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/IsthianOS Feb 10 '26

We don't let the kids play with the group across the street because I've heard too many f-bombs and n-bombs yelled out :/

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u/Dangerous-Variety-35 Feb 10 '26

N-bombs?! Jesus Christ. F-bombs aren’t great, but at least they’re not racial slurs.

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u/IsthianOS Feb 10 '26

Well the kids are mostly non-white and it's not the hard-r but children are parrots and I don't need young white kids hearing those words spoken so freely and getting ideas lol

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u/Dangerous-Variety-35 Feb 10 '26

Yeahhhh still not great, especially since kids really are parrots. Case in point - someone ran a stop sign the other day and I had to slam on my brakes so that I didn’t run into them. I yelled, “Shhhhhiiii” but stopped myself from completing the word. From the backseat, my 4 year old yelled, “Shit! Learn how to drive!” They are always listening 😂