Keep in mind that social media is pretty much the only outlet you have for social signalling as a teenager. Disconnecting from it at that age is social suicide.
Disconnecting as an adult is much easier/worthwhile because you now have other means of signalling.
That’s just incredibly dystopian and sad. I hope this is the start of a greater trend pushing back against social media. We’ve lost so much quality social interaction to apps. The mental health aspects of just stepping outside and making real personal human connections are huge.
Eh, as a “youth” (23) who wasn’t so long ago in high school, people still hang out plenty. They just document it more (for better or for worse. I suspect worse.)
I'm 35 and I'm telling you that you didn't/don't do it as much as we did.
From about 13 on we were trusted to just leave the house and go wherever we wanted on our bikes, little to no questions asked. City, rural, suburbs this was a pretty universal experience. One kid in the group might of had a early cell phone and that gave our parents more than enough peace of mind, but no location tracking and it would lose service enough that you didn't have to answer if you didn't want to.
You could meet dates at the mall without mom hassling you about them, you'd often work a part time job rather than playing soccer or similar so you'd have your own money. We were free. You guys grew up in a prison comparatively but since you haven't seen anything else it seems normal. It's also why you guys are less independent, you never had a chance to be.
(E.T. or another period film might be good to watch to understand the independence and agency kids had in this time)
Oh I don’t disagree, I just meant that it’s a bit overkill to say they/we don’t hang out in person at all. I do have fond memories of running Halo 2 with my stepsister when I was 8-9, and those sort of nights seemed to get less common as we got smart phones.
I am in a bit of a weird situation because I’m more independent than most (somewhat absent / workaholic family) but I know that’s the exception.
Take a look at the wealthier kids with stay at home moms. Zero privacy. She knows where you are and what you are doing at all times. Tracker in the phone, surveillance cameras at school and more often in the home, the school issued laptop logging every keystroke.
We had our own cash money. Parents wouldn't know specifics or "help you with budgeting". You earned it mowing lawns it was yours to spend. Getting a allowance on a credit card (in case he buys drugs!) isn't the same.
One last thing. Every night around 9 o'clock, the TV would ask parents all around the country "It's 9PM, do you know where your children are?" beacuse sometimes they would legitimately forget and not notice they haven't come home yet.
This whole thread is a bunch of boomers or gen X folks who are upset at the techno freedom that the youth have. These same boomers and Gen X are then advocating for taking away freedom of internet association.
Then you come here and write out a post explaining how the kids of today are living in a relative prison and back in the day you got all this freedom to go on dates at the mall that your parents wouldn’t approve of.
Your parents would have banned you from going to the mall if they knew what you were doing - and you’re also an out of touch boomer - and that’s not a comment about your age, but about your mentality.
Good. Rude opinions deserve even ruder retorts. Every time a thread like this comes up, I’m reminded that the average HN user fantasizes about licking boots, and that those who do not enjoy bootlicking are treated as pariahs.
Boomers trying to mass enforce parental controls via legislation is so bad for freedoms I don’t know where to begin. I wish I could do more than simply “be rude”. There is still not a way to punch someone through a computer screen, unfortunately.
Late 30s here and can confirm. Went until I was 16 with zero technology besides Yahoo chat, MSN Messenger and Newgrounds.com. Then got a flip phone which I used mainly for my pizza delivery job. Other than that, hung out with friends and did the dumbest stuff imaginable, not a phone in sight.
I saw a doc not long ago where a guy was in prison for 7 or 8 years - while cell phones and social media was in the middle of really amping up. He said the biggest surprise for him when he got out was seeing 3 out of 4 people looking at their phones everywhere he went.
Disconnecting as an adult is much easier/worthwhile because you now have other means of signalling.