I’d hate to be a teenager on twitter

I grew up in a simpler age- we didn’t have home computers – in fact, my earliest job in computing was when three towns got together and bought “a computer” between them.  Days of punched paper tape and card readers (check out the history books)

We didn’t have mobile phones – had to remember to carry coins to be able to use public phone boxes in case of emergency.

There was no internet, no facebook, no twitter , no iphones - probably sounds like the dark ages to kids nowadays,but we also had a lot less pressure.

Of course, lots of things about being a teen haven’t changed – there were always the cooler kids at school that everyone wanted to be friends with, and the oddballs who everyone avoided.  And, although maybe a bit more innocent, our earliest attempts at boy girl stuff were probably just as painful as nowadays.

But at least we could do it in private.

If you had a bad day at school and fell out with your best mate or some guy dumped you, at least you could go home and lick your wounds and hideaway until you wanted to face the world again.  If you went to a party you could enjoy yourself without worrying about the photos you’d be tagged in tomorrow.

 

Nowadays it seems, every little thing has to be shared with the world.  The pressure on kids to have the zaniest photos or the most friends on facebook, or the most followers on twitter is just crazy.  They seem unable to function without an iphone constantly in their hands.

Its not easy being a teen.  Just at a difficult time in their lives when they are still discovering who they are for themselves, it seems that they have to share every painful step along the way.

I wonder how many texts, posts or tweets are made in the heat of the moment, cause so much grief and are regretted later on?

I suppose the whole celebrity culture of being famous for not doing anything very much at all is behind a lot of it. 

I’m just so glad that I grew up in my simpler age – and as a bonus I got to live through England winning the World Cup and a new amazing group called the Beatles.  Happy Days