Hey @ - Tumblr Posts

isn't it weird that between the ages of ~20 and late 30s/ 40s, unless you have teenagers in the house or work with them, it's hard to know what they're really like? because of course you're in touch with teenagers when you are one, and then you generally start to know/ be around more once people your age have older kids. i've been seeing a ton of press lately about gen alpha and younger gen z and it's peculiar to not be able to compare it with personal experience.

as kind of a side thought, it's also weird to think that i and people in my age range might interact with gen alpha/ young gen z way more than we realize through social media, but they are homogenized into the ageless everyman of the comment section. maybe that isn't the case though, i suspect my feeds are generally pretty isolated, but it's strange having limited means to find out.

i hadn't really considered any of this until i joined the r/teachers subreddit and found their accounts of teenage culture and emerging trends really interesting. some of today's teenagers' slang, tastes, behaviors and vibes as described in the posts are familiar but some are not, and that little knowledge gap seems to be where sensationalized headlines find a hold.

i'd think this pattern repeats roughly every 15-20 years. is this kind of generational window of oblivion a piece of how generations are distinguished from each other and define their identities? i imagine generations today in western countries are more isolated than at perhaps any other time in history, with the decline of multi-generational households, older average age of marriage and childrearing, and longer lifespans. i'm curious what kinds of cultural effects that might have, if any.