Are America's youth becoming lazier? - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

baaa · 09-09-2003, 06:44 AM

I am much less motivated than my father, and the younger people that I know seem to be even lazier than me.
Is this a worldwide trend, or is it all in my head?

bish · 09-09-2003, 07:48 AM

I don't think it's a question of the youth becoming lazier, but are the parents slacking. More and more parents use the TV or Play Station as a baby-sitter these days. As a parent, I try to do as much as possible with my son. I'm not saying I never let him watch TV, but I give him other options and he usually chooses them over the TV.

CrazySaturn · 09-09-2003, 07:55 AM

Yep, more distractions lead to less shit getting done. bish, you sound like a great dad. Good job.

bermuDa · 09-09-2003, 08:06 AM

the short answer is yes.

legolas · 09-09-2003, 08:20 AM

lol ^

Cynthetiq · 09-09-2003, 08:30 AM

I was a slacker until I realized I wanted $$$ to get the stuff that I wanted.. that was when I was 14... been working and making $$$ ever since.

My parents didn't raise any slackers.... my aunts and uncles.. yeah they raised a few... I'm surprised at how some of my cousins turned out. Well not really.

Leviathan[NCV] · 09-09-2003, 08:39 AM

Mmmm money.

i_t_man · 09-09-2003, 10:07 AM

I've sort of wondered the same thing. If you look back in time every generation thinks the "newer" generation is lazier or not as "tough". But if that were true, we should gradually be coming to a grinding halt, so I think the environment is what's changing and people (generations) are changing with it.

People may be lazier but it's because we as a people can be. We don't have to lug water 2 miles every day or cut our own firewood or hunt in order to eat (unless that's your thing).

tinfoil · 09-09-2003, 10:09 AM

I certainly wouldn't limit this to American youth.

skysooner · 09-09-2003, 10:43 AM

The same thing has been said about every generation from here to eternity. I tend to think that different generations do things in different ways but that doesn't necessarily make it wrong.

sapiens · 09-09-2003, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by bish
I don't think it's a question of the youth becoming lazier, but are the parents slacking. More and more parents use the TV or Play Station as a baby-sitter these days...

I agree. I also think that schools are getting easier. As a result, children are doing less and less. Some schools are eliminating homework. Others are eliminating grades. Parents are supporting this. Ugh!

Akira · 09-09-2003, 01:18 PM

I was never a slacker unless I had to do something I really hated doing, but I'd say from 2 years ago that most High School kids are slackers up until they find out that doing nothing will not get you into that top school you want. And even then some don't care.

World's King · 09-09-2003, 01:46 PM

Yes, we are very lazy compaired to the generations of the past and I blame it all on Oprah.

It's not a really justified thing thing to blame it on but we have to start somewhere.

sixate · 09-09-2003, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by World's King
I blame it all on Oprah.

That may be the smartest thing I've heard you say.

And, yes. Todays youth is lazy as fuck. I'll bet my ass on the fact that kids right now are also more overweight than kids from 25 years ago.....

Johnny Rotten · 09-09-2003, 02:48 PM

America's youth are becoming fatter, which makes them lazier. The Food Pyramid is all out of whack, with people overloading on carbs. Those are great--if you're getting regular exercise. But most Americans aren't. Soft drinks are evil, too. Some people have the metabolism for it, but most people don't. I've lost almost thirty pounds in the past ten weeks on a low-carb Atkins diet.

Skettios · 09-09-2003, 03:08 PM

I'm so lazy I didn't read any of the comments in this thread.

sixate · 09-09-2003, 03:31 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Johnny Rotten
I've lost almost thirty pounds in the past ten weeks on a low-carb Atkins diet.

Good job!

Keep up the good work!!

a2k · 09-09-2003, 04:10 PM

Nah, the youth of today is not lazier. Every generation comes along and pulls that "in my day we used to..." crap. Remember how the press beat up on Gen X and now they're all investment bankers and workaholics?

TerraFORM · 09-09-2003, 04:12 PM

I would argue that many children (and I can only try to speak for Americans) are exceedingly sedate, and it is imperative that society not accept it. The sudden appearance of the computer has taken outside playtime and turned it into a mental zone of artificial images and sound. Technology is indeed wonderful, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to children, it shouldn't be all that they interact with.

Johnny Rotten · 09-09-2003, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TerraFORM
I would argue that many children (and I can only try to speak for Americans) are exceedingly sedate, and it is imperative that society not accept it. The sudden appearance of the computer has taken outside playtime and turned it into a mental zone of artificial images and sound. Technology is indeed wonderful, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to children, it shouldn't be all that they interact with.

I would argue that videogames (Nintendo, PlayStation, etc.) and TV are equally bad, if not more so. Their influence has been around for much longer and is much more deeply imbedded.

jbrooks544 · 09-09-2003, 05:29 PM

I'm a student of history and I know that each generation thinks "oh, the kids these days" but that is just about them being wacky and fresh - not lazy and fat.

Even though folks have always said things like this, it doesn't change the facts that YES kids are extremely fat and lazy slackers these days. The boys are being pussyfied and hardly any of them work or do hard physical labor. How many 16 year olds ride their bikes 5 miles to go wash dishes in a restaurant for minimum wage these days? This was extremely common when I was a kid. Pretty rare these days.

jbrooks544 · 09-09-2003, 05:30 PM

Heck, I should be happy really... These kids coming up will make good low wage, low expectation employees for me. Goodness knows we do need employees - we can't all be managers and bosses now can we?

cheezhead · 09-09-2003, 05:44 PM

Think so. My kids sit around and play Ps2, xbox, computer games all the time.
Use the cell phone instead of going next door. They have electric scooters instead of bikes to get around on. But both are into football and soccer and are great players. So i'm not really sure.

MacGnG · 09-09-2003, 05:53 PM

duh.

but most realize it and do something about it.

Macheath · 09-09-2003, 06:48 PM

Forgive me, I've had too much coffee:

I think the first written account of "the good old days" dates from China about 2000 years ago. It's a deep social trait.

Each generation fucks up in its own way, but when they reach the age of fifty or sixty they've managed to write all of this stupid mythology to account for WHY they did what they did even if it wasn't the real reason. The baby boomers are particularly good at doing this.

It's like, "dad, why did you spend the early seventies smoking pot and doing NOTHING"

"well son, it was because of the movie Easy Rider, it was a full on lifestyle, man."

"but dad, you didn't even watch that movie until it was rereleased in 1990."

So they lie and say "we know why OUR generation had fuckups, but they had honorable reasons for being fuckups."

But then they say "we DON'T know why these kids are fuckups, they just must be lazy and stupid." Just like their parents scoffed at those idiot Beatles and that degenerate Elvis. But when the kids of today become old men, they'll probably make up some nonsense about a pervasive psychological war against "the machines" as their reason for sitting in front of the Xbox eating McDonalds.

The whole western diet thing is really fucked up though, there's no disputing that.

guthmund · 09-09-2003, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skettios
I'm so lazy I didn't read any of the comments in this thread.

I tried to read them, but I exhausted myself scrolling....I think I need a nap.........................

wombatman · 09-09-2003, 09:05 PM

Well, as one of the "lazy and stupid" kids of today, I must say that maintaining something around a 3.8 or 3.9 (out of 4) average, while being a monstrous computer dork, and being all-area football and all-star in baseball, truly reveals the inherent laziness. Now, I do enjoy being a complete slackass on occasion, but when I do, I'm with friends, and we're talking about random shit...some of it intellectual, some of it not. But if we're not out running around like idiots, we're doing it mentally. So I must say that I fully resent the generalization that kids today are all lazy and stupid, because I would be more than justified in refuting that with the chemical engineers (of which I am one), computer engineers, electrical engineers, music majors, theater/physics majors, and all the other friends on my hall who are NOT lazy or stupid. Thank you.

KeyserSoze · 09-09-2003, 09:45 PM

Actually I think it's the PUSSIFICATION thats your real problem.

You all are WUSSIES that need to get out and explore your youth.

http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....threadid=10482

Follow the above thread, we were not that fat then, didn't whine, no video games to veg our brains 24/7 and we EXPLORED our youth and enjoyed every fukin minute

Oh.........and the fights...........AWESOME....and NO LAWSUITS EITHER!!

kmumf · 09-09-2003, 09:58 PM

Ohhh Just the people who are on the internet 24/7

KUGR · 09-09-2003, 10:05 PM

19, and not lazy. I just dont like to work more than I have to

IckUber · 09-09-2003, 10:11 PM

Hell yeah, im the shit at not doing anything, and im 20.

ARTelevision · 09-10-2003, 01:29 AM

Yes. And this is a sign the world is coming to an end.

rockogre · 09-10-2003, 10:38 AM

I live in farm country and I know a lot of farm kids that don't get a chance to be lazy. They seem to always be doing something. It seems to have a lot to do with their lifestyle at home. Those of us that came from working families carry those values to our children.

My children would like to be lazy but they just grew up in the wrong kind of lifestyle for that. They used to complain but now tell me that they get complimented at their jobs on their work ethic.

I guess all that whining I listened to was for a good cause.

jbrooks544 · 09-10-2003, 05:33 PM

Macheath -- You are sort of right and sort of wrong.

We smoked pot because EVERYONE did - it wasn't a sign of being lazy, just pretty high sometimes - I don't see much wrong with it.

I don't think the kids are any more "stupid" than ever - same genes and intelligence (or lack of) in the gene pool as ever.

Kids can't be held responsible for themselves or whether they are lazy, etc. - it is their PARENT'S fault - lazy boomers who's kneejerk phoney and lazy instinct is to do the opposite of what their parents did; ie: be strict and look after their kids' work ethic and sense of responsibility.

Their only excuse is that now the norm is two incomes, so mom isn't home, etc. vs. only one parent working as was the older norm. This is a lame excuse because if you care and give a fark then you can make it work.

It is painfully obvious that the norm is now fat lazy kids. Not many of them are very mature and not many of them work. They dress like hobos and they look like idiots - good luck getting a real job when you are tatooed, pierced and wearing "pants" dragging the ground. - Not gonna happen...

Macheath · 09-10-2003, 05:50 PM

jbrooks544, I wasn't implying that smoking pot is inherently wrong; just that the amusing tendency to mythologize everything is kind of inevitable.

viejo gringo · 09-10-2003, 05:55 PM

Maybe they are not getting lazier, it's just that WE are getting
slower. I work with teen age kids, and I can tell you they go
on full steam all of the time. Of coarse we have a few that
are not to productive---but they have caught six of them for
home invasion, and they will soon be someones girl friend up
at Huntsville.

santafe5000 · 09-10-2003, 05:59 PM

It may not be that they are lazier by choice, rather that with all the modern advance's, there is not as much physical activity required to perform one's job. All the news program's keep saying that America as a whole is getting larger.

etla · 09-11-2003, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Skettios
I'm so lazy I didn't read any of the comments in this thread.

Me Neither

Jonsgirl · 09-11-2003, 05:23 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by santafe5000
It may not be that they are lazier by choice, rather that with all the modern advance's, there is not as much physical activity required to perform one's job. All the news program's keep saying that America as a whole is getting larger.

What?!? You mean it's not just lazy ass kids, but lazy ass adults, too??? Wow!
I wondered why no one over the age of 25 owned up to being fat and lazy. I guess they're too busy being force fed inane, useless drivel from their television to worry about getting up and doing something active with thier kids. I'd blame everyone but myself, too, if I was a bad parent.

Jonsgirl · 09-11-2003, 05:25 PM

I'm not saying that anyone here is a bad parent. I'm just commenting on the fact that all you hear about is the fat kids of America, when elta is exactly right; it's not just the kids. It's everyone.

09-09-2003, 06:44 AM	#1 (permalink)
baaa Banned Location: ville	Are America's youth becoming lazier? I am much less motivated than my father, and the younger people that I know seem to be even lazier than me. Is this a worldwide trend, or is it all in my head?

09-09-2003, 07:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
CrazySaturn Insane Location: Champaign, IL	Yep, more distractions lead to less shit getting done. bish, you sound like a great dad. Good job. __________________ What's the difference between you and a mallard with a cold? One's a sick duck...I can't remember how it ends, but your mother is a whore!

09-09-2003, 08:06 AM	#4 (permalink)
bermuDa don't ignore this--> Location: CA	the short answer is yes. __________________ I am the very model of a moderator gentleman.

09-09-2003, 08:20 AM	#5 (permalink)
legolas shit faced cockmaster Location: CT	lol ^ __________________ "To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems."

09-09-2003, 08:30 AM	#6 (permalink)
Cynthetiq Tilted Cat Head Administrator Location: Manhattan, NY	I was a slacker until I realized I wanted $$$ to get the stuff that I wanted.. that was when I was 14... been working and making $$$ ever since. My parents didn't raise any slackers.... my aunts and uncles.. yeah they raised a few... I'm surprised at how some of my cousins turned out. Well not really. __________________ I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not. What's the best nation in the world? DO-NATION!

09-09-2003, 07:48 AM	#2 (permalink)
bish Crazy Location: Indy	I don't think it's a question of the youth becoming lazier, but are the parents slacking. More and more parents use the TV or Play Station as a baby-sitter these days. As a parent, I try to do as much as possible with my son. I'm not saying I never let him watch TV, but I give him other options and he usually chooses them over the TV.

09-09-2003, 08:39 AM	#7 (permalink)
Leviathan[NCV] Well... Location: afk	Mmmm money.

09-09-2003, 10:07 AM	#8 (permalink)
i_t_man Tilted Location: Seattle	I've sort of wondered the same thing. If you look back in time every generation thinks the "newer" generation is lazier or not as "tough". But if that were true, we should gradually be coming to a grinding halt, so I think the environment is what's changing and people (generations) are changing with it. People may be lazier but it's because we as a people can be. We don't have to lug water 2 miles every day or cut our own firewood or hunt in order to eat (unless that's your thing).

09-09-2003, 10:09 AM	#9 (permalink)
tinfoil Fucking Hostile Location: Springford, ON, Canada	I certainly wouldn't limit this to American youth. __________________ Get off your fuckin cross. We need the fuckin space to nail the next fool martyr.

09-09-2003, 10:43 AM	#10 (permalink)
skysooner Registered User Location: Oklahoma	The same thing has been said about every generation from here to eternity. I tend to think that different generations do things in different ways but that doesn't necessarily make it wrong.

09-09-2003, 01:18 PM	#12 (permalink)
Akira Crazy	I was never a slacker unless I had to do something I really hated doing, but I'd say from 2 years ago that most High School kids are slackers up until they find out that doing nothing will not get you into that top school you want. And even then some don't care. __________________ -signature

09-09-2003, 01:46 PM	#13 (permalink)
World's King Here Location: Denver City Denver	Yes, we are very lazy compaired to the generations of the past and I blame it all on Oprah. It's not a really justified thing thing to blame it on but we have to start somewhere. __________________ heavy is the head that wears the crown

09-09-2003, 02:48 PM	#15 (permalink)
Johnny Rotten lost and found Location: Berkeley	America's youth are becoming fatter, which makes them lazier. The Food Pyramid is all out of whack, with people overloading on carbs. Those are great--if you're getting regular exercise. But most Americans aren't. Soft drinks are evil, too. Some people have the metabolism for it, but most people don't. I've lost almost thirty pounds in the past ten weeks on a low-carb Atkins diet. __________________ "The idea that money doesn't buy you happiness is a lie put about by the rich, to stop the poor from killing them." -- Michael Caine

09-09-2003, 03:08 PM	#16 (permalink)
Skettios Condition: Stable and Improving Location: Finger on the little red button.	I'm so lazy I didn't read any of the comments in this thread. __________________ Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies. Frederich Nietzsche

09-09-2003, 04:10 PM	#18 (permalink)
a2k Crazy Location: Seattle	Nah, the youth of today is not lazier. Every generation comes along and pulls that "in my day we used to..." crap. Remember how the press beat up on Gen X and now they're all investment bankers and workaholics?

09-09-2003, 04:12 PM	#19 (permalink)
TerraFORM Crazy Location: Virginia	I would argue that many children (and I can only try to speak for Americans) are exceedingly sedate, and it is imperative that society not accept it. The sudden appearance of the computer has taken outside playtime and turned it into a mental zone of artificial images and sound. Technology is indeed wonderful, don't get me wrong, but when it comes to children, it shouldn't be all that they interact with.

09-09-2003, 05:29 PM	#21 (permalink)
jbrooks544 Addict	I'm a student of history and I know that each generation thinks "oh, the kids these days" but that is just about them being wacky and fresh - not lazy and fat. Even though folks have always said things like this, it doesn't change the facts that YES kids are extremely fat and lazy slackers these days. The boys are being pussyfied and hardly any of them work or do hard physical labor. How many 16 year olds ride their bikes 5 miles to go wash dishes in a restaurant for minimum wage these days? This was extremely common when I was a kid. Pretty rare these days.

09-09-2003, 05:30 PM	#22 (permalink)
jbrooks544 Addict	Heck, I should be happy really... These kids coming up will make good low wage, low expectation employees for me. Goodness knows we do need employees - we can't all be managers and bosses now can we?

09-09-2003, 05:44 PM	#23 (permalink)
cheezhead Psycho Location: FL	Think so. My kids sit around and play Ps2, xbox, computer games all the time. Use the cell phone instead of going next door. They have electric scooters instead of bikes to get around on. But both are into football and soccer and are great players. So i'm not really sure.

09-09-2003, 05:53 PM	#24 (permalink)
MacGnG Know Where!	duh. but most realize it and do something about it.

09-09-2003, 06:48 PM	#25 (permalink)
Macheath Junkie Location: Sydney, Australia	Forgive me, I've had too much coffee: I think the first written account of "the good old days" dates from China about 2000 years ago. It's a deep social trait. Each generation fucks up in its own way, but when they reach the age of fifty or sixty they've managed to write all of this stupid mythology to account for WHY they did what they did even if it wasn't the real reason. The baby boomers are particularly good at doing this. It's like, "dad, why did you spend the early seventies smoking pot and doing NOTHING" "well son, it was because of the movie Easy Rider, it was a full on lifestyle, man." "but dad, you didn't even watch that movie until it was rereleased in 1990." So they lie and say "we know why OUR generation had fuckups, but they had honorable reasons for being fuckups." But then they say "we DON'T know why these kids are fuckups, they just must be lazy and stupid." Just like their parents scoffed at those idiot Beatles and that degenerate Elvis. But when the kids of today become old men, they'll probably make up some nonsense about a pervasive psychological war against "the machines" as their reason for sitting in front of the Xbox eating McDonalds. The whole western diet thing is really fucked up though, there's no disputing that.

09-09-2003, 09:05 PM	#27 (permalink)
wombatman Insane	Hmm Well, as one of the "lazy and stupid" kids of today, I must say that maintaining something around a 3.8 or 3.9 (out of 4) average, while being a monstrous computer dork, and being all-area football and all-star in baseball, truly reveals the inherent laziness. Now, I do enjoy being a complete slackass on occasion, but when I do, I'm with friends, and we're talking about random shit...some of it intellectual, some of it not. But if we're not out running around like idiots, we're doing it mentally. So I must say that I fully resent the generalization that kids today are all lazy and stupid, because I would be more than justified in refuting that with the chemical engineers (of which I am one), computer engineers, electrical engineers, music majors, theater/physics majors, and all the other friends on my hall who are NOT lazy or stupid. Thank you.

09-09-2003, 09:45 PM	#28 (permalink)
KeyserSoze Psycho Location: Lost Angeles	Actually I think it's the PUSSIFICATION thats your real problem. You all are WUSSIES that need to get out and explore your youth. http://tfproject.org/tfp/showthread....threadid=10482 Follow the above thread, we were not that fat then, didn't whine, no video games to veg our brains 24/7 and we EXPLORED our youth and enjoyed every fukin minute Oh.........and the fights...........AWESOME....and NO LAWSUITS EITHER!! __________________ THERE IS NO KEYSER SOZE!! Last edited by KeyserSoze; 09-09-2003 at 09:47 PM..

09-09-2003, 09:58 PM	#29 (permalink)
kmumf Upright	Ohhh Just the people who are on the internet 24/7

09-09-2003, 10:05 PM	#30 (permalink)
KUGR Mushroom Location: West coast of michigan	19, and not lazy. I just dont like to work more than I have to __________________ ------------------- Boof! -------------------

09-09-2003, 10:11 PM	#31 (permalink)
IckUber Funran Location: Norman, OK	Hell yeah, im the shit at not doing anything, and im 20. __________________ How much is y'all Piolkles?

09-10-2003, 01:29 AM	#32 (permalink)
ARTelevision I change Location: USA	Yes. And this is a sign the world is coming to an end. __________________ create evolution

09-10-2003, 10:38 AM	#33 (permalink)
rockogre I aim to misbehave! Location: SW Oklahoma	I live in farm country and I know a lot of farm kids that don't get a chance to be lazy. They seem to always be doing something. It seems to have a lot to do with their lifestyle at home. Those of us that came from working families carry those values to our children. My children would like to be lazy but they just grew up in the wrong kind of lifestyle for that. They used to complain but now tell me that they get complimented at their jobs on their work ethic. I guess all that whining I listened to was for a good cause. __________________ Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you, Jesus Christ and the American G. I. One died for your soul, the other for your freedom

09-10-2003, 05:33 PM	#34 (permalink)
jbrooks544 Addict	Macheath -- You are sort of right and sort of wrong. We smoked pot because EVERYONE did - it wasn't a sign of being lazy, just pretty high sometimes - I don't see much wrong with it. I don't think the kids are any more "stupid" than ever - same genes and intelligence (or lack of) in the gene pool as ever. Kids can't be held responsible for themselves or whether they are lazy, etc. - it is their PARENT'S fault - lazy boomers who's kneejerk phoney and lazy instinct is to do the opposite of what their parents did; ie: be strict and look after their kids' work ethic and sense of responsibility. Their only excuse is that now the norm is two incomes, so mom isn't home, etc. vs. only one parent working as was the older norm. This is a lame excuse because if you care and give a fark then you can make it work. It is painfully obvious that the norm is now fat lazy kids. Not many of them are very mature and not many of them work. They dress like hobos and they look like idiots - good luck getting a real job when you are tatooed, pierced and wearing "pants" dragging the ground. - Not gonna happen...

09-10-2003, 05:50 PM	#35 (permalink)
Macheath Junkie Location: Sydney, Australia	jbrooks544, I wasn't implying that smoking pot is inherently wrong; just that the amusing tendency to mythologize everything is kind of inevitable.

09-10-2003, 05:55 PM	#36 (permalink)
viejo gringo Registered User Location: Deep South Texas	Maybe they are not getting lazier, it's just that WE are getting slower. I work with teen age kids, and I can tell you they go on full steam all of the time. Of coarse we have a few that are not to productive---but they have caught six of them for home invasion, and they will soon be someones girl friend up at Huntsville.

09-10-2003, 05:59 PM	#37 (permalink)
santafe5000 EVIL! Location: Southwest of nowhere	It may not be that they are lazier by choice, rather that with all the modern advance's, there is not as much physical activity required to perform one's job. All the news program's keep saying that America as a whole is getting larger. __________________ When all else fails, QUIT.

09-11-2003, 05:25 PM	#40 (permalink)
Jonsgirl Semi-Atomic Location: Home.	I'm not saying that anyone here is a bad parent. I'm just commenting on the fact that all you hear about is the fat kids of America, when elta is exactly right; it's not just the kids. It's everyone. __________________ Someday, someone will best me. But it won't be today, and it won't be you.