Will our grandchildren grow up to call their grandchildren lazy?
It seems that every generation has a cynical view of their kids and grandkids. They don’t try hard enough, make the right decisions, plan well enough, and simply don’t have any common sense.
At the same time, we have seriously overprotected our kids. There are no longer real chemistry sets and schools aren’t allowed to let students use a scissors. Every sport requires helmets, chin guards, mouth guards, kneepads, and a nurse or doctor on call in case something goes wrong. And playgrounds have to be designed so no one can possibly get hurt, meaning no swings, no teeter-totter, no merry-go-round, and padded surfaces everywhere.
Since we’ve chosen to make all kids feel special, no one actually feels that way anymore. We can’t have winners without losers. In the real world, people will never care about your kid unless your kid gives them a reason to care.
In the U.S. over 29% of those under 35 still live at home with their parents. Other places in the world it’s worse. In Italy, as example, over 60% of men under 35 still live with their parents.
Dealing with an overly-coddled Nerf generation will have long term implications on tomorrow’s job market, both in terms of maturity, employability and overall resilience when it comes to dealing with adversity.
The Internet is building our awareness in ways we can’t yet assign metrics to. The number of photos we see in an average month, the amount of information we consume, the amount of time we spend interacting with digital personas, avatars, and entertainment are all part of our growing awareness of the people, places, and things that will all be part of our future.
Every 60 seconds there are over:
• 2 million Google searches
• 205 million emails sent
• 900 new websites created
• 2.5 million new Facebook likes
• $102,000 spent on Amazon
• 152,000 new photos uploaded to Facebook
• 3.4 million YouTube video views
• 200,000 new Tweets on Twitter
Along with all this activity comes a user mindset that is increasingly aware of millions of tiny information fragments that guide our decision-making, our ability to adapt, and our ability to function in our increasingly fluid work environments.
Awareness will become a key part of our employability in the future.
