Do teens these days have it harder than the previous generation?

I was talking to an 18 yr old, and he was telling me teens these days have it a lot harder and go through more things than teens from my generation, I am 31. He was telling me they go through anxiety, depression, cyber bullying and other things. I told him my generation went through all those things as well. I am sorry, but I feel these days people are a lot more sensitive, things that people wouldn't get offended by in my days people are easily offended by today. Honestly I feel teens today do go through many things. However I feel they have way more opportunities than my generation had. Most things are giving to them, while my generation had to really work everything.

What I mean by that is, when it comes to school, sports, work and other things, they have so many programs and opportunities that we could only dream of. I feel if I had these opportunities and resources when I was young, I would be in a much better place. I told him the game is still the same, there's just new players.

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MarkPaul · 26-30, M

In my review of social history, every generation tends to have a self-absorbed view of itself... "no one had it harder," "kids today have it easy," "older people can't understand," etc.

The thing is, each generation is influenced by the times they live through and those are different, but human nature basically stays the same. You feel displaced because you didn't have access to all the resources available today and people growing up today feel those resources either aren't enough or are too much and cause insurmountable stress.

Tbh, it's hard to believe you didn't have access to sports programs or technology that was current and available in "your day." Obviously, you wouldn't have had a smart phone and possibly a bike helmet, but think of the generation before you and what they had to "suffer" without.

I'm actually getting sick and tired of this self-absorbed orientation you express from every generation. Focus on what you did have and what you do have and [u]always rejoice[/u] instead of finding ways to be so comparative with others.

skip2mylou · 31-35, M

@MarkPaul Thank you, I understand what you are saying. I am not trying to compare generations per say. Its just that I often hear teens from this generation complain about how their life is so hard. I agree that they have it rough. But they have so many resources and opportunities that my generation never had. We had sports programs when I was younger, but today there is such an abundance of them. More teams, programs, scholarships etc... that many of these teens don't take advantage of. When it comes to technology they have many platforms such as instagram and tiktok that they can show case their skills and talents that will reach a large audience. I am pretty talented at football (soccer) I often show my skills and training videos on instagram. I get many semi-pro and pro coaches asking me if I would like to try out, however I am too old. I tell young teens they should try and do the same because they have that exposure.