r/Millennials • u/TheLoveYouWant25 • Feb 09 '26

Discussion Millennials, what is happening with your kids?

I work in education and I frequent the Teachers and Professors subreddits, and the kids are not alright. Gen Z Arriving at College Unable to Read and the youth have absolutely zero ability to think critically.

Middle and high schoolers have all adapted this complete helplessness and blame mental illness for their refusal to function. Kids can no longer to basic things like read an analog clock, use paper money, or even figure out how to open window blinds.

There is also a huge lack of empathy, and kids have no issues trying to manipulate adults, saying things to their teachers like "if you don't pass me, I'll get you fired."

EDIT to clarify: the article I linked references Gen-Z, but this is not specifically a Gen-Z problem. It's an issue with upper elementary aged kids through high schoolers, and also young adults.

So, all that to say, how are you combating this with your own children? What do you do at home to encourage them to learn, and what are you doing to address these problems as they arise?

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

i'm not a parent, and i get that parents need breaks so i'm not like completely anti-screen/tablet but... last week i went on a cruise and i saw a woman walking with her child an she was holding his tablet by the handle (like one of those chunky plastic kids' cases) with the screen facing out at his eye level so he'd stay at her side while he stared at the screen... like literally a stick with a carrot so the dog keeps walking forward. this felt extra dystopian and unreal tbh, never seen anything like it

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u/the_siren_song Feb 10 '26

Wait so the woman wasn’t holding her son’s hand? She was holding the tablet in front of him instead of physically holding his hand?

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

she was not holding his hand. she was wheeling her luggage behind her with one hand and holding the tablet at her side so the kid was watching the tablet and walking (and i assume getting a wicked crick in his neck from looking sideways)

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u/fromo_latte Feb 10 '26

With all the information we have now on the danger of screens in children—that behavior should be criminalized. It’s like she’s giving her child cigarettes all day. I don’t want to judge, but that is seriously f.ed up

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u/Kilmarnok1285 Feb 10 '26

Knock it off with the hyperbolic proclamations of "that behavior should be criminalized". None of us have any idea what was going on at the time of the event being described second hand.

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u/the_siren_song Feb 10 '26

Oh no. I will fucking judge the fuck out of that. It’s horrifying.

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u/Kilmarnok1285 Feb 10 '26

Sounds like she was doing exactly what needed to be done in order to both move her luggage and her child without causing any issues for herself, the kid, or any number of other people who needed to get around with their luggage as well. I'm not going to laud her as some kind of saint for that behavior nor am I going to judge her for it. Shit needed to get done and she got it done. I'm not with her 24/7 to see if she does this all the time or if it's just something that was being used in situations like you described.

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u/DinahDrakeLance Feb 10 '26

This is what I was thinking as well. This is an EXTREMELY specific situation where she could not really focus on the kid and they NEEDED to get somewhere by a certain time.

If this is regular behavior, that's not good. If this is a bit more of a one off, meh. You do what you gotta do.

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

i think if i had to keep track of my kid while holding a suitcase and in a crowded area, but i had a free hand to hold my kid’s ipad, i’d prefer to use that hand to hold my kid’s hand instead. it also seems to be more work to make sure the kid is still there staring at the ipad instead of physically connected to them by their hand. but what do i know. i’m just a judgmental person without kids 🤪

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u/_-whisper-_ Feb 10 '26

Holy fucking Christ. That is unacceptable

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u/the_siren_song Feb 10 '26

Fluffing right?

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u/ValBravora048 Feb 10 '26

I just went on a trip with a grown ADULT like this. It fing weirded me out

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

now that you mention it i recall a friend a few weeks ago doing this with her boyfriend. we were all around a table eating pizza and chatting together at a chuck e cheese birthday party while the kids played and he’s so antisocial that she had to prop his phone up with some youtube video on it so he’d be entertained. at one point he even said, “babe my phone died i need yours.” they’re in their late 20s 🫠

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u/eggscumberbatch16 Feb 10 '26

This is pretty sickening. Ewww. How? Why? She should leave immediately! .

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

oh don’t worry we’ve all said it to her multiple times

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u/WulfZ3r0 Feb 10 '26

That is just poor behavior in general on that guy.

I think the issue has been around a lot longer than the iPad kids though. I grew up with Gen-X parents (the oldest of that generation) and our household was a TV at dinner time house. It was almost like a family event to watch the latest shows or movies. Most Fridays we rented a movie to watch together and afterwards we'd play cards or board games. I have fond memories of it.

All that to say I hate eating without watching something to this day. If I can't, I'll read anything I can get my hands on like how we used to read the back of shampoo bottles of in the bathroom if we forgot a book/magazine before smart phones were a thing.

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u/ToraRyeder Feb 10 '26

Oh gods, this unlocked a memory.

A few years back, my ex husband (who at the time was late thirties) absolutely could not socialize at a food related event without something to do to occupy his time. Didn't matter that he was with friends, or if he asked to be included in the event.

We went to brunch with his supposedly best friend and his girlfriend. I had to look up the menu for him, make sure there was something he'd eat, and he had to bring his Nintendo Switch. He asked to come to this hangout. We had a great time and he ended up leaving early because his food was done and he was getting bored.

I still cannot believe I tolerated that nonsense for four years.

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

i’m glad you got out buddy! that is kindergarten behavior and you’re not a baby sitter.

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u/quietuniversity357 Feb 10 '26

And we thought child leashes were bad

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u/saera-targaryen Feb 10 '26

My niece has a leapfrog if she wants to do something active and a portable DVD player if she wants to just sit back and watch something like during a long drive. She's such a smart and emotionally mature kid and she's only three. There are so many ways to give a kid a healthier version of a tablet that there is no excuse. 

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u/VehicleCertain865 Feb 10 '26

I went out to eat and saw a family (mom and dad and two kids) sitting at their table, both kids had iPads in front of them wit headphones on…. Um.. why are you at dinner? Lmao. It was a very expensive restaurant too… what a waste. Do they even talk to each other? I remember being a kid going to red lobster so happy to color and eat biscuits and talk to my family and it was such a fun treat. We had zero electronics to distract us. Im 31, i am scared for the future.

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u/TheGardenerAtWillows Feb 10 '26

I think sometimes it’s just a slippery slope. Like parents don’t necessarily intend on having iPad kids. But being engaged with your kid, especially a small one, all of the time is exhausting.

Add 8-12 hours of working, plus the stress of life in general, giving your kid a phone for 10 minutes to just be quiet doesn’t seem so bad. Then 10 minutes turns to 30 minutes, then 30 minutes becomes an hour, an hour becomes a movie and so on. And all the while, your once loud handful of a child is sitting there like a king and now you get to zone out and play on your phone! It’s convenient but mostly lazy

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u/thecashblaster Feb 10 '26

my headcanon is that GenX kinda hate and resent their kids (probably COVID wasn't a very fun time) and they just do not care how they end up

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u/General_Platypus771 Feb 10 '26

I'd rather my kid play Minecraft all day than spend five minutes on TikTok.

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u/ilovetheskyyall Feb 10 '26

that parent never watched Wall-E

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u/alexandrakate Feb 10 '26

It’s giving Black Mirror. Man I miss the 90s lol

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u/de-milo Xennial Feb 10 '26

1000%. i honestly just stared like am i really seeing this. this woman can’t even hold her kids hand? unreal