Is Maine/America being wussified? (China: home, neighborhood, high school)

[namder1]

I certainly think it is. Maybe its because I grew up in the 50's/60's but seems like these days we are becoming too soft. A friends grandson refused to go hunting with us because it was too cold so he stayed home to play a tv game.

[Newdaawn]

wussified? That must be a new word. lol Perhaps you could give us your definition of it. As far as your grandson not wanting to go hunting, it could be he just didn't want to kill an animal and used the tv game as an excuse. I think there are lots of great and smart young people out there and many of them are making good contributins to society.

[arctichomesteader]

Spending so much time indoors in front of electronic screens is not healthy. People are getting softer and lazier.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

The number of Americans and indeed, Mainers who are capable of being self sufficient is shrinking. It's sad, but true. I was working on a recent weekend and my wife wanted some yard work done. We tried in vain to get some young people to work for a few hours just moving stuff around and making brush piles. We ended up with two high school students. One was from Cameroon in Africa and one was from China.

Maine kids need to be told there is work out there.

[FamilyMan1234]

Your question could easily be turned on you as "Are older people becoming more arrogant and ruder just because young people don't follow their philosophy?"

To point out your question is based upon opinion only because you are asking others to critique your opinion or agree with it. As newdaawn mentioned "what is your definition for wussified?" Hits the nail on the head directly because "wussified" appears to be a slang or derived from "wussy" which is a word used in opinions and is judgmental.

Giving consideration to all generations and their upbringing, the younger generation is more used to technology. Some of their value system has evolved but you can't group everyone into one category. The situation you are describing sounds more like a conflict on what you consider appropriate versus what your grandson is more used to doing. You describing it as "Wussified" communicates your dislike or frustration with their activities. Your generation of growing up in the 50s/60s had a total different value system versus today. An example is a person who grew up in the 50s/60s might have been taught homosexuality is wrong and sinful. A person who is growing up right now may see homosexuality as no big deal and the choice of an individual. Generational conflicts will occur in life but try remaining tolerant and keeping an open mind is important.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

FamilyMan1234 out in Arizona nails it:
"Your generation of growing up in the 50s/60s had a total different value system versus today."

As my old door gunner used to say on occasion, "Perzackly!".

They do have a total different value system and the value system that has defined humanity for the last several thousand years is slipping away. I have seen up closely and personally the end result of such behavior and it is not pretty. Tom Brokaw, liberal as he is, still understood these facts and he wrote a book about it titled "The Greatest Generation". I'm a little younger than the greatest generation. I refer to my generation as the "pretty good generation".

Work is still good as it has been for thousands of years. It is the only thing that makes life better, or at least it should be. Those third generation kids who have grown up in Lyndon Johnson's grand society feel entitled to what they have not earned. It diminishes them and it diminishes our nation.

Harrumph. The rain has stopped. I'm going out to work. The bucket on my back hoe is shiny, not rusty.

[inthetrees]

We have literally started building rubberized playgrounds, to prevent kids from getting hurt at the playground. Now I dont have kids and was born in the early 80s, however I don't remember any serious injuries from playgrounds. I mean sure in the news occasionally or a friend of a friend would break a bone, but this rubberization seems to only prevent scrapped knees and bruises.

Kids nowadays are taught that they should feel okay all the time, they believe and some parents that they are entitled to not be offended. These kids are gonna get a nice dose of real world when they turn 25ish (nowadays) and get a real job for the first time and realize life isnt fair.

[GreenGene]

Originally Posted by FamilyMan1234

Your question could easily be turned on you as "Are older people becoming more arrogant and ruder just because young people don't follow their philosophy?"

To point out your question is based upon opinion only because you are asking others to critique your opinion or agree with it. As newdaawn mentioned "what is your definition for wussified?" Hits the nail on the head directly because "wussified" appears to be a slang or derived from "wussy" which is a word used in opinions and is judgmental.

Giving consideration to all generations and their upbringing, the younger generation is more used to technology. Some of their value system has evolved but you can't group everyone into one category. The situation you are describing sounds more like a conflict on what you consider appropriate versus what your grandson is more used to doing. You describing it as "Wussified" communicates your dislike or frustration with their activities. Your generation of growing up in the 50s/60s had a total different value system versus today. An example is a person who grew up in the 50s/60s might have been taught homosexuality is wrong and sinful. A person who is growing up right now may see homosexuality as no big deal and the choice of an individual. Generational conflicts will occur in life but try remaining tolerant and keeping an open mind is important.

Good post, and as a child of the 50s/60s, I agreed with it all ... except the part I bolded.

In terms of the thread, I do think that kids in general spend too much time playing with electronics, and not enough time playing with other kids and especially playing outside. I was outside as much as possible as a kid, coming in "when the lights go on." And using one's imagination ... playing "guns" (the horror of it all!) in a big field, with only long sticks and our imaginations.

Ah, the good ol' days!

[Arushan]

It would be interesting to see how the younger generations would handle things in the event of a major natural disaster, power grid failure, food shortage, or something of that nature. Many will just have to learn things as they go, I guess.

[mainebrokerman]

alot in the mix here.....

many kids dont get the male/fatherly influence today, as most did 30-40 yrs ago-this is not a shot at single mothers, but it is true-
when my son was young, he would have friends over, we would go fishing, boating, atv-ing, snowmobiling,,, many of the boys, never went fishing and they were 10 yrs old,,, just never had anyone take them,

years ago, most kids played outside, with other neighborhood kids,,, this doesnt happen as much,,most kids are on the internet, or video games..


its too bad, less and less kids go hunting,,, much to the liberals delight
when i was a young lad, i couldnt wait to go hunting,,, i woke up with anticipation and excitement, granted, i didnt get a chance to shoot a deer, but i saw a few and that was exciting, i saw deer being field dressed at an early age-helped drag it out of the woods,,watched it being skinned and cut up
i wasnt squeamish, i've seen dead animals before
but i also loved the taste of venison

the times i had hunting with my father and brother was some of my fondest memories,,you learn alot in the woods- how to read signs, how to walk quietly, watching different animals-squirrels, fox, birds, etc.

from a young age, i was exposed to chopping wood, fishing, hunting, camping, etc,

when the ice storm hit- we had no electricity for 16 days,,, i used my woodstove for warmth- and ate alot of venison that was in the freezer-
it we lost power again,,,i have no fear of not surviving for quite a while



ive seen the flipside of kids being coddled,,,when some enter the workforce, they have very little conflict/resolution skills,,,many want to cry if any pressure is put on them,,,,or if they feel pushed..
very thin skinned and used to having their own way...

i remember one kid-19 i hired, he had three brothers, all teenagers, and he said his mother would pay another kid to mow their lawn,,,(4 teenage boys, and not one of them would mow the lawn-i couldnt believe that one) he said his mother babied all of them,,,
and it showed,