Essays From West of 98: Kids These Days
What's wrong with young people? The answer may surprise you.
Author’s note: I recently published a two-part essay (here and here) on strengthening the connection between our young people and our place, so that they want to be “from here.” Today, I examine human tendencies to look with disfavor on “the kids” and why that matters to the future of our communities.
📷: The invasion of Normandy, June 1944, via user MIckStephenson at English Wikipedia.
“We defy anyone who goes about with his eyes open to deny that there is, as never before, an attitude on the part of young folk which is best described as grossly thoughtless, rude, and utterly selfish.”
“[Youth] are frightful, terrible, horrible. They have no manners. They have no morals.”
“What is wrong with America’s young people? [They] expect the world to be brought to them on a silver platter.”
Do these criticisms sound familiar about the youth of today? You’ve probably read something like this. You might have heard a politician or a pastor talk about it or seen a post shared on Facebook with this sentiment. Kids these days just aren’t the same as they once were.
Well, prepare yourselves.
These lines were written in 1925. 1927, and 1941, respectively. That’s right. These were descriptions applied to the cohort billed today as the “Greatest Generation.” 80 years ago from the date of this essay, they were landing on the beaches of Normandy as part of Operation Overlord. They rescued Europe from the clutches of fascism and genocide in one of the most dramatic and brave collective works in world history. Yet, only a few years prior to saving the world, they were viewed by their elders as the lazy and entitled youth who were ruining the world.
A few years ago, some American social scientists published a research paper called “Kids these days: why the youth of today seem lacking.” Their study analyzed why and how humans have a perennial tendency to look upon the then-current generation of youth with disfavor. They found that this tendency was shockingly systemic through the millennia. “The kids” have been in decline from modernity to the Middle Ages and dating back to the earliest recorded lamentings of such in 624 BC! Even a wise philosopher like Aristotle was not immune to this human tendency. He denigrated the youth of his era by griping that “they think they know everything and are always quite sure about it.”
Every generation is perplexed by the younger generations that follow. They may not understand everything about their lives or what makes them tick, why they dress the way they do, what’s wrong with their hair, or how they spend their free time. That doesn’t make that generation any less valuable, caring, or hard-working.
Do we want our rural communities to exist in another generation or two? If that answer is yes, then we must embrace the youth of today and tomorrow as the next great generation to come from here and to live here. But let me be brutally honest: I do not mean we simply give patronizing lip service to these ideas and still make our kids feel unwelcome. We must mean it, live it out, and promote it. If our kids don’t feel embraced and accepted here, then we shouldn’t expect anybody else’s kids to ever move here.
Those kids in college, high school, and younger? We must encourage and uplift them to follow their dreams and show them the opportunities for a quality life that are possible right here in this place. They can raise their family here. They can get a good job here. They can build a business here. They can pursue their dreams and passions here even if they don’t always feel like they “fit in” here. Living life to the fullest is not limited to the “big city.” It can be done right here in our local communities, right alongside the people that we know and love, even if they don’t always understand what makes us tick.
The Greatest Generation was viewed as lazy and entitled until they answered the call of history and rose to the occasion. They are rightly honored by our society today. May we learn from their example that “kids these days” aren’t so bad after all. In fact, they can be great, if only they are embraced and given the opportunity to do so.
Next week: are you always seventeen in your hometown?
James Decker is the Mayor of Stamford, Texas and the creator of the West of 98 website and the Rural Church and State and West of 98 podcasts. Contact James and subscribe to these essays at westof98.substack.com and subscribe to him wherever podcasts are found. Check out the West of 98 Bookstore with book lists for essential reads here.