How Students Are Different Today

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB BROWN

"Why can’t kids today be like I was growing up? They are not like I was!” 

Every generation could say this, but it seems young people today face unique challenges. Cell phones, iPads, busy parents, social media, Covid isolation, increased information availability, and an at-times overly hostile or divided social-political environment all have brought new challenges many of us did not face growing up. How have these factors changed students?

I went on a field trip recently with my granddaughter, who is in fourth grade. I noticed that the vast majority of students had very short attention spans, did not read much, and seemed to need constant stimulation in the museum we were in. This got me to thinking.

As a teacher friend and parent recently explained to me, many young people today are more open about expressing emotions and feelings. That is wonderful – while growing up in the 1950s, I was discouraged from any such expressions.  

However, as several other parents and teachers have told me, more students are anxious, face more social and emotional challenges, have shorter attention spans, need more instant gratification and excitement, and read fewer books. More have difficulty relating to other kids and working through conflicts without parental intervention. 

Loneliness and even hopelessness are also on the rise.  The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services reported that the number of high school students reporting persistent sadness or hopelessness rose 40% between 2009 and 2019. Some of the factors driving this trend include the rise in social media and smartphone use, increasing academic and social pressures, and growing competition in college admissions. 

There is a book by Jonathan Haidt, The Anxious Generation, that explains some of this and has several suggested solutions. He suggests that schools restrict or eliminate cell phones, that parents wait until high school to give their children smartphones, and wait until age 16 for social media access. He also suggests parents encourage more outside, unsupervised play for children. 

Limiting cell phone use may help, but the reality is that outside school they will still be influential. We still need to adjust teaching and parenting.

First, we must meet students where they are and not try to take them back to the “good old days.” This is for parents, educators and society in general. That means parenting and teaching need to evolve – after all, we no longer need to teach most kids how to milk cows or work on an assembly line. Southington's and many other towns' schools are evolving, and we must continue to do so.

Students should also be encouraged in school to interact with and respect others and do small group activities. Schools need to ensure that they have sufficient mental and social-emotional support personnel. Community support for that is essential. Parents and society need to encourage our young people to go outside and play, engage in sports, do social activities, dance, appreciate nature, be creative with music and arts, resolve their conflicts amongst themselves and not rely on adult interventions always.

Finally, we should foster curiosity and a thirst for learning and growing. Teach kids to respectfully and thoughtfully question everything – the status quo, the way things are done, rules, authorities. Encourage expressing emotion and listening as important skills. Instead of always trying to change them, approach children with curiosity about their world, about any traumas they may have experienced, and learn what makes them tick. 

Our young people are our future. They are the potentially productive workers and involved citizens of tomorrow. Our society needs them to succeed for us to all thrive. 

Bob Brown is a longtime Southington teacher and current Board of Education member.