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Complaints about youth are not a new phenomenon; they date back over 2,500 years. These complaints often focus on values and behaviors, such as perceived laziness, entitlement, disrespect for tradition, and lack of seriousness or discipline.
Older generations primarily criticize youth for the following:
- Laziness and Entitlement: Older generations often accuse younger people of being lazy and entitled. For example, millennials have been labeled as “lazy” and “self-absorbed,” with claims that they avoid basic tasks and have unrealistic expectations.
- Disrespect for Tradition: Many older adults feel that younger generations lack respect for traditions and authority. This is often expressed through complaints about the youth’s disregard for established norms and their desire for change.
- Over-reliance on Technology: There is a growing concern that younger people are overly dependent on technology, which some argue has made them less capable of handling real-world challenges. This complaint is echoed by older generations, highlighting a frustration with modern conveniences complicating life.
- Cultural Shifts: The younger generation is often criticized for their cultural preferences, such as fashion choices and entertainment habits, which older individuals may find inappropriate or frivolous. This includes complaints about the perceived decline in manners and social etiquette.
Many historical figures, including famous philosophers like Socrates, voiced concerns about the younger generation.
For instance, Socrates is said to have lamented that “the children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders.”
This sentiment reflects a recurring theme throughout history. Over the centuries, every generation has faced similar comments from its predecessors. Here are a few examples…
8th Century BC
“I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words… When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise [disrespectful] and impatient of restraint.” –Hesiod
4th Century BC
“[Young People] are high-minded because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations; moreover, their hopeful disposition makes them think themselves equal to great things — and that means having exalted notions. They would always rather do noble deeds than useful ones: Their lives are regulated more by moral feeling than by reasoning — all their mistakes are in the direction of doing things excessively and vehemently. They overdo everything — they love too much, hate too much, and the same with everything else…. They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” –Aristotle, Rhetoric
1274
“The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress.” –Peter the Hermit
1330
“Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased … The ordinary spoken language has also steadily coarsened.” –Yoshida Kenkō, Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness)
1695
“I find by sad Experience how the Towns and Streets are filled with lewd wicked Children, and many Children as they have played about the Streets have been heard to curse and swear and call one another Nick-names, and it would grieve ones Heart to hear what bawdy and filthy Communications proceeds from the Mouths of such.” –Robert Russel, A Little Book for Children and Youth
1771
“Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt.” –Letter in Town and Country magazine, republished in Paris Fashion: A Cultural History
1922
“I believe what really happens in history is this: the old man is always wrong; and the young people are always wrong about what is wrong with him. The practical form it takes is this: that, while the old man may stand by some stupid custom, the young man always attacks it with some theory that turns out to be equally stupid.” –G.K. Chesterton, Illustrated London News
1945
“The ‘tough guy’ of the films made some appeal but when it came to something that led to physical strain or risk they would not take it.” –“Young People Who Spend Too Much,” Dundee Evening Telegraph
1951
“Many [young people] were so pampered nowadays that they had forgotten that there was such a thing as walking, and they made automatically for the buses… unless they did something, the future for walking was very poor indeed.” –“Scottish Rights of Way: More Young People Should Use Them,” Falkirk Herald
1984
“A few [35-year-old friends] just now are leaving their parents’ nest. Many friends are getting married or having a baby for the first time… They’re doing the kinds of things our society used to expect from 25-year-olds.” –“Not Ready for Middle Age at 35,” Wall Street Journal
1993
“What really distinguishes this generation from those before it is that it’s the first generation in American history to live so well and complain so bitterly about it.” –“The Boring Twenties,” Washington Post
2001
“They have trouble making decisions. They would rather hike in the Himalayas than climb a corporate ladder. They have few heroes, no anthems, no style to call their own. They crave entertainment, but their attention span is as short as one zap of a TV dial.” –“Proceeding with Caution,” Time
Historically, every generation of youth has faced criticisms. Although many of these complaints may arise from generational misunderstandings, they’re also signs of a changing world and advancing technology.
Still, “the more things change, the more they stay the same.” This quote by the French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr encapsulates the idea that despite the continual flux and transformation in our lives, certain fundamental aspects of human nature, society, and the world remain constant.
As Solomon wisely wrote in Ecclesiastes 1:9, “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
