Our Parents Teenage Life

The Life of a Teenager: Then and Now

When my parents were my age they had high expectations for this generation. They didn’t expect us to have smart phones, or the internet. They expected stuff like flying cars, or teleportation. But to be fair, every generation has high expectations for the next generation; sometimes they get fulfilled, sometimes they don’t. The things that are important to a teenager’s life in my generation are 3 things: your social life, athletics, and your technology. When my parents were teenagers they didn’t have to worry about these things. All they worried about were their grades and having fun. But that changed quickly once technology entered daily life. As humans we strive for advancements. We always try to create new, cool things while also, improving on our current devices. My teenage life is vastly different from the teenage life my parents lived. When my parents were teenagers they didn’t have to worry about their social life. They didn’t have facebook, or cell phones, but they lived near their friends. They would go outside and play games. Now we teenagers socialize by texting constantly or playing video games with other people. We always use some type of technology to talk to people. My annoying mom always says “Kids now a day have been changed by technology. They have grown lazy and ignorant. If you want to hang out with one of your friends walk to their house. Don’t ask for a ride even though they live a mile away. You have bikes and this thing called… Legs!!! When I was a kid I would walk 4 miles to my friend’s house so we could hang out.” I think this teacher was the most accurate about kids today. Almost all teenagers now a days do some type of athletic sport. Whether its Foot ball or Soccer, or Baseball. Today’s society expects you to do some type of sport. But back when my parents were teenagers they weren’t expected to do a sport. They did a sport simply because they enjoyed it. They would either sign up for a sport or just play something like street hockey. There was always something to do then because there is nothing you could do inside besides eat and sleep. But today there is Television and videogames, and a lot of other reasons to stay inside. Another thing that affects today’s teenage life is what kind of technology you own. Because today you have to have an iphone, or some kind of smart phone; Way back when my parents were teens they did not have to worry abut this stuff there was no technology. The most technological advance thing they had back then was a car, and not everyone could afford one. Also today’s technology mixes with the social aspect. Because most people socialize with other people using computers, and phones. The number of actual amount of face to face conversations gets smaller everyday. People always text, or use facebook. Things were so much different when my parents were teenagers, face to face conversations was the only way to talk to people. Teenage life has obviously changed in the past 30 years. People have changed, the way you do things has changed, and what you do has changed everything has changed nothings the same. Most adults are shocked with how different our teenage life is. Those 3 things that affect a teenager’s life didn’t exist back then. Back then there were such fewer standards and easier goals.