One hears lots of talk about the deficiencies of today’s young people: too coddled, too self-centered, too distractible, not focused enough for the challenges of an increasingly complex world. I strongly object! To my observation the young people of today are more aesthetically versatile, more technically savvy, more multi-culturally flexible, and more capable of filtering out unnecessary diversions than their counterparts from previous generations.

This is not to say that all young people are meeting high standards in these important human qualities or that the adults in their lives are teaching/parenting them in sensible ways.  On the contrary, much of the influence that children receive from adults is either undignified and/or unproductive.  Children should not be exposed to quite so much adult content, to be sure.  I’m not talking here about the R-rated movies that they’re probably watching at too young an age, but rather of the negotiations that often take place when adults are unwilling to assert themselves as decision-makers and authorities in kids’ lives.

Here’s where it gets interesting.  The paradox of today’s youth is that they have both benefitted and suffered from the bad example of contemporary adults.  Either from personal experience or from new media or from the inevitable cross-fertilization that occurs among peers, every child today knows what bad adult behavior looks like.  They talk about it freely; they grow to accept it even when they are confused about it; and yet they are learning some invaluable perspectives. Certainly they are learning that life can be disappointing and that adults are neither all-knowing nor infallible.

Does this mean that the deficiencies of today’s adults are actually a good thing, that the bad behavior to which children are exposed allows them to develop resilience and strength?  No, not really.  Of course it would be better if today’s children were exposed to more consistent adult behavior, more constructive political discourse, less emphasis on financial success, and more attention to social justice.  How distressing to imagine that for today’s children heroes may exist only in the world of fiction.  How distressing that their enthusiasms and natural aspirations might be overshadowed by cynicism and apathy.

But no matter: my thesis is that today’s children are learning to set even higher standards of belief than those of their predecessors.  Not only are they more informed, I believe that that they are possibly more naive as well. Although this is a seemingly contradictory claim, it nonetheless presents an interesting glimpse into the nature of today’s youth.  To the extent that they are well-informed about the exciting opportunities that adulthood holds for them, surely they are motivated to initiate a secure future.  However, unaware of the fundamental ways in which their childhoods are being shortchanged, they enter into that future both pure and surprisingly naive.

I welcome the idea that today’s children are empowered by their naivete.  We can expose them to too much adult content, but we cannot rob them of their dreams.

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