Moms Talk: How Things Have Changed

Each week the Mentor Patch Moms Council answers a question posed to them by readers or another member of council.

This week's question: I know we often here statements like "Things aren't what they used to be" or "Kids these days are so much worse than back when I was young."

However, I'm curious what your perspective is. Is parenting actually tougher now than it was when you were kids?

Melanie Majikas:

I am not one of those people who over-idealizes our childhoods or who thinks that kids are not as safe today as they were when we were growing up.

I think what has changed since we were kids, and therefore given us different challenges as parents, is the explosion of the Internet and technology that we didn't have, which makes interpersonal relations more challenging.

It is hard to help kids navigate that world, not just in terms of using the Internet/technology and trying to figure out how much is too much, but helping kids to realize that it's as important to learn how to have face to face conversations with people.

Mary Jo Stack:

I was just thinking about this the other night. I have the perspective of having a 36 year old, and now a 16 and 17 year old. Tougher? Not necessarily. Different, yes.

The other night I told my son not to be out too late. With my eldest, I would have sat a worried all night wondering where he was and when he would be home. With my younger son, a simple text allowed me to be in contact with him.

As for kids being much worse today, I don't find that the case at all. I am amazed daily by the wonderful kids my children hang out with. Could it be that we were the rebels and now know our children will not be able to pull anything on us that we didn't already do?

Aside from technology that Melanie mentioned, I think our biggest obstacle is that we have become a fenced in backyard neighborhood instead of the front porch neighborhood that we used to be.