Originally Posted by
Dan Druff
Good post by BCR above.
While the older generations always mock the younger generations for being soft, lazy, naive, and spoiled, there really is something to the trend of modern young people aged 16-25 living in a perpetual state of early adolescence.
The main difference between now and 30 years ago is the independent life experience most teens got, and now rarely get.
The iPhones, iPads, and gaming consoles pretty much assure that these young people get entertainment at home, and rarely feel the need to venture out. This also leaves them in a state of dependence on their parents and a lack of desire to learn adult skills. That's why there's a huge decline in kids learning to drive at 16 these days.
When I was in my teen years in the late '80s, all of the boys had two things on their minds: Get their driver's license as soon as possible, and have sex as soon as possible. Neither of these are particularly important to teen boys and young men anymore.
Even as a Jewish suburban teen who got online many years before most everyone else did, I still routinely went out with friends, hung out in the streets of LA, and drove around the entire southern California area in search of shit to do. When you're leaving the house and creating your own entertainment from the world surrounding you, you have no choice but to pick up skills for living independently.
I'm still not sure if any of this has to do with the wave of stories from the past 15 years or so, involving teachers having sex with teen boys. It's possible this was going on a long time ago, as well, and we just didn't hear about it because it wasn't taken seriously (or reported on aggressively in the media).
In my high school, a male teacher was arrested for having sex with a 16-year-old girl in my grade. The local newspaper did the best to protect the girl's identity, but it was obvious who it was, because the girl abruptly disappeared from the class about a week before the teacher was arrested. I remember I had thought the girl was very pretty, but something was also kinda "off" about her, so it didn't surprise me when I heard she was the victim. Seemed like exactly the type who a charismatic teacher could manipulate. Anyway, dude went to prison for it, though I forget for how long. He was in his late 40s at the time.