Kids Today – A Guide to Understanding the Differences for New Teachers
Children today are a completely different breed than they were just 10 years ago. The foods they eat are different, the songs they sing are different, and the cartoons they watch are different from the cartoons you watched. If you need some convincing, pay close attention to this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It used to be the case that you knew all the giant balloon characters. Timeless classics like Snoopy and Garfield have been replaced by a plethora of characters you may not recognize. Pokemon itself has hundreds of different characters, and even that isn’t as popular as it once was.
It would be quite naive to think that the changes in the cartoons that are seen are the most striking difference between today’s children and those of previous generations. The fact is that 21st century children have a lot more going through their heads than we did when we were young. Reality, usually harsh in nature, has found its way into the innocence that used to emanate from young children. Here are some of the ways children today are very different from those of just a few generations ago:
Children know much more about sex much earlier in life. Today’s youth can find anything and everything they want with a few keystrokes on the keyboard. Anything you want to know, see or watch is available online. In previous generations there was an information barrier between things of a pornographic nature and young people. If you weren’t old enough to buy it, you couldn’t, and probably didn’t know where to go to get it anyway. Now, click your mouse on the button that says “Yes, I’m over 18”. it opens up a sexual world to anyone with a computer.
Children know more about technology than you. Depending on how old you are, computers and the Internet played a bigger or smaller role in your life. Today’s young people have probably had computers in the home since they were born. For them it is a source of information, entertainment, communication, productivity and more. They know software, games, wireless networks, and websites that you don’t. Get over.
There is a wider gap between good and bad students. It used to be that most students wanted to do well, and only a few didn’t care how they did it. Today there is a more equal division between those who want good grades and those who just want to pass. You have to learn to defend yourself against those who take your grades away and know when to let the unmotivated wallow in their mediocrity.
Children have much more emotional baggage than ever. It’s depressing to consider, but stories of abuse, neglect, and rampant indifference leave some students emotionally cut off from the class and from you. It takes time for these students to build trust in you and be successful academically. You must be patient.
You already have many roles to play in your student’s life. You have to decide from the beginning whether you are going to be the teacher who is aware of all the external problems that are happening with your students, or if you are going to turn a blind eye and ears and pretend to be the only world. that exists is confined to the school campus.