 we had it.
However, what I notice about kids nowadays is their reluctance to help with stuff I wouldn't have given a thought to when I was young. I occasionally need help with something on the farm and from an early age my nephews were usually reluctant to help. And I might add that I paid very well and it was never anything that required more than a couple of hours of their time. When I was young and my grandparents needed help, I don't recall ever feeling I had the option to say no and I never expected to be paid, although my grandmother would give me .10 for helping her pick peas. And I never resented it at all. To me it seems as though kids nowadays have a lot of money in comparison to what we had growing up and therefore anything that is 'hard' they don't care to do. Maybe this is a 'city kid' thing since they don't live on farms.
In regards to help. It was the same for me and I'm a city kid. I helped my grandmother out all the time as a teenager. Washing windows, weeding the garden, painting the carport. She even had me bleach the white stones she used around planters. I wasn't paid for it in cash. Just tasty foodstuffs that she made.
I also went to her place for dinner at least once a week.
When I lived with my parents ( until 21 when I moved out ) I had to cut the grass, look after the vegetable garden, clean house, iron, wash clothes etc. Good training.
I got an allowance for that, but it wasn't much really. Enough to buy a pop and a bag of chips.
Now, my nephews hardly visit my mum, their grandmother, even though one lives 4 blocks away. They help out only when I ask, which is better than nothing I guess.
I'm sure it varies by family and kids, but kids today get much more homework than I did. The pressure on them to succeed I think is higher since the days of just having a high school diploma and getting a good paying job that gave you the ability to buy your own place etc are gone.
In regards to help. It was the same for me and I'm a city kid. I helped my grandmother out all the time as a teenager. Washing windows, weeding the garden, painting the carport. She even had me bleach the white stones she used around planters. I wasn't paid for it in cash. Just tasty foodstuffs that she made.
I also went to her place for dinner at least once a week.
When I lived with my parents ( until 21 when I moved out ) I had to cut the grass, look after the vegetable garden, clean house, iron, wash clothes etc. Good training.
I got an allowance for that, but it wasn't much really. Enough to buy a pop and a bag of chips.
Now, my nephews hardly visit my mum, their grandmother, even though one lives 4 blocks away. They help out only when I ask, which is better than nothing I guess.
I'm sure it varies by family and kids, but kids today get much more homework than I did. The pressure on them to succeed I think is higher since the days of just having a high school diploma and getting a good paying job that gave you the ability to buy your own place etc are gone.
An allowance big enough to buy a coke and a bag of chips was a great treat. I think my allowance was the sum of .35 cents and every Saturday a great deal of thought went into deciding whether to buy a coke and chips, or whether to spread the wealth between chewing gum, licorices, and a multitude of cheaper items in order to savour it all for longer.
Reminiscing is fun but boy, does it make me feel old!
My nieces and nephews have spent a great deal of time enjoying my pool and I've babysat them often, so I understand it even less. I guess on one level I understand why they wouldn't want to work, being kids at the time, but on another level, I really don't understand their parents, my siblings, allowing it. One of my brothers learned his lesson the hard way a couple of years ago, when he hired several of our nephews to paint a fence and came home and overheard one of the nephews counselling the other younger nephews on how to be slackers, so as to increase the amount of hours for which they would be paid. It cost him a lot of money, and no, he didn't confront them or tell their parents. I think he was too flabbergasted. Shades of Tom Sawyer I guess. I learned a long time ago to pay by the job, not the hour. I have a good dea of how long a job should take and what I pay is well over that amount so there is no excuse.
However, to be fair, I do have to say that I have a nephew who, being a young adult now, does come when I ask him for help and always refuses money although I pay him anyway. He just doesn't always come exactly when I need him and I don't think he realizes that some aspects of farming are so weather dependant they can't wait until the following day.
I'm 24. Here is how I would characterize my generation:
stuck in minimum wage, 27 room mates in a dingy basement for $600/month, actually loves to shop at Value Village, experimenting with veganism, "if I go to school I'm not sure I can afford the OSAP payments after", etc.
Most people my age are honest, well-intentioned people who are more socially-aware than the average person. I get really sick and tired of cheap jabs and ragging on kids just because you might occasionally cross paths with a jerk under 30. Just like you can learn something from talking to older people, you can certainly gain a new perspective if you actually sit down and hear what the experience of a 20-something of the now is.
I know loads of folks who would love some free furniture. In fact I would say DIY right now is as big as it's been since, I would imagine, being a hippy was so ubiquitous. If the furniture in my friends' apartments match, it's usually a shock.
Millennials aren't really pampered at all. The difference between now and then is that there's a surface aesthetic of wealth that is probably interpreted from everyone having smart phones. QOL is a bit shocking if you actually see how the average student/minimum wager lives at home.
I'm 24. Here is how I would characterize my generation:
stuck in minimum wage, 27 room mates in a dingy basement for $600/month, actually loves to shop at Value Village, experimenting with veganism, "if I go to school I'm not sure I can afford the OSAP payments after", etc.
Most people my age are honest, well-intentioned people who are more socially-aware than the average person. I get really sick and tired of cheap jabs and ragging on kids just because you might occasionally cross paths with a jerk under 30. Just like you can learn something from talking to older people, you can certainly gain a new perspective if you actually sit down and hear what the experience of a 20-something of the now is.
I know loads of folks who would love some free furniture. In fact I would say DIY right now is as big as it's been since, I would imagine, being a hippy was so ubiquitous. If the furniture in my friends' apartments match, it's usually a shock.
Millennials aren't really pampered at all. The difference between now and then is that there's a surface aesthetic of wealth that is probably interpreted from everyone having smart phones. QOL is a bit shocking if you actually see how the average student/minimum wager lives at home.
Good points. I agree the QOL isn't as good as it was when I was in my 20's. Good paying jobs with good benefits were much more plentiful. An average person working in an average job could still afford to rent a one bedroom apartment downtown on a nice street near the beach and still have money to travel.
An allowance big enough to buy a coke and a bag of chips was a great treat. I think my allowance was the sum of .35 cents and every Saturday a great deal of thought went into deciding whether to buy a coke and chips, or whether to spread the wealth between chewing gum, licorices, and a multitude of cheaper items in order to savour it all for longer.
Reminiscing is fun but boy, does it make me feel old!
My nieces and nephews have spent a great deal of time enjoying my pool and I've babysat them often, so I understand it even less. I guess on one level I understand why they wouldn't want to work, being kids at the time, but on another level, I really don't understand their parents, my siblings, allowing it. One of my brothers learned his lesson the hard way a couple of years ago, when he hired several of our nephews to paint a fence and came home and overheard one of the nephews counselling the other younger nephews on how to be slackers, so as to increase the amount of hours for which they would be paid. It cost him a lot of money, and no, he didn't confront them or tell their parents. I think he was too flabbergasted. Shades of Tom Sawyer I guess. I learned a long time ago to pay by the job, not the hour. I have a good dea of how long a job should take and what I pay is well over that amount so there is no excuse.
However, to be fair, I do have to say that I have a nephew who, being a young adult now, does come when I ask him for help and always refuses money although I pay him anyway. He just doesn't always come exactly when I need him and I don't think he realizes that some aspects of farming are so weather dependant they can't wait until the following day.
I didn't like Coca-Cola or Pepsi as a kid. It was Orange Crush or a Cream Soda and BBQ chips!
I am sort of between generations.. so a bit younger than middle aged but older than millennials. I definitely can see it from both sides as I was right at the beginning of the generation where the Internet and later cell phones became predominant. When I was a student, I lived in a rooming house that also housed many people on social assistance and lived primarily off instant noodles and KD. I did have the internet (I believe it was dial-up) and would always help around the house with my mom and dad when I was home visiting. I agree in that the biggest difference to today's student generation is the proliferation of technology such as smartphones that can be a big distraction. Maybe that's why older people perceive millennials as lazy when they are always on their phones but it's just the direction of how the world is going these days!
It takes so much time and energy to just be on top of everything. In the morning, to catch up on social things (twitter - Instagram - fb - news aggregators - blogs - favorite sites - professional news) - it can take to lunchtime... The rest of the day - keeping up connected, through invisible networks that can be very engaging and alive, - while performing what is expected (job, school). The level of mental processing is unprecedented.
No sarcasm. This is a generation living in a never-seen-before torrent of information. Something's gotta give. Often its food, furniture and clothing, that is, the old "time-wasting" process of searching and possibly restoring. Time becomes a much more valuable commodity to them, so it becomes preferable to buy something more expensive, something aesthetically pleasing right away, so the precious time is not wasted on duck-taping, wiring, painting, shopping...
Anyway, this is my theory. It also explains the glowing apple logos of expensive laptops in the hands of otherwise poor students. This is like a spaceship into the future to them, the single item (plus the phone) that is worth splurging on, that assures they are on the cutting edge of life.
Youths, not kids .. lots of responses so far about times spent as minors Remind me, please, the cut-off age for youths here, because for me it's always been 26.
I pity youths for being exposed to lacklustre sex symbols nowadays; it's been many years already. In coming across old photos of various sorts of attractive human beings, I'm reminded of how droolworthy we could all be and of how today's youths' attitudes are crabbier than those in the past were. Youths' increasing lack of attractiveness is what's most astonishing.
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I can't remember when we got television to stay for good. I think by the time I was 16 or 17 we had it.
Shades of Tom Sawyer I guess. I learned a long time ago to pay by the job, not the hour. I have a good dea of how long a job should take and what I pay is well over that amount so there is no excuse.
