Have we turned our children into wimps?

[manimal]

Bitch, don't be leaving out important details. Which sweep? Sit-up, hip bump, flower, scissors, or what?

And triplets? I do not know where you find the energy to type with 3 5yr olds to keep pace with.

And it's action figures, not dolls.

sorry bro!

It was a hip bump and I was hoping he would continue to a triangle but were not there yet. Ive taught them a bunch on their own and just horsing around since they were two and it amazes me that pull out crap in training thats three belts above them. Their instuctors keep shaking their heads and I got scolded by an instructor early but hey figured out they were just awesome early on.


When it comes to energy chasing them around I do tai chi and chi gung daily and I have a training group that mixes in knives, sticks and a bunch of other weapons every week. I am currently learning a couple of Dao sword routines I can teach them. My son really likes the staff but I keep that as a motivator to get him to do the other stuff. If they train the other stuff they get rewarded with weapon work.

Cool thing happened last week one of them woke up early and when i came into their room to get them ready for school she was practicing her horse stance. I was so proud.

 

[phucheneh]

a 1/4 acre isn't much. Unless i'm not thinking correctly, you should be able to do that in no time. I own an acre of land and I think about at least half of it is grass. I mow that in about an hour with a push mower and I'm a fat lazy fuck.

edit: found this photo of a 1/4 acre lot - http://www.sunnyland.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/image005.gif
What the fuck are you doing if that takes you an hour to 1.5 hours to push mow? Unless you're maybe you're using this: https://reelmowerrally.files.wordpress.com/2013/07/p1050360.jpg

from about 12 to 15 or so I mowed lawns every summer. at one point I think I was mowing 5 lawns a week or every other week. Some were fairly small, like small town lots and 1 was a multi-acre property that my dad and I mowed (sometimes sister would help out). Dad ran the riding mower and I ran the push mower. They paid us $40 that we split.

The smaller lots paid about $5-10 each visit.

Given that someone else posted that a 1/4 acre is 10,000sqft, which I believe is correct...that lot really does not look like 100ft in either dimension. Maybe its depth is a bit deceiving?

If you subtract the size of the house, shrubs/planters, and driveway, you'd probably get down to maybe 6000-7000sqft, at most, though. Figuring in 100ft strips, maybe 1.5 feet at a time (don't be that goddamn lazy kid who leaves slivers of grass still standing...put some overlap in there, fatty!)...hmm, yeah, that's really not bad at all, is it?

Call it 15-20 paces a strip times 40 strips in the front, plus the same amount in the back. That can't take much longer than an hour.

I don't think anything would change if he mowed in squares, other than the fact that I would beat him with my cane for that lazy shit. BACK AND FORTH, FATTY!

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

I think kids (and, many adults) are wimps today. Not because of a lack of physical activity or work ethic but, because of a disconnect from reality. 'Youts' are unable/unwilling to see any difference between social networking and personal relationships. It's seemingly easier to bring up a weather app than look out the window. There are no checks and balances between the attitudes and perspectives of your peers and posters on FaceBook versus the people actually involved in a particular event. In short, there is no app for doing a "reality check."

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Good stuff. Sounds like they caught the bug.

My 14yr old, well, it is like pulling teeth getting him to train now. He does S&C, but has no interest in martial arts or combat sports right now. Surfing and skateboarding are more his bag I guess.

I have messed with kobudo on and off over the decades, but cannot seem to get into it. Hardly even do karate anymore. BJJ and kickboxing are about all that get me going now.

But on topic: I read the DoD declared the terrible conditioning of our kids a national security issues it is so bad. So, OP does have a point. Battlefield robots may be more need than want, at some point.

 

[Maximilian]

Haha. That was actually fun?

Apparently :| Its made to look fun in the pictures but ill bet they tied the smallest kid to the pole and left him there when they got fed up running in circles around the thing.

 

[Ronstang]

Sounds like sour grapes to me.
Lets face it.
If you had iPhone, and xBox back in the 50's, 60's, 70's or even 80's, and if your parent asked you to go out and shovel snow, you'd reply as kids of today reply.
"Go Fuck Yourself, mom. I'm on level 15".
Any more questions? I didn't think so.

Sadly you seem to be the same idiot regardless of topic. If i would have talked that way to my parents my dad would have knocked me through a wall....deservedly so. Back in the day people had values, principles, morals, and a sense of pride. You liberals have pretty much destroyed those in the younger generations. When I was a kid I had tons of hobbies that could keep me locked in my room or garage indefinitely....but I also had a strong work ethic thanks to my PARENTS...and I did all kinds of work around the neighborhood to make money...cutting lawns, building fences, pouring driveways....just about anything people would pay me to do. This all while holding down traditional jobs at the same time. It's no accident that the most successful young people I know who are also still married to their first wives/husbands ten years later were all brought up by conservative parents.

 

[feralkid]

Sadly you seem to be the same idiot regardless of topic. If i would have talked that way to my parents my dad would have knocked me through a wall....deservedly so. Back in the day people had values, principles, morals, and a sense of pride. You liberals have pretty much destroyed those in the younger generations. When I was a kid I had tons of hobbies that could keep me locked in my room or garage indefinitely....but I also had a strong work ethic thanks to my PARENTS...and I did all kinds of work around the neighborhood to make money...cutting lawns, building fences, pouring driveways....just about anything people would pay me to do. This all while holding down traditional jobs at the same time. It's no accident that the most successful young people I know who are also still married to their first wives/husbands ten years later were all brought up by conservative parents.

 

[Mixolydian]

Sadly you seem to be the same idiot regardless of topic. If i would have talked that way to my parents my dad would have knocked me through a wall....deservedly so. Back in the day people had values, principles, morals, and a sense of pride. You liberals have pretty much destroyed those in the younger generations. When I was a kid I had tons of hobbies that could keep me locked in my room or garage indefinitely....but I also had a strong work ethic thanks to my PARENTS...and I did all kinds of work around the neighborhood to make money...cutting lawns, building fences, pouring driveways....just about anything people would pay me to do. This all while holding down traditional jobs at the same time. It's no accident that the most successful young people I know who are also still married to their first wives/husbands ten years later were all brought up by conservative parents.

Well this thread certainly brought out the idiot nutjobs.

 

[DrPizza]

So 100'x100', or 34 paces by 34 paces; about an hour of work. How much should stupid work pay? $20 an hour tax free is good money unless you expect to be paid like an engineer for doing a mule's work.

Not many kids have "pace" wide lawnmowers. Go to Lowe's site and search for lawnmower blades. Even though wheel to wheel, they might be 24 inches wide or a little wider, one of the more common blade lengths is 21 inches. With a 3" overlap, you're getting 18" each time you walk back and forth. So, at 104 feet by 104 feet square lot, you're walking over 7000 feet. I don't normally see people pushing a lawnmower at a brisk walking pace; and including turning at the ends, it's easily an hour's worth of work. If you compare the buying power of what kids got paid to mow 30 years ago with the buying power today, (rather than using minimum wage as a reference), $20 is a hell of a bargain for that much mowing. Under a "you provide the lawn mowing equipment, and you provide the gasoline, and you maintain (change the oil, clean the air filter) your equipment, and I'm paying you minimum wage" - not surprised it's hard to find kids to do it.

I'll also point out that it was stated to mow 1/4 acre, not to mow the lawn on a 1 acre lot that contains a house and driveway. With a 1000 square foot house, 500 square foot garage, 500 square foot driveway, 5 feet wide landscaping around the house (20x50 house goes to 30x60 footprint), deck, etc., the lawn is reduced pretty significantly.

 

[MongGrel]

Sadly you seem to be the same idiot regardless of topic. If i would have talked that way to my parents my dad would have knocked me through a wall....deservedly so. Back in the day people had values, principles, morals, and a sense of pride. You liberals have pretty much destroyed those in the younger generations. When I was a kid I had tons of hobbies that could keep me locked in my room or garage indefinitely....but I also had a strong work ethic thanks to my PARENTS...and I did all kinds of work around the neighborhood to make money...cutting lawns, building fences, pouring driveways....just about anything people would pay me to do. This all while holding down traditional jobs at the same time. It's no accident that the most successful young people I know who are also still married to their first wives/husbands ten years later were all brought up by conservative parents.

I was with you up to the point you started the liberal vs conservative BS.

My mother was very liberal, and still believed in the morals, values, principles, and sense of pride you seem to attribute to one area.

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

I had a talk with my friend the other day and we were talking about the fact that we don't see teenagers out anymore shoveling snow for money. The same is true for cutting lawns. It also didn't matter if it was -20 degrees. We would be out playing football. In the soaring heat we would be playing dodge ball or baseball. We would even put up a milk crate and play basketball.

Now? I never see young people outside. I might see a few skateboarders out but that's about it. I know every generation goes thru changes, but it seems that these changes aren't good. By shoveling snow and cutting lawns at a young age you develop a work ethic. You understand the value of hard work. What are you developing by watching Let's Play videos and Twitch streams for hours on end? What are these kids developing by hanging out on social media all day? I get that the younger generation are exposed to technology which can be a good thing. But only if it's limited.

I think the blame needs to be put on the parents. They mean well but the negatives far out weigh the positives. By having your child stay home they aren't taking risk. By playing it safe they are going to get crushed in the real world, because real life doesn't care if you are a special or not. Real life takes no prisoners.

My doing chores when I was a kid did not instill any such "virtues" in me. What it taught me was that there are easier ways to get money, such as taking it from someone's wallet.

 

[Gardener]

Given that someone else posted that a 1/4 acre is 10,000sqft, which I believe is correct...that lot really does not look like 100ft in either dimension. Maybe its depth is a bit deceiving?

If you subtract the size of the house, shrubs/planters, and driveway, you'd probably get down to maybe 6000-7000sqft, at most, though. Figuring in 100ft strips, maybe 1.5 feet at a time (don't be that goddamn lazy kid who leaves slivers of grass still standing...put some overlap in there, fatty!)...hmm, yeah, that's really not bad at all, is it?

Call it 15-20 paces a strip times 40 strips in the front, plus the same amount in the back. That can't take much longer than an hour.

I don't think anything would change if he mowed in squares, other than the fact that I would beat him with my cane for that lazy shit. BACK AND FORTH, FATTY!

You originally compared $20 for a kid, versus hiring a professional service for $40. I asked for pics because I'd like you to see what a professional job looks like with clean lines, appropriate cutting height, edging, weedeating, and cleaning up hardscapes and curbs.

The mow and blow crews get a lot of disrespect, but they really do amazing work for reasonable prices. I've worked in the residential landscape business for 20 years.

And a quarter acre is too much to push mow on any sort of a route. Minimally you would need a walk behind, which bumps up the cost basis. (Sorry for taking you into the tall grass on this one, silly on my part, and I am all for helping young people learn skills.)

 

[Imported]

Now days if a kid tries to make money shovelling driveways or mowing lawns they get charged for running an unlicensed business. Good luck trying to run a lemonade stand, now you're getting into food safety regulations too. May as well get caught trying to sell weed. Pretty sad the bureaucracy and oppression these days, even towards kids.

If they want to have fun and go tobogganing instead? They're starting to ban that too in lot of places.

Snow storm and want to go build a snow man or snow fort? The government might shut down the whole city and make it illegal to be outside.

No wonder kids just play with their phones now days. Anything else might be illegal, and with enough cop brutality videos out there to show what happens when you do something illegal they rather not take any chances.

Children have been turned into wimps thanks to the government... and really, they probably did on purpose. Wimps are less likely to fight back against more oppression as they get older.

Some lady tried to threaten me with that when I was a kid.. 20 something years ago. Was trying to mow lawns and sell rocks/seashells.

 

[FelixDeCat]

Hello, and welcome to the hot topic of 1995.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

She was just threatened by your forward fashion sense

 

[chubbyfatazn]

Meh. I'm from the early camp of Generation Y kids, and while I do believe we've generally been "softied" up as a whole, part of the reason is due to the parents' parenting style. Sounds obvious.

You don't instill a strong work ethic or responsibility in someone by just making them do chores lest you kick his ass. My parents were far more effective with me by tying those actions to the the pride and respect you should have for your family and home. In an age of electronics and instant gratification it's hard to argue with the satisfaction of playing a game versus the "satisfaction" of doing chores, but I had no issues with setting down my games and doing "my" chores without being told to once I realised it was more than just "you gotta do what you gotta do." I never got paid for the hundreds of times I mowed the lawn or painted the fence or washed the cars or whatever, and it didn't and still doesn't bother me at all.

It's a somewhat narrowminded example, and it needs a cohesive family unit (no latchkey kids or deadbeat dads), but it set the stage for me pretty well once I left home. Maybe I'm still too young to be commenting in this thread, but I think I came out pretty decent.

Also ^^ lol at somehow making this a left vs right thing. Sorry that your head is stuck so far up your ass that you can't see the question isn't one that necessarily falls along party lines.

Sidenote: on a 0.14 acre (6100 sqft) lot with a 2600 sqft house, it takes me about 50 minutes to completely mow, trim, and edge. Shit's hard work when it's 100F+ outside and your house sits on a small hill.

 

[Murloc]

I admit belonging to the first part of that generation but I still did chores like sweeping leaves and garden stuff.

I just wasn't poor enough to feel the need to do actual summer work. I never felt the need for money to spend either though, I wasn't and still am not a big spender unlike most people.

It's no accident that the most successful young people I know who are also still married to their first wives/husbands ten years later were all brought up by conservative parents.

maybe because your social network is made up by conservatives too?
Political segregation is real.

 

[phucheneh]

You originally compared $20 for a kid, versus hiring a professional service for $40. I asked for pics because I'd like you to see what a professional job looks like with clean lines, appropriate cutting height, edging, weedeating, and cleaning up hardscapes and curbs.

The mow and blow crews get a lot of disrespect, but they really do amazing work for reasonable prices. I've worked in the residential landscape business for 20 years.

And a quarter acre is too much to push mow on any sort of a route. Minimally you would need a walk behind, which bumps up the cost basis. (Sorry for taking you into the tall grass on this one, silly on my part, and I am all for helping young people learn skills.)

I'm not offended or anything. I thought you were just saying that a 1/4 acre lot was too huge an amount for a kid with a pushmower...or cheap self-propelled, which (in my non-professional experience) doesn't offer much relief.

I don't disagree about the difference. I was just observing that ten or fifteen years ago, a kid was happy to make 20 bucks (less a buck or two in gasoline) for an hour's work, but then they started disappearing in favor or adults running small, often still-illegitimate businesses for twice the price or more. You still had to worry about them blowing grass everywhere, marring trees and plants with weadeaters, ect.

For true professionals, the prices I've seen go up even farther- but yes, the end result is definitely that much better. For a lot of people, though, all they really want is to keep the height of their grass (and weeds, 'cause I'm talking about lawns that receive no special attention with regard to weeding, seeding, watering, ect) under control.

 

[ThinClient]

We don't pay teenagers to shovel snow of perform other types of manual labor because:

1) Mexicans are cheaper.
2) Teenagers are in school.

How did this not get flagged and slammed for racism? ()

 

[Deeko]

Why do people keep spouting nonsense like "because kids today have PS4 and iPhones duh"? Did you even think before saying that? The last generation had game boys and super nintendos. The generation before that had Atari and cable TV access. Let's not act like the current generation of children is the first to have some sort of amazing high technology that keeps them inside.

 

[Maximilian]

Why do people keep spouting nonsense like "because kids today have PS4 and iPhones duh"? Did you even think before saying that? The last generation had game boys and super nintendos. The generation before that had Atari and cable TV access. Let's not act like the current generation of children is the first to have some sort of amazing high technology that keeps them inside.

Yeah but those last generation things were a bit shit... I mean not at the time but its not like anyone got hooked on atari like people get hooked on MMO's

Mega drive/Genesis was my childhood console and I still went outside plenty because I got bored with it after a while. Multiplayer changes the game significantly, it takes much longer to get bored playing with/against other people and games have more depth.

 

[HeXen]

Many kids today just flat out refuse to work for money. Shoveling and mowing lawns is fucking gravy. However they often have enough entertainment that prevents enough desire to want more bad enough to work for it. I mean a cell phone is constant entertainment to many, so why push something you'll get for xmas anyway.

Every generations appears softer than the previous. There was a time when kids never had time to play, they worked as hard as mom and dad did after school.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Why do people keep spouting nonsense like "because kids today have PS4 and iPhones duh"? Did you even think before saying that? The last generation had game boys and super nintendos. The generation before that had Atari and cable TV access. Let's not act like the current generation of children is the first to have some sort of amazing high technology that keeps them inside.

And those parents said the EXACT SAME SHIT about the kids who played that crap.

Same as when the TV came out, before that radio, before that comic books, before that pulp fiction novels, again and again and again.

Every single generation will find something dumb to gripe about with the new generation.

 

[phucheneh]

How did this not get flagged and slammed for racism? ()

Because it was about Mexicans.

Racism can only be against black people. Everyone knows this.

 

[Azraele]

These kids tried to shovel for neighbors and got shut down because they didn't have a permit.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/cops-shutdown-high-school-kids-earn-money-shoveling-snow/