Is it terribly depressing to be a low or middle class teen during the summer?

[Anonymous]

My teen boys just played 2 hours of pick up soccer in the rain. Reading now...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think OP makes a good point

Social media makes a lot of kids depressed

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2017/09/has-the-smartphone-destroyed-a-generation/534198/

+1 Sadly, this is our kids' lives. So much has changed in the last 10 years.

[Anonymous]

Live right, vote left.

[Anonymous]

The summer before senior year, some of the kids I went to high school with went away to summer programs at Ivy League schools (Harvard, Cornell, etc.). Is this still a thing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you believe that people care more than they actually do. Kids are busy having their own fun not moping around about your summer or whatever $$$$ trip you are taking.

This. I grew up UMC (by DCUM standards...in reality, we were rich -- mom stayed home, dad a biglaw partner, house in a W-school cluster), but my parents didn't like international travel, so our vacations were always road trips to ballparks/amusement parts within a few surrounding states. It wasn't until I was much older, like into my 20s, that it occurred to me that people might find our vacations "low class" and "trashy." It never even occurred to me that our vacation was less interesting or exciting than the international jaunts my friends were taking.

I think the difference is you weren't tortured by snapchat & instagram like my teen. She has FOMO all the time and social media makes it worse. She can't disengage from it because that's how all her friends communicate.

Exactly. I had no idea what my classmates were up to during the summer, but my kids know just how many fabulous trips their friends and classmates are on.

My teen DS just rolls his eyes at it, but my tween DD is affected. She doesn't understand why we aren't constantly on vacation or running around seemingly every night going to festivals, carnivals, fireworks, etc.

It's the same at winter break. Besides the trips skiing or to the islands, my kids are seeing photos of mounds and mounds of Christmas gifts surrounding a tree and then photos of the fabulous gifts these kids are getting. Our Christmas is much more modest and I've told my kids that I don't want to see them posting anything that shows off gifts.

I was a lower middle class student at a private school in the 80s pre-social media. My friends and I were well aware of all the expensive presents bought during Christmas and bragged about in school, and all the trips over the summer, also talked about in school the next year. The difference is the kids now can see it in real time. It would have been a whole lot easier in public school with more kids at my income level.

I would think now, if you don't go to school with kids so much richer, it would not be as depressing. But if you do, you know exactly how much you may be missing out on.

I can't stress this enough: EXACTLY what you're missing out on. It's 24/7 pictures & video clips - nothing is left to the imagination anymore.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The summer before senior year, some of the kids I went to high school with went away to summer programs at Ivy League schools (Harvard, Cornell, etc.). Is this still a thing?

Yeah, those are still big with rising 10th thru rising 12th graders. On top of those (which are $10K each), you have expensive concert festivals, summering at multi-million dollar family beach houses, lounging at the pool at your parents multi-million dollar house, lounging at the country club, and more exotic Euro trips (Greece, Spain, Italy, London, Paris). These are 14-17 yo kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The summer before senior year, some of the kids I went to high school with went away to summer programs at Ivy League schools (Harvard, Cornell, etc.). Is this still a thing?

Kids now a days have to start going to a camp at an Ivy League before 9th grade in order to feel like they even have a shot at admission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There's zero mystery about whether a teen is having a fun and exotic ($$$$$) summer... or a boring low or middle class tier summer. It's not just periodic facebook (rarely used by teens) or instagram updates, it's a constant stream of video clips of teens' lives via snapchat and instagram stories shoved into each teen's face all day, every day.

I feel like even five years ago teens were sort of oblivious to how wealthy peers spent their leisure time - now there's nothing left to the imagination. It's like a full on socioeconomic assault. It has to be a source of summer depression, right? Separately, but related, there's now no way for kids not to see when they're not invited to a party or whatever it may be. Brutal.

I agree. Much like Facebook, Instagram have let us know what is going on in old classmates life — no catching up about last 10, 15 years but rather about last week.

And FOMO is real so yes I imagine some 13 year-old sitting indoors all day babysitting siblings wishes she could be at the lake

Agree. I hate the pressure to post selfies and gps check-ins from all over. That said, many families are visiting relatives over summer. And the segment of society that is high flying will always be there so your kid will have to learn to ignore, deal with it, or just laugh at them. I know I certainly did in ugrad, jobs, and grad school, and now. Nothing like the 40-somethings slumming it up on the Hamptons still.