Kids These Days

Kids, we’ve all been one, but has there ever been a more challenging time in history to be one? No doubt a question to trigger a few Baby Boomers out there. We can get into house prices, interest rates, cost of living vs. wage growth, $15 pints and smashed avo another time.

Kids have never had more choices than today, and the complexity is set to increase. I should frame this conversation around kids getting to ages where they start to consider what they want to do with their lives. A kid in this context is 13-18, although you could argue a case to expand that range on either side. Considering the impact of social media and related mental health on teens (and adults), they have much to deal with. There has never been a more confusing time to be a kid.

For full disclosure, I am biased that expecting kids to answer this question is entirely unrealistic, and the emotional maturity levels between boys and girls should be considered, perhaps because I had no idea as a teen and still figuring it out. The research concludes that girls' brains are 2-3 years more mature at puberty than boys’, with women reaching cognitive maturity at 32 and men 10-11 years later. Today's conversation isn’t about the differences between girls and boys or women and men but our expectations of kids in their formative teen years.

I always admired the kids who knew what they wanted to do when they were at school, at least enough to get them to uni, an apprenticeship or anything in between and see it through to completion. Most are now in careers that aren’t what they envisaged all those years ago. A few still are. In the late 90s, career pathways were relatively defined, similar to the decades before, and options within those were vastly different in most cases than they are today. Choices were more limited than today but still daunting for most when you were expected to know at 15 with no real-world post-schooling experience. We graduated in 2001 during the .com bubble bursting, spawning the most significant era of change since the Industrial Revolution, arguably of all time.

It’s tough being a kid with unrealistic expectations being placed on immature minds to make life-defining decisions at such young ages. We aren’t allowed to vote until 18 in Australia, but we are expected to know what we want to do with the rest of our lives at 15 or 16. Give me a break. I realised that it wasn’t the end of the world after I finished school if I didn’t know what I wanted to do, most don’t, but we figured it out along the way.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing against knowing what you want to do at 15 or 16. Don't fall into the trap of thinking this will define you forever, and be prepared for change. Whether that be a university placement or vocational pursuits (I did neither), once you’re in the system, you can find a pathway to completing a qualification and increasing options for employment and usually better chances of higher financial outcomes. Change is inevitable and is as fast as it has ever been.

According to the World Economic Forum:

“The average American will have 12 jobs by the time they are 55, and we are already seeing that we are entering a transition where individuals will need to become lifelong learners to prepare them for multiple career changes. The World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs Report 2023 shows that two-fifths of the core skills workers have today will be disrupted by technological change by 2027. Half of all workers’ core skills will need to be updated every five years, the report adds.”

From the stats above, anyone in the workforce today and not nearing retirement must be aware of the rate of change and how this may impact or disrupt your industry or career. Embrace learning and explore the opportunities within the disruption.

Now, why did kids have it so challenging today? Choice. They have a lot of choices at earlier ages, and making these decisions can be overwhelming, given many options and external influences compared to the pre-social media era and rate of change. Their ability to manage the endless range of options and adapt to change is essential to shaping young minds in their formative teen years. It is most important to remind them that it's okay if they don’t know and that trying something is most important. Equally important is to commit to that something for long enough to give yourself the best chance to experience what it can offer you, and you can offer it. It’s a two-way street, kids. Always get up if it doesn’t work out, and be open to new opportunities and ideas. You never know what it could lead to…this applies to anyone regardless of age.

Do kids have it so tough today, or are they living in a time where it’s never been better? Boomers, the floor is yours.

AV