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If you find yourself frowning upon something someone younger is doing, that most likely means one of two things: you’re either too old to understand what the current youth is up to—as most of us probably are—or you’re simply a grumpy person in general, which is an entirely different matter.
If you belong to the former category, find comfort in the fact that you are far from the only one baffled by all sorts of youngster trends. Be it a new hairstyle every other male under insert a certain age here is walking around with or activities teenagers are taking part in, it might not be easy to identify with a generation that grew up in an entirely different world. But we should probably at least try to understand them, no matter how confusing it all is. (Goodness knows, we’ve gone through a phase of trends our parents found odd, too.)
If you’re curious about what are some of the things young people do that absolutely baffle those older than them, scroll down to find netizens' answers to an ‘Ask Reddit’ thread on the matter started by u/Fyre-Bringer to find out.
If you scroll down, you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science, Dr. Deborah Carr, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions regarding generational differences.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Just fully watching videos in public with no headphones. Where are your headphones? I don’t want to hear your TikTok clips.
#2
Gen X here. I don't understand the eyelash thing where they're so long and fluffy that you look like Snuffleupagus. I also don't understand the nails that are so long you can't function. Like, how do you wipe?
#3
Not knowing how to use punctuation. The lack of punctuation drives me nuts. I shouldn’t have to read something 50 times because you don’t know how to place a period or a comma when needed.
Discussing the topic of generational differences, Professor of Sociology and Director of the Center of Innovation in Social Science Dr. Deborah Carr told Bored Panda that every generation tends to critique “the youth of today”, implying that the way they did things as young people is superior to what young people are doing nowadays.
“During periods of very rapid change, those generational gaps are the largest,” she noted. “If two generations were raised in very different social or economic consequences, the attitudinal gaps will be the largest.
“For instance, we have witnessed tremendous advances in recent years with respects to the rights and visibility of LGBTQIA persons – younger people are thus much more accepting than past generations. It’s important to recognize that generations can educate one another and help to expand each other’s horizons, and that education can go up and down the generational ladder.”
#5
Grammar. I'm not even talking about missing commas and s**t I just want them to know the difference between "you're" and "your"
According to Prof. Carr, some of the reasons why older people find certain youngster trends or habits difficult to understand are based on the fact that said people are unfamiliar with them, the trends conflict with their personal values, or they don’t see any value in them.
“For instance, older people may judge younger people for spending money on expensive coffees, clothing, or computer gadgets because they view it as wasteful. However, it’s important to remember that young people today often are strapped with educational debt, health care bills and other factors that are eroding their savings. The occasional luxury purchase can be a short-term way to exert autonomy and personal choice.”
#6
Making every single phone call via speakerphone, especially when holding the phone directly next to the side of their head because they can’t hear.
#7
Literally commiting crimes as part of social media trends. Especially the "licking ice cream at the store and putting it back" challenge, that's a straight up health code violation.
#8
For a generation that loves social media, we are very anti-social. Lots of us cannot hold conversations or try to avoid them entirely. Another thing is how terrible literacy is amongst this generation while also loving social media. Cell phones have caused pure brain rot as people cannot function without them at all which baffles me. My parents didn’t buy me a phone until I was a sophomore in high school and it drove me nuts when people asked me how to do this or that without thinking prior to use common sense and figure it out. Critical thinking hit a massive decline from what I have noticed as well. Hope this comment isn’t harsh but being a part of one of the young generations I’m frustrated and annoyed. Please enlighten me if I am just wrong about any of this.
“Older adults also may have difficulty understanding actions or behaviors that were less common when they were young,” Dr. Carr added. “For instance, very casual dress, large tattoos and multiple piercings are more common and socially accepted today, yet it could be a difficult pill to swallow for older adults who were raised to present themselves more formally – especially at work.”
#11
Millennial here: Baffled at the number of people having children with various "baby daddies" and "baby mamas" that all seem to be horrible people. Do they not vet their partners at all before making them parents? It's like there's not even the expectation anymore that two people would raise their kids together.
(Note: This probably sounds judgemental, but I genuinely am just baffled.).
According to the expert, the thing that has influenced or shaped current youth the most is undoubtedly social media. “Young people today craft identities and tell narratives about their lives—whether fact, fiction, or somewhere in between—online. More importantly, they often derive their self-worth from others’ responses to the images they put out there. The number of likes, views, or followers they receive, the praise—or insults—they receive online, and other indicators of their online presentations are critically important to their self-views.
“In past generations, we certainly cared about what our classmates and peers thought about us, but we had less data and it was less pervasive and in-your-face. So, we probably felt better about ourselves,” she added.
#13
Mostly Im baffled by how poorly educated young people are these days. History, Geography, Sciences, Maths, Literature..so much knowledge is missing.
#14
Face tattoos. I don't really have a problem with tattoos generally, but come on man, it's your face.
If youth trends baffle you too, and you want to understand the youngsters better, “talk to a young person,” Dr. Carr suggested. “Ask what’s important to them, and why. Or, ask them for a recommendation for a TV show, podcast, or influencer whom they appreciate, or a book that they found particularly influential, and then discuss it with them.
“The only way we can bridge generational rifts—or rifts more generally—is to get to know one another as individuals, rather than relying on false stereotypes.”
#16
That literacy rates are plummeting. This one is so confusing! How can you be the chronically online generation unable to read?
#17
Taking parents to job interviews.
Lincoln_Park_Pirate:
It just happened at my workplace for the first time (television). Blew my mind. Mom waited in the lobby but came in for the negotiations. Applicant was 26 years old.
The professor continued to emphasize the importance of understanding one another by pointing out that every generation manages the best they can, managing the hand they’ve been dealt.
“Younger people today have faced highly distressing events throughout their lives – from rampant school shootings to vast political divisiveness to isolation during COVID. If we see younger people feeling anxious, distressed, or fearful of their future, we should understand where they’re coming from, rather than judging them or holding them against a standard that’s unrealistic.”
#18
Becoming addicted to nicotine. I thought younglings would be a little less stupid than us.
#19
Young people seek information by watching TikTok content rather than Googling the answers. If you have a lot of time to spare, you will often get good info, but I'm middle-aged, and I've always been a big reader. I will do almost anything to avoid having to watch stuff (or listen, for that matter) when I can more quickly visually skim and immediately determine if the information is relevant to me and seems legit.
#20
I guess there’s like elementary schoolers with a skincare routine now?? That’s nuts….
Electric-Sheepskin:
I saw some people in the skincare addiction sub today recommending that a 17-year-old get Botox and retinol for the lines on their forehead. Insanity.
#22
I've trained 3 early 20s co-workers now that don't use the Shift key to capitalize letters. They hit caps lock, type the letter to be capitalized, then hit caps lock again.
I can't wrap my head around it.
#23
I run a restaurant, and employ a bunch of young people. EVERY dude under 25 has bangs, some significantly longer than the rest of their hair. I call them *Flock of Seagulls*. They don't get the reference.
#24
Binge watching short videos compiled so you never watch anything with a plot or storyline. Just tons of 10-60 sec videos and most of them suck.
#25
There was a group of teenagers in the parking lot talking about scientology, and they were thinking it was a neat religion, like a bunch of them were genuinely interested.
I've never hit a child before...but holy hell their brains needed to be reset.
#26
I'm not really too baffled, I just see a lot of worrying trends.
The main thing that concerns me is the steep decline in mental health among young people since smartphones went mainstream and we got the internet in our pockets. I'm not shocked at all to see it but it is very bad.
#27
Vaping. Isn't it clear by now that inhaling fumes is not really a good idea?
#28
The popularity of "nuisance streamers" with younger folks. I don't find being a public nuisance even a little bit entertaining or funny, especially when its being filmed.
Also just in general the trend of filming, photographing and trying to make "content" out of their entire life in some vain hope of becoming internet famous. I don't get it. Last thing i'd ever want to do is have my entire life posted on the internet.
#29
Allowing every one of their friends on Snapchat to know their location at all times. Like seriously. My 23 year old coworker and her friends are constantly revoking and then reinstating their visible location depending on if they're happy or mad with each other. If someone notices that they can't see where another person is, they'll actually bring it up, wondering what they did to upset them. Her best friend will ask her friend to check her boyfriends location, and whichever friend he told her he'd be with, to make sure they match. I told my coworker that it's weird for everyone you know to know where you are.
At least I can kinda understand family members knowing, but even then, my siblings don't need to know where I am at all times, and my parents should maybe stop constantly checking once I hit 18? 21 surely. Lol. Her sister will text her asking why she went certain places because she constantly checks location on her. They have an app on their phones specifically so they can always see where family members are. Her dad texted her once she got home and didn't come inside after 5 minutes. He knew she just drove up. She was simply typing out a reply a text to a friend before getting out of her car. Again...she's 23.
Idk, I guess if you grow up with it, you don't think it's weird. I'm 43, I certainly didn't grow up with people having the ability to know where I am at all times unless I told them or called them.
#30
Not using condoms. My generation was raised hearing about Ryan White and seeing Very Special Episodes about why we didn't want AIDS and everything else. Apparently some younger people aren't worried about it anymore.
#31
Making fun of another kid because they don't have a specific water tumbler. It sounds like somebody is trying to parody "making fun of other kids for having the 'wrong' brand of clothes or phone".
#32
All the self labeling. When I was young, we avoided labels at all costs!
#33
Calling anyone with a different opinion a troll. I see it over and over and over. I do not understand and I can only feel pity.
#34
I use my phone a fair bit, but it's really hard to imagine it being my *only computer*. I need at least 20 inches of screen, a trackball and a keyboard with physical buttons just to *think* properly. I don't want to budget my battery to last all day in case an important text comes through. I want my internet signals sent over a hard wire. When my computer stops working, I want to open it up and swap the broken part with a better one.
But if my web analytics are at all a representation, more than half of everyone is only looking at the internet through their phones.
#35
I listened to a 23-year-old (more than a decade younger than me) say she wanted to start 'preventative Botox.' Girl...
#36
I know a girl that had plastic surgery by the time she was 19.
When I first met her, she was literally a ten. Now, she's funny looking.
#37
Being unable to read beyond sight words.
Like they CAN read, but not the same way you and I assumably can. They can read words but only because they are recognizing the word itself the same way you might recognize the picture of a bee as a bee or when you read now a lot of it IS sight reading in that you're likely not reading this comment sounding out all the letters- but if you came across a word you didn't know you'd likely have the skillset to read it anyways or at least give an educated guess.
I worked as a teacher and this past year I've been hearing more and more complaints from the higher grades/up even into highschool that their students by and large aren't able to sound out words/read like we were taught to. That's not to say NONE can but it's a significant issue that absolutely baffles me.
Like, I legitimately can't tell if this is some elaborate joke and they forgot to cue in the laughtrack to cue me in or what; but from the conversations I've had they know what letters make what sounds like "a" makes "ay" and "ah" but not how to USE this information functionally when presented a word they don't know before. This skill just.. apparently wasn't challenged and because the kids presumably COULD read (by sight) the issue wasn't recognized until recently. I'm honestly hoping this is JUST our small towns issue and not widespread as I don't even know where to begin dismantling such a profound oversight.
#39
The rising support and voting for extreme right parties/pundits among young people in the West. The people leading these parties will ruin everything resembling a future that you might have. These are awful times to become an adult in, but they do NOT care about you or your plight as a younger generation.
#40
Today on reddit one told me they refuse to show up to an initial job interview that is in person. They demand the employer use zoom to interview them. It was baffling.
#41
One thing that baffles me is how much time and energy the younger generation spends on social media. It's amazing to see how much they are constantly on their phones, checking notifications, posting updates, and scrolling through endless feeds. I can't imagine being so connected to technology all the time and not taking breaks to be present in the moment. It's a completely different way of living that I struggle to understand.
#42
Giving up. I work with some twenty-somethings, and many of them are completely defeated. They don't think they'll ever own a home or have a meaningful career or get out of debt. They just throw up their hands and resign themselves to a life of drudgery, bills and the occasional weekend bender.
They don't want to be astronauts or engineers or rock stars, they just want to escape reality by way of d***s, videogames and endless screen time.
Who is going to rule the world?
#44
Wearing earbuds at work during a shift on an active, collaborative team. (I think earbuds aren't a problem at all for quiet, focused work, or work where there's not much need to speak with others at a moment's notice.)
I understand that many of them can easily hear things, but in my brain, earbuds carry a strong "do not talk to me" message that makes it hard not to see them as inappropriate at work unless someone is hunkering down for a longer, quieter solo task.
At worst , I see them being a hazard in certain workplaces (my own workplace for example, a metal fabrication lab, a lack of full attention could lead to nasty consequences), and at best, I think they send a less than respectful message to coworkers.
I suppose that people have no obligation to treat their coworkers with more than the minimum of respect and courtesy, but I figure that having some friendly connections at work could make each shift more enjoyable for everyone.
#46
I can't understand why today's kids want to watch YouTube videos of kids or adults opening up new toys and playing with them! Why would any kid want to watch someone else play with toys instead of their own?
#47
Children as young as 12 drinking coffee before school. Wearing fake nails and fake eyelashes.
#48
Refusing to learn to drive. I absolutely understand not wanting to, preferring to live places where you don't have to because of good walkability/transit/bikability, etc. But just being unwilling to learn at all? It's an important life skill and there might be an emergency where you have to!
#50
Bringing back those thin 90s brows again… its a lesson we all must learn the hard way, it seems.
What did you hear the younger generation do that absolutely baffles you?
Jack Burton 6 months ago
Well well well... Are you all old enough to have forgotten that you hear pretty similar stuff about you as a teenager or a young adult ? And for the smartphone/network problem i'd say it concerns everyone. Don't tell me most of adults aren't addicted to smartphone and social network. Every generation found the next one stupid and non educated enough. It's a human thing.
clairebear 6 months ago
What goes around comes around. Silent generation got their knickers in the twist about boomers being Teddy Boys, Mods and Rockers. Boomers had a fit over Gen X's punk, new romantics (men wearing makeup!!!), goths and skinheads. Gen X laughing at millennials and their man buns and avocado toast, it goes on and on.
Notme 6 months ago
Christ, what a bunch of grumpy old farts. Leave them alone, live and let live FFS.
Janet L 2 months ago
Well, the heading WAS about confusing trends among the young….kinda inevitable to get responses about what confuses people then.
Load More Replies... Noproblem 6 months ago
Let me preface by saying I am not talking about people with anxiety disorders. But I think the younger generation has a hard time recognizing that anxiety is an emotion that you are SUPPOSED to feel. They just think anxiety=bad and therefore I should not feel it, and whatever is causing it needs to go away. And they really need to recognize that it’s a part of life and it’s okay to feel that way & they will be okay if they work through it instead of running the other way.
Apatheist Account2 6 months ago
That's down to too much molly-coddling when young. Everyone gets a prize, no-one loses! Answers aren't wrong, well done for interpreting the question differently! They're not prepared for real life.
Load More Replies... Christos Arvanitis 6 months ago
Sure some of these are specific to younger people, but lots of these apply to people of all ages. More generational divisiveness...
missmal 6 months ago
I think the older generations need to just realize that these newer generations are just different, just like we were different than the older generations. I feel like if what they are doing makes them happy and doesn't negatively impact the life of another human being, leave them alone. If those girls with long nails and eyelashes are happy and confident with how they look, let them be happy. If people do better researching topics on Tik Tok rather than Google, let them. I've found using both worlds well for me and I'm not from these younger generations. Just let people be themselves and like what they like.
Darth Kittius 6 months ago
The younger generations have been criticized by the older generations for about as long as civilization has been a thing. Even in Ancient Greece. And then Baby Boomers get mad about "Okay Boomer" as if they've never been disrespectful to anyone
Malek Basata 6 months ago (edited)
Dear mr grumpus, leave us alone, illiteracy and more might be annoying to you who had it hard, but it is your fault we exist anyway
RavenCroft 6 months ago
I'd like to add trends such as using someone as a "Foodie call" and other ways that people use dating as a way to get a free meal, money, etc from the person. When did that become an acceptable way to treat another human being?
John Harrison 6 months ago
A lot of these really are old people shaking their fists at the sky, lolol. "I can't believe the craaazy haircuts these dawgone kids have nowadays!"
Janet L 2 months ago
I think it goes deeper than that…the lack of modesty and privacy seems very counter intuitive and unhealthy
Load More Replies...
Jess Smith 6 months ago (edited)
I'm Gen Z, and I looked at most of these like "am I missing something?" Admittedly, I'm homeschooled and thus don't have as much of the gossip and such, but I was scrolling through this like, "I am Gen Z, and I use control v *all the time*, I don't even get what a water tumbler is, and I have no clue what a fanum tax is." But posting that on like all of them would get boring fast, so I'm posting this at the end: Gen Z is not all like this. edit: rewording
Amelia Jade 6 months ago
What a mean spirited article. Let the younger generation have their trends. I'm glad I'm not a grumpy gus waving my fist at people with long eyelashes and yelling at people to get off my lawn.
tuzdayschild 6 months ago
Tattoos on faces, looong eyelashes, bangs covering the face. Things like this are personal choices that don't hurt anyone else. So for me, they falls under my "nose out" rule.
Janet L 2 months ago
I’m concerned about all the trigger warnings and blanked out words which avoid upsetting people. If you can’t cope with this how are you going to manage your life? Surely any kid who’s seen any eg Harry Potter movie with its themes of murder, sorcery, bullying, treason, can cope with the written word?
Darth Kittius 6 months ago
No, the thumbs up thing isn't just that. The reason some gen z think is rude is because we'll send a long message and then get a thumbs up in response. The lack of effort after the effort we put in feels passive-aggressive
Load More Replies...
Jessica SpeLangm 6 months ago
MY concern, which may have already been mentioned a few times, is that the younger generation (I'm in my 50's, so I'm talking about those under 30 years old mostly) can't think for themselves. If they can't google it or speak to Siri to find it, they don't know what to do. THAT'S a problem.
Falcon on Dizzy 6 months ago
im ashamed of my generation god damn. one big thing I've noticed is that since my parents grew up on the 70s and 80s, yet I'm a teenager, I've avoided a lot of these things
Belle Miles 6 months ago
I just want to let you all know... The kids are going to be alright. Unless you send them to college. Then you will lose them to the political psychoses. Go to trade school. No debt and earn as you learn and become certified in your field. Have faith... they're fine.
William Teach 6 months ago
How did this list forget about them using their phones in the toilet? Talking while doing their business? I hang up
Jack Burton 6 months ago
Well well well... Are you all old enough to have forgotten that you hear pretty similar stuff about you as a teenager or a young adult ? And for the smartphone/network problem i'd say it concerns everyone. Don't tell me most of adults aren't addicted to smartphone and social network. Every generation found the next one stupid and non educated enough. It's a human thing.
clairebear 6 months ago
What goes around comes around. Silent generation got their knickers in the twist about boomers being Teddy Boys, Mods and Rockers. Boomers had a fit over Gen X's punk, new romantics (men wearing makeup!!!), goths and skinheads. Gen X laughing at millennials and their man buns and avocado toast, it goes on and on.
Notme 6 months ago
Christ, what a bunch of grumpy old farts. Leave them alone, live and let live FFS.
Janet L 2 months ago
Well, the heading WAS about confusing trends among the young….kinda inevitable to get responses about what confuses people then.
Load More Replies... Noproblem 6 months ago
Let me preface by saying I am not talking about people with anxiety disorders. But I think the younger generation has a hard time recognizing that anxiety is an emotion that you are SUPPOSED to feel. They just think anxiety=bad and therefore I should not feel it, and whatever is causing it needs to go away. And they really need to recognize that it’s a part of life and it’s okay to feel that way & they will be okay if they work through it instead of running the other way.
Apatheist Account2 6 months ago
That's down to too much molly-coddling when young. Everyone gets a prize, no-one loses! Answers aren't wrong, well done for interpreting the question differently! They're not prepared for real life.
Load More Replies... Christos Arvanitis 6 months ago
Sure some of these are specific to younger people, but lots of these apply to people of all ages. More generational divisiveness...
missmal 6 months ago
I think the older generations need to just realize that these newer generations are just different, just like we were different than the older generations. I feel like if what they are doing makes them happy and doesn't negatively impact the life of another human being, leave them alone. If those girls with long nails and eyelashes are happy and confident with how they look, let them be happy. If people do better researching topics on Tik Tok rather than Google, let them. I've found using both worlds well for me and I'm not from these younger generations. Just let people be themselves and like what they like.
Darth Kittius 6 months ago
The younger generations have been criticized by the older generations for about as long as civilization has been a thing. Even in Ancient Greece. And then Baby Boomers get mad about "Okay Boomer" as if they've never been disrespectful to anyone
Malek Basata 6 months ago (edited)
Dear mr grumpus, leave us alone, illiteracy and more might be annoying to you who had it hard, but it is your fault we exist anyway
RavenCroft 6 months ago
I'd like to add trends such as using someone as a "Foodie call" and other ways that people use dating as a way to get a free meal, money, etc from the person. When did that become an acceptable way to treat another human being?
John Harrison 6 months ago
A lot of these really are old people shaking their fists at the sky, lolol. "I can't believe the craaazy haircuts these dawgone kids have nowadays!"
Janet L 2 months ago
I think it goes deeper than that…the lack of modesty and privacy seems very counter intuitive and unhealthy
Load More Replies... Jess Smith 6 months ago (edited)
I'm Gen Z, and I looked at most of these like "am I missing something?" Admittedly, I'm homeschooled and thus don't have as much of the gossip and such, but I was scrolling through this like, "I am Gen Z, and I use control v *all the time*, I don't even get what a water tumbler is, and I have no clue what a fanum tax is." But posting that on like all of them would get boring fast, so I'm posting this at the end: Gen Z is not all like this. edit: rewording
Amelia Jade 6 months ago
What a mean spirited article. Let the younger generation have their trends. I'm glad I'm not a grumpy gus waving my fist at people with long eyelashes and yelling at people to get off my lawn.
tuzdayschild 6 months ago
Tattoos on faces, looong eyelashes, bangs covering the face. Things like this are personal choices that don't hurt anyone else. So for me, they falls under my "nose out" rule.
Janet L 2 months ago
I’m concerned about all the trigger warnings and blanked out words which avoid upsetting people. If you can’t cope with this how are you going to manage your life? Surely any kid who’s seen any eg Harry Potter movie with its themes of murder, sorcery, bullying, treason, can cope with the written word?
Darth Kittius 6 months ago
No, the thumbs up thing isn't just that. The reason some gen z think is rude is because we'll send a long message and then get a thumbs up in response. The lack of effort after the effort we put in feels passive-aggressive
Load More Replies... Jessica SpeLangm 6 months ago
MY concern, which may have already been mentioned a few times, is that the younger generation (I'm in my 50's, so I'm talking about those under 30 years old mostly) can't think for themselves. If they can't google it or speak to Siri to find it, they don't know what to do. THAT'S a problem.
Falcon on Dizzy 6 months ago
im ashamed of my generation god damn. one big thing I've noticed is that since my parents grew up on the 70s and 80s, yet I'm a teenager, I've avoided a lot of these things
Belle Miles 6 months ago
I just want to let you all know... The kids are going to be alright. Unless you send them to college. Then you will lose them to the political psychoses. Go to trade school. No debt and earn as you learn and become certified in your field. Have faith... they're fine.
William Teach 6 months ago
How did this list forget about them using their phones in the toilet? Talking while doing their business? I hang up
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