5 Things Boomers Were Expected To Do As Kids That Nobody Teaches Anymore, According To Experts
Some believe how they were raised wired their brains differently.
Getty Images | Unsplash According to popular discourse, Boomers did too much, Gen-X did nothing, Millennials didn't do enough, and everyone younger does things way too differently. Comparing the generations often leads to division in the name of better understanding. We end in concentric circles and point fingers at each other with tear-stained cheeks.
Yet what makes humans incredible is the ability to change, adapt, advance, and grow as collectives and societies. Our differences are our benefit, and our diversity promotes survival, as shown by a Johns Hopkins University study. When generations explore their core truths, struggles, basic needs, and shared emotions, it binds us in a harmonic dance of mutual dependence and benefit.
Experts discuss 5 things Boomers were expected to do as kids that nobody teaches anymore:
1. Boomers were expected to entertain themselves, even when they were bored
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Psychologist Rachel Needle points out one thing Baby Boomers were expected to do as kids, but that’s far less common today is entertain themselves without adult guidance or constant supervision. Boredom was seen as a catalyst for creativity, not a problem to be solved.
Many Boomers grew up with the unspoken expectation that they should ‘go outside and figure it out.’ Today’s children often have more structured schedules, screens, and adult involvement in play. While there are benefits to both approaches, we’ve lost some of the opportunities for kids to build independence, resilience, and imagination through unstructured time.
2. Boomers learned life skills just by helping their parents
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Learning essential life skills by watching and doing alongside parents is something Dr. Gloria Brame acknowledges as a trait of Boomers when they were growing up. Dr. Brame spent almost every weekend helping her mother shop for food, prep meals, clean the house, and wash and iron clothes. Her father often recruited her to help him make minor repairs or hand-wash the car.
To this day, she thinks of her father when repairing a drain or installing a bookshelf! The experience of working side-by-side with her parents made her feel like a more important part of the family. If they said she did a good job, it made her even happier. These weren't special lessons - they were typical, built-in life lessons for Boomers.
Today's kids often rely more on Google and YouTube, but there's no substitute for parents teaching and praising efforts. It lifts you, creates a special bond, and gives you confidence that you can handle life's practical challenges!
3. Boomers were taught to address adults as Mr. or Mrs.
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Life coach Ellen Kamaras says setting and respecting boundaries is a critical parenting skill, and creating a boundary of respect as regards the adults in a child's life was a way parents taught their boomer children about boundaries.
In this regard, Moms and Dads could use a reminder to give each other physical space for their respective jobs and space and time to practice self-care. Avoid putting your phone on speaker and use your headsets for meetings. Mom may need time to call a good friend, go for a walk by herself, or put her feet up. Dad may want to do financial planning or watch a favorite show.
Respectfully, boundaries for Boomers often began by using honorific titles.
4. Boomers were expected to write things by hand
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As Boomers grew up, Life Coach Sidhharrth S Kumaar explains how people wrote thank-you cards, letters to pen pals, and updates to family members on paper, sealed them up, and sent them.
A 2018 analysis of the brain systems involved with producing letters by hand found "writing individual letters by hand is an example of a complex visual-motor behavior composed of numerous behavioral components." Writing, by hand with a pen on paper, creates different neural connections and activity than typing or swiping. This is part of the justification behind phrases like "They are just wired differently."
5. Boomers were instructed to wait patiently without entertainment
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The era the Boomers were kids in was starkly different than the techno-driven busyness culture of today. Boomers as kids waited in the doctor's office, the grocery store, or the backseat of a car patiently, adds coach Kumaar.
Maybe times were slower, or maybe repercussions of being impatient were harsher. A 2007 study of the patience levels of 5 to 16-year-old children found no reliably consistent variables to a child's ability to wait patiently other than the age of the child. S, patience appears to be a factor of development and socialization, and the Boomers' ability to wait is a product of the time they grew up.
Boomers were taught to wait without entertainment, but Gen-Z learned how to make entertainment while waiting for the Pandemic to pass. It doesn't mean we can't all appreciate the ways we find to keep ourselves occupied.
Boomers were taught to handwrite that thank you note, but Millennials learned how to make a thank you into a viral flash mob moment involving the thanked and complete strangers as well. It doesn't mean I wouldn't love a handwritten thank-you note in my mailbox from a boomer friend just as much.
Boomers were taught to use the honorific is addressing elders always, but younger generations saw the classism underlying the civility, and yet it doesn't mean we should abandon the honorific for the informal and disregard respect as a basic human need.
Boomers learned life skills by watching and doing along with their parents. Kids these days learn life skills the same way. Kids learn through observation, whether the ones they observe are aware of the fact or not. The vertical video is a powerful teaching tool, and parental praise can come with a demonstration of a new skill.
Boomers learned boredom wasn't a problem but an opportunity for creativity, just as we all yearn to be actively engaged in mentally stimulating activities. Often, finding a creative way to get ourselves out of bed is a serious problem-solving task, and people from all generations can appreciate that.
Will Curtis is YourTango's expert editor. Will has over 14 years of experience as an editor covering relationships, spirituality, and human interest topics.
