Episode 49 - Raising the Selfie Generation

It would seem nearly every generation of parents has a tendency to impugn certain cultural trends of their children's generation.  "Kids these days!" is the oft-quoted line of a frustrated mom or dad.  As meaningless as that tendency turns out to be in the end (kids do grow up and mature eventually!), parents of children born from 1995 to 2012 (Gen Z'ers) and beyond might just have some legitimate concerns.  The last ten or so years of rapidly accelerated technological advancement have certainly presented an historically unique set of circumstances to raise children in. 

Chad finds himself more and more comfortable as lead curmudgeon in this Grumpy-Old-Man episode.  Ben tries hard to find his old man voice for some crotchety color commentary, as the two dissect the various challenges that GenZ presents parents.  What was life like for a kid before the advent of the smartphone, and will any kid anywhere ever know that life again?  What sort of moral fallout might this generation of children be particularly at risk for being so attached to screens?  How should parents address societal and political issues with their kids in a day and age when agenda-laden headlines are weaved into nearly every media platform?

SHOW NOTES:

Book referenced:  Amazon.com: iGen: Why Today's Super-Connected Kids Are Growing Up Less Rebellious, More Tolerant, Less Happy--and Completely Unprepared for Adulthood--and What That Means for the Rest of Us: 9781501151989: Twenge PhD, Jean M.: Books

Story of Robert Hoogland: Father Jailed For Talking About His Teenage Daughter's Trans Hormones (thefederalist.com)