What’s Going on With Teens?

[Narz]

Yes but how much social acceptance is based on material goods? The one who has a car first in one's teenage years is far cooler than the one who doesn't. Among those teens with cars the one where the parents payed for and gave them a nicer car than the crapper car of the other guy is objectively cooler as well.

Material well being precludes social acceptability.

Meh. Your parents can't buy you cool.

Also in the 90s kids were dressing all grunge and skater and hip-hop, none of which were about wealth, often quite the opposite.

 

[Farm Boy]

Which is still trendy streetwear just for that time. Common let's be honest none of the above has changed.

Fashion is fickle.

They're always recorded in public, though. It is a mindset change. Like the phone on the pocket is a mindset change

 

[RobAnybody]

Looks like a boomer low, X high, Millennial low, Z high waveform

Underrated comment because reading the graph this is one of the most obvious conclusion and a possible starting point to read it correctly.

I read the chart as "X low" though - this is about teen years - the big drop is when X-ers were in their (late) teens. They keep moving Gen X birth dates backwards though, so it's probably including a different age band than what I tend to think of.

 

[NovaKart]

Laptops in 1993 were basically portable word processors

 

[Birdjaguar]

The right wing has taken a stab at explaining the recent rise in depression the last decade which might be fueling the rise in suicides.

How to Understand the Well-Being Gap between Liberals and Conservatives - American Affairs Journal

In a recent essay for Social Science & Medicine–Mental Health, epidemiologist Catherine Gimbrone and coauthors identified a significant gap in depressive attitudes between liberal and conservative teens. This gap was present in all years observed in the study (2005–18). It grew significantly...

americanaffairsjournal.org

Trying to glean insight by focusing on political worldviews?

Interesting article. Inconclusive. The author didn't mention that liberals might well have become more anxious in 2011 because of the rise of the Tea Party and that conservatives seemed to be winning the culture wars! In any case it was worth the read.

 

[citizenofdoom]

tw: suicide.

I didn’t really want to put that word in the title, so I apologize for the “kids these days” sound, but you have fallen for my clickbait!

But that’s part of what I would like to discuss! Everyone has heard about the suicide epidemic and how rates of suicide are sharply rising for both adults and teens. This is very true. In the last 15 years, the per 100k rate of suicide for teens has almost doubled.

But what you might not know is even with that doubling, the current rate is below modern highs. And that’s because starting in 1994, teen suicide rates started to - what can only be described as - plummet at incredibly, miraculously quick rates. By 2006, just 12 years later, and back down near their modern low, they had dropped from around 11 per 100k to around 5. That is a startling change. The current rise started from that near record low in 2006.

View attachment 657846

There is a quickly growing attempt to figure out the modern rise in rates; smartphones, fentanyl, social isolation, student debt, cost of living, global warming and more have all been either proposed or more seriously looked at as mechanisms.

I’m open to discussions on that question, but the second question is one with, way, way less research. And that is; what caused that sharp decline? For this I’ve seen stuff from “sweet spot of having video games but having to play multiplayer locally and in person as opposed to online” to a study that showed that after Cobain’s suicide, suicides in King County the following year sharply declined (we usually see the opposite effect after celebrity suicide). But to say that there are way less satisfying answers here would be an understatement.

It’s also worth noting that teen girls’ suicide is now at record highs beyond the historical “norm” and I am open to discussion there too.

Your thoughts and any data you might have would be appreciated!

It seems like a reverse wave of economic growth shifted a number of year.

 

[Joij21]

Meh. Your parents can't buy you cool.

Also in the 90s kids were dressing all grunge and skater and hip-hop, none of which were about wealth, often quite the opposite.

90s kids are millennials their suicide rate went down.

They ended up being wingy and whiny in adulthood over the next few decades however.

 

[Joij21]

They were sad cuz you didn't talk to them.

I think that's a pretty dumb idea.

 

[Narz]

I think that's a pretty dumb idea.

Talking to girls?

 

[Bamspeedy]

I read the chart as "X low" though - this is about teen years - the big drop is when X-ers were in their (late) teens. They keep moving Gen X birth dates backwards though, so it's probably including a different age band than what I tend to think of.

Going by what the generation age ranges I found on first hits on google:

Boomers born 1946-1964. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1961-1983. Let's just say 1972 is average for a 17 year old boomer.

Gen X-Born 1965-1980. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1980-1999. Let's just say 1990 is average for a 17 year old Gen Xer.

Millenials-born 1981-1996. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1996-2015. Let's just say 2005 is average for a 17 year old Millenial.

Gen Z- born 1997-2009. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 2012-2028. Let's just say 2020 is average for a 17 year old Gen Zer.

Why high suicide rates for Xers and Zers? Maybe don't label a generation by a single letter?

 

[Zardnaar]

Going by what the generation age ranges I found on first hits on google:

Boomers born 1946-1964. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1961-1983. Let's just say 1972 is average for a 17 year old boomer.

Gen X-Born 1965-1980. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1980-1999. Let's just say 1990 is average for a 17 year old Gen Xer.

Millenials-born 1981-1996. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1996-2015. Let's just say 2005 is average for a 17 year old Millenial.

Gen Z- born 1997-2009. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 2012-2028. Let's just say 2020 is average for a 17 year old Gen Zer.

Why high suicide rates for Xers and Zers? Maybe don't label a generation by a single letter?

I'm Gen X some thoughts.

1. We grew up through Reaganomics or equivalent.

2. Bullying and beatings were more severe. Simpson bullies were nice compared to what my school was like. It was legal for the teachers to strap or cane you.

3. Growing up bit more practical. Less video games more tools, kitsets etc, pocketknives etc. If you really want to do it you had easy access to the equipment and knowledge how to do it.

4. Sexual abuse etc was brushed under the carpet, not talked about as much. We weren't allowed to go to certain kids houses
Parents shielded us they knew/suspected what was going on.

5. Wasn't illegal for parents to physically discipline you. I wasn't beaten (got the strap once) but I knew kids who were.

Lots of divorce and broken families as well

 

[Bamspeedy]

Points 2-5 were same, if not worse for boomers. Don't think any of those are 'regressing' back to that time to explain Zers increase. Methods may change (generally) over time (for example, in the US, firearms used less now than in past, hangings used more now than in past).

Methods of Suicide Among Persons Aged 10--19 Years --- United States, 1992--2001

www.cdc.gov

Divorce rate in US hit highest point in 1980. Declining ever since, though exact trend lines vary depending if talking of 'newly divorced' or total of all divorced people (newly divorced and those divorced years ago). 1960 to 1980 saw rapid increase, downward trend since then.

 

[RobAnybody]

I read the chart as "X low" though - this is about teen years - the big drop is when X-ers were in their (late) teens. They keep moving Gen X birth dates backwards though, so it's probably including a different age band than what I tend to think of.

Going by what the generation age ranges I found on first hits on google:

Boomers born 1946-1964. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1961-1983. Let's just say 1972 is average for a 17 year old boomer.

Gen X-Born 1965-1980. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1980-1999. Let's just say 1990 is average for a 17 year old Gen Xer.

Millenials-born 1981-1996. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 1996-2015. Let's just say 2005 is average for a 17 year old Millenial.

Gen Z- born 1997-2009. So they would be '15-19 years old' between 2012-2028. Let's just say 2020 is average for a 17 year old Gen Zer.

Why high suicide rates for Xers and Zers? Maybe don't label a generation by a single letter?

Bolding mine. That's what i mean by they keep backdating us - now we end in 1980?!? I remember when Gen X went through the mid-80's. Before you know it I'm going to wake up & find that I'm a Millennial.

 

[Farm Boy]

The horror. The horror.

 

[RobAnybody]

If I ever wake up one morning & suddenly find that I am no longer extremely lazy/simply don't care about much, but rather believe that the world should cater to my whims while constantly praising me, I'll buy myself a Participation trophy & we can drink to our beneficial effect on society just by existing.

[I'm kidding Millennials of course - Gen X are no paragons by any means!]

 

[Zardnaar]

Points 2-5 were same, if not worse for boomers. Don't think any of those are 'regressing' back to that time to explain Zers increase. Methods may change (generally) over time (for example, in the US, firearms used less now than in past, hangings used more now than in past).

Methods of Suicide Among Persons Aged 10--19 Years --- United States, 1992--2001

www.cdc.gov

Divorce rate in US hit highest point in 1980. Declining ever since, though exact trend lines vary depending if talking of 'newly divorced' or total of all divorced people (newly divorced and those divorced years ago). 1960 to 1980 saw rapid increase, downward trend since then.

Maybe a sense of belonging and more people going to church? It was more homogeneous. Less TV more physically active/help family out etc. Less expectations of stuff (boomers raised by people remembering great depression/war years).

 

[Arwon]

The right wing has taken a stab at explaining the recent rise in depression the last decade which might be fueling the rise in suicides.

How to Understand the Well-Being Gap between Liberals and Conservatives - American Affairs Journal

In a recent essay for Social Science & Medicine–Mental Health, epidemiologist Catherine Gimbrone and coauthors identified a significant gap in depressive attitudes between liberal and conservative teens. This gap was present in all years observed in the study (2005–18). It grew significantly...

americanaffairsjournal.org

Trying to glean insight by focusing on political worldviews?


Something definitely happened starting back in 2011.

Common core learning?
One of the social media things got big?
???

Teen girls hit hardest whatever it was/is ya.


I have no idea why things got so much better in the late 90s.
Great that it happened!

I'm gonna go ahead and suggest that given this issue is apparently broader than just the United States, any analysis that posits the existence of precisely 2 (two) world views, labelled "conservative" and "liberal", is not going to be particularly helpful for anything.

Plus, you know, any child found identifying with the freaks in the contemporary United States Republican Party is already a deeply alien and suspect anomaly in and of themselves.

 

[Bamspeedy]

Bolding mine. That's what i mean by they keep backdating us - now we end in 1980?!? I remember when Gen X went through the mid-80's. Before you know it I'm going to wake up & find that I'm a Millennial.

1984 was from one guy who wanted the generations divided into neat '20 year windows'. Most put it at 1980 (one other at 1981, a couple earlier).

You won't want to read a Canadian professor's thoughts on this:

In Canada, professor David Foot describes Generation X as late boomers and includes those born between 1960 and 1966, whilst the "Bust Generation", those born between 1967 and 1979, is considered altogether a separate generation, in his 1996 book Boom Bust & Echo: How to Profit from the Coming Demographic Shift.

A ....Buster?

Generation X - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kyriakos]

So I am an echo?
I prefer "generation x", though I have to say I wasn't aware that this supposedly included people 20 years older than me... The sense was that gen x=those who were teens in the 90s.

 

[Zardnaar]

So I am an echo?
I prefer "generation x", though I have to say I wasn't aware that this supposedly included people 20 years older than me... The sense was that gen x=those who were teens in the 90s.

That would include millenials.

I suspect older millenuals and younger Xs wh were teenagers are closer culturally than divusions in Gen X.

I spend my entire teenage years in 90's that's only a 3 year window.