9 curious differences between a modern teenager and a Soviet one

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

Modern teens were born in the age of the Internet and smartphones and perceive information differently. At least not like their parents. What are their main differences from previous generations was discussed by sociologists Yulia Yuzbasheva and Irina Morozova (ValidataKIDS) and psychologist Anna Privezentseva (Tochka center) within the framework of the joint project Mela and Pioner Talks “You can't even imagine us: Teenagers 2.0”.

1. Proud to be a child

Childhood in the USSR, let's be honest, was not arranged in any way. It was considered an ordinary age stage when a child goes to school, does homework, runs in the yard and somehow grows by itself. The modern world has become child-centered. Now the woman is building a whole scenario around her motherhood. The child barely has time to be born, and is already asleep on a pillow with his own image (what a frame for Instagram!).

Childhood now is a huge infrastructure: children's media, politics, brands. And adolescents are well aware of their child status. They sit down and say, “Okay, let's play your marketing games. Whoever fights for me here is more interesting, and I will give the parental money to that. At the same time, adolescents do not understand well, for example, why go to a savings bank and pay for something. For them, the adult world is some kind of distant reality.

2. Realizes your gender early

In the USSR, as you know, there was no sex. And the gender was, but rather functional. He defined social roles: a man - the defender of the homeland and family, a woman - the keeper of the hearth. And yet, as children, we all wore the same pants. It never occurred to anyone to stick out their girlishness or boyishness. Even cartoon characters (Carlson or Leopold the cat) were not at all about gender.

Today, mothers dress up one-year-old girls as little princesses, and the boys who lie like zucchini and still don't understand anything are already dressed in Superman T-shirts. By the age of ten, children are well aware of their gender and sometimes even start their first romantic relationship. But then, when a child turns into a teenager, he radically overturns some children's models. Hence the tendency towards unisex - he is much less interested in sticking out what is already with him from birth.

3. Seeks benefit from friendship with parents

Liberal mothers are replacing strict conservative mothers with their beloved "no". The most advanced of them live by the principle of modern psychological textbooks. Such a mother allows the child a lot, but she still makes the choice for him herself, and in advance. For example: "What will you be, son, - an apple or a pear?" There is no chip option here. But relations in such families are still good, because the child is sure: they listen to his opinion.

The teenager does not feel pressured like before, so he does not reject his parents. It turns out not an authoritarian relationship, but peace-friendship-chewing gum (only without chewing gum, it’s harmful, after all). It is beneficial for children, including from a material point of view. They go everywhere with mom and dad, who pamper them with clothes and iPhones. And the child often makes a direct connection between what the parents buy and how much they love him.

4. Is fond of everyone at once, but superficially

We all remember the archetypes of Soviet children. For example, a rebel who did not want to participate in the school lights and constantly skipped. Or an excellent nerd who, for some reason, always ends up on a C with a minus in life. It was believed that the better a person learns, the less adapted he is to real life.

Today, an aggregate archetype is being formed - a kind of Leonardo, which all parents dream of: at the same time athletic, and intellectual, and kind, and knows how to stand up for themselves. The modern teenager is full of shallow knowledge, but the spectrum is colossal. Such a trickster child is stuffed with relevant topics, but is poorly guided by them. He cuts the social space like a water strider, and only knows how to throw out another pseudopod and form tenacious social contact.

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If a teenager is seriously interested in one topic, for example, the computer world and gadgets, in the modern world he is already a geek - and his peers lose interest in him. Although a few years ago it seemed cool. Now it is not fashionable to get carried away with a certain style of music. Teenagers call themselves music lovers - this means that they know absolutely nothing about musical trends. They just live on singles from the "Top 100 Songs of the Last Year" playlist.

5. Socializes on the network

Today's children live on social networks. On the one hand, it's great. If earlier socialization at school did not work out, the child was unhappy (remember the movie "Scarecrow"). Now, even if a child is no one at school, in the Internet world he is a dragon lord and those around him adore. A person does not have such a terrible feeling of loneliness.

On the other hand, the whole life is now built on the principle of the constant formation of a social network. And it's hard. It was much easier for us in the USSR to work up the steepness - for example, an outfit was enough. Now everything is different: popularity is primarily your social activity, including on the Internet.

6. Tries to be moderate in everything

Since we live in a time of total pluralism, no moral, ethical or aesthetic norms have been lowered from above. Teenagers are given complete freedom and maximum opportunities. And they all migrate to the center and form their own norms - tougher than they were in the Soviet Union. Here's a vivid example for you: a rocker dad took his daughter to a concert, she stood in line. He told her: to stand for a thousand years, let's go over the fence! She: dad, what are you doing ?!

Good form among teenagers is to fit in with the general hipster style. Show off isn't cool anymore. There is even the concept of "explaining for a piece" when you dressed too provocatively. Our children are moderate in diet, chemical use and even political views. Yes, most adolescents are loyal to the authorities and are not particularly involved in the events taking place. It is customary for them to be moderately patriotic.

7. Constantly wants to have fun

Children today are delighted with aggressive editing. They cannot follow for a long time what is happening on the screen with one person. Back in 2000, a teenager's attention was focused on average for 12 seconds, and by 2012 this figure had dropped to 8 seconds. In general, the child's consciousness has finally and irrevocably become a clip. Therefore, the child lives with demotivators and communicates with stickers.

Teenagers are less and less likely to take up large books: boring, difficult, a lot of letters. Expressing your feelings with help is also difficult. However, the child began to avoid the feelings themselves, especially negative ones. He just can't imagine how he can be alone with his sadness, irritation or boredom at all. Because gadgets are always at hand, there is something to cheer up.

8. Is uncritical about information

Previously, study was Jedi: knowledge was processed inside a teenager and turned into life baggage. Today, the Google and Yandex buffet works around the clock, and the number of approaches to it is not limited. Children do not solve problems, but immediately look for answers. For example, if before a child thought about the question "To be or not to be?"

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All adults admire how children can work with information. But after all, the child simply takes it on a temporary lease, and it does not cause such a critical attitude as the things that we view through the prism of knowledge. Today, children are not so much creators as they are IT specialists: they simply combine different data and make up a collage, which becomes their view of the world.

9. Afraid of freedom of choice

For some reason, parents are sure that the teenager lives with them in the same space. In fact, the physical space is really one, but the human has changed. If before there was a Soviet society, today we have a society. This is not just a new buzzword, but the unity of the dissimilar, when each is initially born with a unique personality.

In the USSR there was a cult of personality, now there is a cult of individuals (how many people, so many individuals). To help the child to open up, to feel the craving for some activity, parents give it to a million sections. Teachers there only do what they praise children (after all, psychologists do not advise to scold). And when a person hatches into adulthood, he is not a fully developed personality, but a set of probes. He has a dime a dozen of successful experiences he liked, and suddenly he must choose one thing.

Earlier, the profession was a social function, a cog in the state machine. And today it's only your business, if only you get pleasure from it. Parents give the teenager complete freedom of choice. But the child does not know what to do with this freedom. He is afraid that he will not be able to sharply choose a specialization, that he will not become successful and happy.