I’m seeing a concerning trend among high school students and their visions for their futures

[NCR Ranger]

Not sure if this is new. I am pretty sure if I asked my teenage self and classmates what we wanted to do as adults the number that said "I want a boring office job with decent pay and benefits" would have been vastly outnumbered by people wanting to be the next reality show millionaire or American Idol.

 

[AnotherNils]

Kids wanted to be actors, athletes, musicians, rapper, models, etc. when I was growing up. Influencer fits right in

 

[Pau]

At 20 I still thought I could become a comic book writer and artist.

 

[Hilarious_Bearious]

back in my day they wanted to be part of a famous band

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But unlike most of them, you succeeded and found a
Higher Love?

When I was doing youth work about 12 years ago, a lot of my clients were going to be eSports stars making millions playing Counter Strike. I'm yet to see any of them on a poster (oh shit, I just realised they'd be too old to be eAthletes now... Shit, I'm old!).

 

[Deleted member 19626]

When I was younger, everyone said they wanted to be a video game designer or creator without any direction or skill in the area. Kids gonna say whatever sounds cool, they will figure out life and get settled

 

[Muppet of a Man]

Please allow me to shake my fist at a cloud...
Social media is fucking kids up.

From an educator...

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Let me fix that for you: social media is fucking everyone up.

 

[Exilexc]

Some people have to grow up and just take up some space and settle

 

[Netherscourge]

Our parents told us we could be whatever we want to be when we grow up - to be whatever makes you happy.

I tell my kid to focus on the high demand careers that pay well and have job security because this is the reality of life.

Happiness is financial peace of mind, not actually enjoying your job.

I'm a lot of fun at parties.

 

[TissueBox]

If you went back to the 1950s and asked American kids what they wanted to be they'd say Elvis, Marilyn Monroe. A big timer, a CEO, a magnate, a record breaking singer. And so here we are.

Imo the only point in time any of it will signify a significant social upheaval in terms of labor will be the physical advancements being made in tech, not what kids say. Long as there is no automation to supplement a whole sector of jobs, some kids will always grow up, become an adult, and end up needing practical income and force themselves to take those less than glitzy career paths early on, because that describes probably at least 70% of every income earner on the planet.

That said. Dream big for as long as you can, I say. Just be responsible while you do!

 

[Mechaplum]

Tale as old as time.

 

[Neutron]

Not sure if this is new. I am pretty sure if I asked my teenage self and classmates what we wanted to do as adults the number that said "I want a boring office job with decent pay and benefits" would have been vastly outnumbered by people wanting to be the next reality show millionaire or American Idol.

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[Adam_Roman]

Nobody wants to resign to a 40 hour work week of doing something they don't care about, and there's tons of tik tokkers who are showing off how they can live comfortably without doing that. A decade ago when I was leaving school it was like that with YouTubers mostly. Growing up I remember seeing ads all the time for get rich quick infomercials where you buy a tape and it teaches you how to operate a turn key business. It always happens, the format's just changed.

 

[Rosebud]

Please allow me to shake my fist at a cloud...
Social media is fucking kids up.

From an educator...

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Thank god my parents weren't like that lol, early internet was wild

 

[Biske]

Don't worry. The weight of the world will eventually crush their spirit and they'll end up at an unfulfilling desk job like the rest of us.

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Haha fuck. It's true. Let them have their dreams, it's a shit future for all and increasingly shit as time goes on.

 

[Raxus]

Looking at this, teacher is popular with most cultures. Musicians and athletes are popular with all. Astronaut is a good job goal, but it's also hyper focused and unrealistic. There are more successful youtubers than astronauts somewhat ironically. We don't actually need a large portion of the population aiming to be astronauts. But a sincere interest in the sciences is good.

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That being said all things required to be an astronaut. Mathematics, engineering and science are all bankable skills that even if you don't get thecdream job you at least will be on the right track.

Problem is professional athlete/celebrity/influencer is already an uphill battle even with a good team backing you. Without them your chances are infinitesimal.

 

[PaulloDEC]

Dear kids,

Please dream bigger.

 

[BossAttack]

This doesn't sound any different to when I was in high school. In the Nineties.

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Listen we just gotta start our own website, just like Geocities, but better. We'll be rich!

 

[Jerm]

Don't worry. The weight of the world will eventually crush their spirit and they'll end up at an unfulfilling desk job like the rest of us.

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Bingo

 

[Jerm]

Listen we just gotta start our own website, just like Geocities, but better. We'll be rich!

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'We're gonna be the next "Jackass"' was our big thing where I lived.

 

[Sheentak]

The problem is jobs now don't pay for shit. The average wage in the UK is 30k.
Unless you have a partner your going to struggle renting on that wage.

I know IT professionals who live with roommates they don't even know on wages about 40k. Teachers who just rent out a room. Plumbers who work insane hours and can't afford anything.
Good jobs no longer pay for a good life so why bother trying?

 

[Vilam]

Just point them towards wallstreetbets; that group will sort these idiots out.

 

[Ether_Snake]

This. Influencer is the new astronaut.

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Chances are if you actually aimed to be an astronaut you'd end up somewhere decent.

Influencer? Not so much.

 

[des0lar]

Kids will always have lofty ambitions.

Then life will beat them down.

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This. Influencer is the new astronaut.

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It's not some new trend, that's just teenagers

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I know. Teenagers before tiktok were so practical.

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People always say stuff like this, but when we were 17/18 nobody thought they are going to be rich and famous and work some magical job.

Literally everyone in class had some grounded idea of what they want to do.
There was no astronaut, race car driver, famous actress, etc.

We are talking high school here, guys, not 12 year olds.

I don't know if this is a different culture based on geographic location, but honestly such stuff is concerning to me coming from almost adults who should know better by then how the world works.

 

[Meanwookie]

Chances are if you actually aimed to be an astronaut you'd end up somewhere decent.

Influencer? Not so much.

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Not much of a stretch either you can look at fighter pilot not sure the Top Gun effect is gonna last for recruitment but according to the US military many who wanna become pilots rather fly transports or any other plane than a fighter plane.

Recruitment has become a nightmare in finding fighter pilot candidates because many who are qualified choose other professions than a fighter pilot.

The Influcencer trend is also kind of counter to the whole enviromental thing given that flying private jets and driving gas guzzeling cars kind of go opposite to that.

So you can't be a supporter of a cleaner enviroment while supporting influencers who brag about driving gas guzzeling cars and fly private jets.

It's the Kardashian effect really.

 

[Sunster]

And when I was there age I wanted to be a tattoo artist.

 

[Vilam]

These kids don't have interest in learning from certified wealth management advisors or brokers or anyone else that had to go to school because it's really, really hard and so boring (their words).

lol what planet are you living on that you think a high schooler should express interest in this shit? when I was in high school I smoked a ton of weed and thought I was going to write a book and become a famous philosopher. ya gotta calm down if it's getting under your skin that much. kids are (and should be) idealistic.

if they're not mildly suicidal by the time they're 30, then (and only then) maybe it's time to start talking some sense into them

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the lizard at 20: "420 blaze it lol"
the lizard at 30: "compound interest? what's that?"

 

[the lizard]

the lizard at 20: "420 blaze it lol"
the lizard at 30: "compound interest? what's that?"

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I mean, I did end up going to business school, but that course of action wasn't even a wisp of a thought when I was in high school

 

[StereoVSN]

Social Media makes things worse by allowing easy train hopping on latest stupid trends. It basically magnifies the effects.

At same time when I was 18 I was going to move to West Coast, go to uni there, create my web startup (1.0 lol), get amazing funding, and ride it to the moon! Didn't quite work out :).

 

[Rosebud]

People always say stuff like this, but when we were 17/18 nobody thought they are going to be rich and famous and work some magical job.

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I literally entered Law school because of Ace Attorney

It was a miserable experience lol

 

[HiLife]

They should strive to be an Era mod.

 

[rusty chrome]

Lol every high schooler I know lately is saying stuff like "I'm gonna be a streamer" or "I'm gonna be an influencer"

This truly the era of cringe

 

[excelsiorlef]

I don't know whether that makes me wanna laugh or cry.

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I mean there's no space program anymore so something had to take its place why not a different kind of stars

 

[MJForum Poster]

As people have said, idolizing and yearning to be a certain type of profession isn't new. But what I think is new is that the fantasy can remain unchecked for a longer period of time.

If you wanted to be a basketball player growing up, eventually you come to terms with the fact that you aren't tall enough, fast enough, good enough, whatever as you lose to people in your neighborhood or in gym class or on your local school team. With influencer type professions, kids will just keep pumping out videos and "content" with the hope that the next one is what makes them a star.

 

[psionotic]

My brother in-law is a high school teacher and the trend he's seeing with students is that an increasing amount have no hope for their future at all, one of the most depressing things i've heard this year!

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I teach Humanities at a small university in California, and five years after theming my HUM 3000 class "The End of the World and After" (this was in 2016 when Trump was running for and then became president), I decided I was done with doomerism, and so my theme for last year's version was "Hopepunk: How the Humanities Envisions a Better World". The feedback I got was really positive, but one student's comment from their class eval reallllly saddened and concerned me.

They wrote: "Great class, even though it was kind of depressing". 0_0

 

[Dr. Monkey]

I'm a professor and teach critical digital studies, so I'm getting students right after the OP. I do see some differences from what I saw when I first started teaching a decade ago for sure, but I spend a lot of time specifically on these issues - deconstructing digital media, understanding disorientation, trying to figure out how to be in this strange world. So I empathize with OP because I see some of this too but I'm getting students who WANT to study something in this area so I'm also getting a skewed sample.

I will say tho that the thing that upsets me the most is that even when they see more and more of the architecture and understand better how manipulative digital systems are/can be, they inevitably say well, anything else is just inconvenient. That one gets me a little. I hope it just means they feel there are more important battles to fight, but this one keeps me up sometimes.

 

[AzorAhai]

Teaching in a high-school in France.

They are the most depressed generation I've seen. They often look more depressed than I was which is concerning.

Cost of life, Covid, Ukraine and climate change do not help. I expect mental health to keep dwindling. I'm personally staying positive but it's not hard to understand their apocalyptic views.

 

[Dr. Monkey]

I teach Humanities at a small university in California, and five years after theming my HUM 3000 class "The End of the World and After" (this was in 2016 when Trump was running for and then became president), I decided I was done with doomerism, and so my theme for last year's version was "Hopepunk: How the Humanities Envisions a Better World". The feedback I got was really positive, but one student's comment from their class eval reallllly saddened and concerned me.

They wrote: "Great class, even though it was kind of depressing". 0_0

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Ha, on the other hand, I will give content warnings for some topics that just roll right off their backs. I find my students' emotional reactions can be difficult to predict. We frequently stop in class to check in with everyone - like we spent a good week on Ukraine/Russia discourse and memes in the spring and we had to take a lot of pauses. But some things that really impact me, they just shrug off.

So maybe it was depressing to them from just the perspective of having to think about things, idk!

 

[microgreen]

For as much as the internet likes to make fun of boomers for constantly falling for fake shit on the internet, gen z really, really aren't any better.

 

[Elfgore]

When I was in high school it was video game design that everyone thought would be the ticket to tons of money and a fun job. Let kids dream about something before they graduate and go out into the real world.

Actually, I can't blame them at all. They've watched their parents for years go non-stop to a job most days of the week, a job they might dislike or complain about, while getting little time off. They don't want that and I can't fucking blame them for dreaming about something more.

 

[Pomerlaw]

Influencers are a joke.

Old guys have to stop caring about sounding like old guys. We are not cool and will never be again, so stop trying. Stop caring what they think of you, start caring about them. Once you get this, you are cool again.

Have some confidence about what you learnt in life. Use it to transfer knowledge and inspire the young. It may not work short term, but ideas based on reality have a tendency to survive in the human mind and hatch later on. Many of them will remember and say "he was right, I can learn from this".

Teaching in a high-school in France.

They are the most depressed generation I've seen. They often look more depressed than I was which is concerning.

Cost of life, Covid, Ukraine and climate change do not help. I expect mental health to keep dwindling. I'm personally staying positive but it's not hard to understand their apocalyptic views.

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Kids in the 60s 70s 80s lived in constant fear of nuclear war. For those lucky enough to think about their future. Remember a lot of kids are living in survival mode all around the globe.

The media is too blame IMO. Yes things are grim, but it's 24/7 bad news - this is not reality. Bad things happen, but also good things.

 

[CatAssTrophy]

I can understand how easy it is to say "this isn't new, kids always want high paying fame careers" but I think the difference nowadays is that kids are being preyed on by other people (as already mentioned earlier in the thread, esp the SEPW video) and they're completely forgoing college and any kind of work at all so they can skip straight to winning the influencer/streamer lottery and being among the .01% that actually make enough to live off of- much less be millionaires. I can't tell you how many times people I know IRL have told me about situations exactly like this that they've experience first or second hang in their families. It's like the "son living in the basement" thing but dialed up to 11.

All the while, they are being starved of real world skills that they will need to survive on their own as adults in this neoliberal hellscape, and no one is doing anything to help them aside from sensationalist "nobody wants to work anymore" articles and news pieces, and yelling at them to get a job. It's obviously not working, and as others have already mentioned, it means they are being funneled into being the product for big tech, and ignorant little capitalism sheep.

So again, it's fine to let kids be kids, but that doesn't mean we should turn a blind eye to the potential for them to be victims and preyed on by capitalism.

 

[Seesaw15]

People always say stuff like this, but when we were 17/18 nobody thought they are going to be rich and famous and work some magical job.

Literally everyone in class had some grounded idea of what they want to do.
There was no astronaut, race car driver, famous actress, etc.

We are talking high school here, guys, not 12 year olds.

I don't know if this is a different culture based on geographic location, but honestly such stuff is concerning to me coming from almost adults who should know better by then how the world works.

Click to shrink...

Unless you went to a high school with a graduating class size of like 12 I guarantee someone had a non-grounded ambition at 17/18. Whether they felt comfortable telling you/ a teacher is a different story.

There is always a kid that thinks they are going to be a model, actor, musician,artist, athlete, etc.

Cost of living continues to rise and wages are stagnant. If you go to college there's no guarantee you'll leave debt free with a career. Even if you do the idea of home ownership is out of reach for most of the working class. Most people can't afford to live in any major city without a ton of roommates. How the world works if pretty awful and broken. If a handful of kids (OP isn't describing 90% of high school seniors becoming tiktokers) want to gamble on some get rich quick scheme I legit can't blame them.

 

[hiredhand]

I don't think wanting to be an influencer/youtuber is exactly the same as wanting to be an athlete, actor, musician or singer. All those other professions have a set skill you need to learn to master. There are also schools and programs were you can train those skills. It is immediately obvious even to teenagers that if you want to become a professional athlete or guitar player you need do a lot of work to achieve that goal. This is not immediately obvious when it comes to youtubers/influencers and the path from a guy in basement to a successful influencer is a lot more hazy than a path from an amateur actor to a professional one.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

back in my day they wanted to be part of a famous band

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We were gonna be like Mike

 

[SteveWinwood]

We were gonna be like Mike

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or even like mike 2: streetball

 

[psionotic]

So maybe it was depressing to them from just the perspective of having to think about things, idk!

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Thanks, I think this is probably accurate. :)

 

[Shig]

There seems to be a distinct pull-back from millennial/Gen X parents when it comes to urging their kids to pick up a part-time job while they're in HS. I don't think it's coming from a bad place, they almost assuredly feel like they're doing their kids a favor by not hoisting more work on them on top of schooling, but I feel like it's having some unintended consequences with regards to simply establishing a baseline expectation for what having a job is like, and broadening the spectrum of people they have social interactions with out from just a bubble of other HS kids.

 

[Jeffapp]

is it really that different from kids thinking theyll join the nfl/nba, be a top model, professsional singer/rapper, etc.?

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Or be video game developers in the late 90's.

 

[Zaphod]

I know. Teenagers before tiktok were so practical.

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Nobody my age wanted to be rock stars, models, or actors. We were all responsible.

/s

 

[THE210]

Most of my friends thought they'd be rappers , athletes, big time drug dealers or dead when I was a teenager. Most people get their reality check at some point.