This is something I've noticed for years now, that teens usually acted very much "older" in the '90s and generally wanted to be taken more seriously - maybe why the more gritty, rebellious but still down to Earth and serious-toned Grunge music caught on the way it did. This wasn't just shown in movies and TV characters, but everyday life too (which of course, the media reflects). I always used to hear stories on the news about runaway kids leaving home and living in squats, sometimes even for the fun or adventure of it, or doing hard drugs, etc.

I thought this might've just been my own slanted perception of the times since I was younger than they were (naturally a 15-year old would've seemed bigger and adultlike to me when I was 9, lol). However, when I see TV footage from the early-mid '90s, I still get that same basic impression when comparing it to the more materalistic mid '00s party atmosphere.

P.S. I think younger kids stayed kids longer then, while the 14+ crowd of teens were adult-ish (9-13 year olds could go either way, depending on the person).

I think they definitely did, especially early to mid 90's teens, but late 80's teens fall into category as well. Teens back then were more sensible and responsible, they were more into making a difference, they were into meaning and feelings, and of course grunge culture had an impact but it wasn't as all pervasive as some make it seem, and it was only at its peak between late 91 until Kurt died in 94 (some say it was fading even before he passed)

I don't know, teens back then had fun but they were more subdued as well. In all, I feel they were more secure in themselves than the teens of the late 90's into now. Teens now seem dumber as a whole, they act "older", meaning they feel it is necessary to engage in absurdly promiscuous behavior at a very young age, as well as drinking and drugs.

They say there is too much pressure being put on them, but honestly I think it's a cop out. I think this might be a decade long rebellion on what they perceived as the sullen, boring, dourness of early 90's teens. They'd be wrong of course.

I honestly don't know what exactly triggered such an outbreak of hedonism and materialism, things weren't that repressive before. But it seems as if children being born from 1988 onward have become too wild.

I was born in 1988 and i'm not wild atall lol. Infact i'm the exact oposite


Alot of teens today are very mature it's just the odd minority that ruins it for the rest of us. So we're not all taking drugs and causing havoc in our towns lol

Pretty much, but not me....  ;D

I was born in 1988 and i'm not wild atall lol. Infact i'm the exact oposite


Alot of teens today are very mature it's just the odd minority that ruins it for the rest of us. So we're not all taking drugs and causing havoc in our towns lol




Yeah it's the same with me, 'cept I'm an '89er.  :)

I was born in 1988 and i'm not wild atall lol. Infact i'm the exact oposite


Alot of teens today are very mature it's just the odd minority that ruins it for the rest of us. So we're not all taking drugs and causing havoc in our towns lol




Yeah, the majority or sometimes even the minority often ruins it for people who aren't like that. This was a huge pet peeve of mine as a teen (i.e. being lumped in with others who weren't like me).

I was never wild at all, either. I always had some friends and was usually outgoing, but alot of the typical teen/party stuff never appealed to me. Although I shared the "wanting to be older" aspect with the core '90s teens who had like 3-5 years on me (I sorta rejected kid stuff from about 11 to 15).

Teens nowadays aren't that "wild". In fact it seems more calm now than it was back then. Some of the teachers in my high school said that there used to be huge riots that would constantly break out in school back in the 80's and 90's. Now everything seems to have died down and we even have this "peace" program where we're not supposed to crowd around a fight if one occurs (I know it sounds corny :-\\).

Teens nowadays aren't that "wild". In fact it seems more calm now than it was back then. Some of the teachers in my high school said that there used to be huge riots that would constantly break out in school back in the 80's and 90's. Now everything seems to have died down and we even have this "peace" program where we're not supposed to crowd around a fight if one occurs (I know it sounds corny :-\\).



wow, that seems hard to believe. I grew up in the 80's and early 90's...and to be honest with you...there wasn't that much trouble in school. Of course, you had your troublemakers...but it was usually the same "bad" crowd that caused the most problems. We didn't have things like gangs, school shootings, weekly drug busts, etc...that schools of today seem to have.

wow, that seems hard to believe. I grew up in the 80's and early 90's...and to be honest with you...there wasn't that much trouble in school. Of course, you had your troublemakers...but it was usually the same "bad" crowd that caused the most problems. We didn't have things like gangs, school shootings, weekly drug busts, etc...that schools of today seem to have.


I guess it depends on the area. The place I live in is considered the ghetto area so that probably contributed to the violence.

wow, that seems hard to believe. I grew up in the 80's and early 90's...and to be honest with you...there wasn't that much trouble in school. Of course, you had your troublemakers...but it was usually the same "bad" crowd that caused the most problems. We didn't have things like gangs, school shootings, weekly drug busts, etc...that schools of today seem to have.



I think that part of the reason that schools seem so much more violent today than they did in the '80s/'90s is because the media has increased it's coverage of school shootings, and school violence in general, dramatically since the Columbine shooting back in 1999. There was still alot of school violence back in the '80s and '90s it just didn't get the same mainstream media attention until after Columbine.

That being said though, I do agree that schools have become worse over the last 10 or so years in terms of violence, drugs, etc. I was in school for nearly every year in the '90s and a couple of years in the '00s, and I noticed this firsthand.

I think that part of the reason that schools seem so much more violent today than they did in the '80s/'90s is because the media has increased it's coverage of school shootings, and school violence in general, dramatically since the Columbine shooting back in 1999. There was still alot of school violence back in the '80s and '90s it just didn't get the same mainstream media attention until after Columbine.

That being said though, I do agree that schools have become worse over the last 10 or so years in terms of violence, drugs, etc. I was in school for nearly every year in the '90s and a couple of years in the '00s, and I noticed this firsthand.


Yeah, I noticed a change in this in high school too, especially after Columbine. I didn't start HS until Fall '96 (the very beginning of "late Nineties culture"), so most of the '90s I was either in Elementary or Junior High. I can't say as much for what the high school crowd was doing then, but from what I do remember, I get the impression there was still a "tough" environment (I did see this in Junior High a bit, actually), but it was more stuff like fistfights in the parking lot after school. Lots of that went on as far back as the 1950s.

Yeah, school shootings and increased security is definitely a 1998/'99+ thing.

Yeah, I noticed a change in this in high school too, especially after Columbine. I didn't start HS until Fall '96 (the very beginning of "late Nineties culture"), so most of the '90s I was either in Elementary or Junior High. I can't say as much for what the high school crowd was doing then, but from what I do remember, I get the impression there was still a "tough" environment (I did see this in Junior High a bit, actually), but it was more stuff like fistfights in the parking lot after school. Lots of that went on as far back as the 1950s.

Yeah, school shootings and increased security is definitely a 1998/'99+ thing.



I didn't start HS until 2001, so by the time I got there It had already been 2 years since Columbine, and security there was really tight.

I can still remember the way that the Columbine shooting changed school security very quickly around here. I was in the 7th grade back in 1999 when the shooting happened, and almost immediately after the shooting, my middle school started having security guards on campus, and at the start of the next school year, we had a metal detector installed. That was defidenlty a huge shock for me, since for all the years I had gone to school in the '90s up to that point, none of that stuff had really been necessary.

I think that part of the reason that schools seem so much more violent today than they did in the '80s/'90s is because the media has increased it's coverage of school shootings, and school violence in general, dramatically since the Columbine shooting back in 1999. There was still alot of school violence back in the '80s and '90s it just didn't get the same mainstream media attention until after Columbine.

That being said though, I do agree that schools have become worse over the last 10 or so years in terms of violence, drugs, etc. I was in school for nearly every year in the '90s and a couple of years in the '00s, and I noticed this firsthand.



maybe it was just the area I was from then...because I graduated in 1995, and I honestly don't remember any real violence happening during any of my school years.

I didn't start HS until 2001, so by the time I got there It had already been 2 years since Columbine, and security there was really tight.

I can still remember the way that the Columbine shooting changed school security very quickly around here. I was in the 7th grade back in 1999 when the shooting happened, and almost immediately after the shooting, my middle school started having security guards on campus, and at the start of the next school year, we had a metal detector installed. That was defidenlty a huge shock for me, since for all the years I had gone to school in the '90s up to that point, none of that stuff had really been necessary.

Yeah, I think most high schools got an overhaul due to Columbine as well as possibly 9/11 (which tightened security on pretty much everything). I was Class of 2000, and that very summer, my school got a big facelift and renovation. I was on campus the following year at off times to visit friends who were a year or two behind me, and even then I remember how foreign it felt. I can't remember if there were metal detectors yet, but there was increased security guards (they were around before when I was there too, but not as much).

BTW, I just thought about it and remembered I do have some vague secondhand knowledge of high school life in the core '90s. See, the school bus I rode in late Elementary School made a stop at one of the high schools along its route, so some of them rode the bus with us. I got to be sorta friendly with them, but at first I remembered being a little taken aback (I was 11 and they were around 15 or 16) in the sense of Geez, I better not piss them off, lol. ;)

Actually the girls were probably wilder than the guys. This one 15-year old chick I remember being kinda loud, and would sometimes mention about how she told one of the teachers to F-off, and didn't like being told what to do, etc. The guys were more laid back and stuff based on my memory.

maybe it was just the area I was from then...because I graduated in 1995, and I honestly don't remember any real violence happening during any of my school years.



Actually, its the same way here too. I went to school in a small town, and fortunately we never had any violence here during any of the years that I attended school. Alot of the school violence seems to occur in schools in bigger cities, thats not to say that it never happens in small towns either though.

Yeah, I think most high schools got an overhaul due to Columbine as well as possibly 9/11 (which tightened security on pretty much everything). I was Class of 2000, and that very summer, my school got a big facelift and renovation. I was on campus the following year at off times to visit friends who were a year or two behind me, and even then I remember how foreign it felt. I can't remember if there were metal detectors yet, but there was increased security guards (they were around before when I was there too, but not as much).

BTW, I just thought about it and remembered I do have some vague secondhand knowledge of high school life in the core '90s. See, the school bus I rode in late Elementary School made a stop at one of the high schools along its route, so some of them rode the bus with us. I got to be sorta friendly with them, but at first I remembered being a little taken aback (I was 11 and they were around 15 or 16) in the sense of Geez, I better not piss them off, lol. ;)

Actually the girls were probably wilder than the guys. This one 15-year old chick I remember being kinda loud, and would sometimes mention about how she told one of the teachers to F-off, and didn't like being told what to do, etc. The guys were more laid back and stuff based on my memory.



Yeah, when I was still in elementary school back in 1992/'93, I had a couple of cousins who were like 16 or 17, and they were actually pretty cool guys, from what I remember of them anyway. In some ways they seemed quite a bit cooler than alot of the people I was in high school with.

And yeah, Columbine did change alot, not just in terms of school security, but also how the rules were enforced. I remember back in like 1995 somebody I knew brought a knife to school with him and got caught, and the only thing that happened was his knife got taken up. Now, if that had been about 4 or 5 years later, he probably would've gotten suspended for a good while.

Yeah, when I was still in elementary school back in 1992/'93, I had a couple of cousins who were like 16 or 17, and they were actually pretty cool guys, from what I remember of them anyway. In some ways they seemed quite a bit cooler than alot of the people I was in high school with.

And yeah, Columbine did change alot, not just in terms of school security, but also how the rules were enforced. I remember back in like 1995 somebody I knew brought a knife to school with him and got caught, and the only thing that happened was his knife got taken up. Now, if that had been about 4 or 5 years later, he probably would've gotten suspended for a good while.

I think when you're not part of an age group, it seems better in a way, since you're not subjected to the pressures of it and expected to be "one of them". But, I do believe the typical teen guy of the early '90s was pretty laid back. I think I was more taken aback by the girls - if you're attracted to them, combined with the intimidation of them having 4-5 years on you, that can make any attempt at interaction hard, lol.

Knives are scary, albeit not as much as guns or a bomb. It's hard to believe they just let him go only with taking it away (did he have it for self defense?). That really makes a case for the '90s seeming innocent from a 2007 perspective.

I think when you're not part of an age group, it seems better in a way, since you're not subjected to the pressures of it and expected to be "one of them". But, I do believe the typical teen guy of the early '90s was pretty laid back. I think I was more taken aback by the girls - if you're attracted to them, combined with the intimidation of them having 4-5 years on you, that can make any attempt at interaction hard, lol.

Knives are scary, albeit not as much as guns or a bomb. It's hard to believe they just let him go only with taking it away (did he have it for self defense?). That really makes a case for the '90s seeming innocent from a 2007 perspective.



Yeah, I think that schools in the '90s did have a certain innocence compared to now, at least up until 1999. That was back before zero tolerance, so in those days you only got in huge trouble for using a weapon at school, not so much just bringing one to school. It was a pocketknife so he may have just forgot that he had it on him, but today it wouldn't matter if it was a mistake or not, he would've still gotten in big trouble.

I know what you mean about the older girls too. When I first started HS, I would get really nervous around the girls that were seniors, since they were like 3 or 4 years older than me.

Teens nowadays aren't that "wild". In fact it seems more calm now than it was back then. Some of the teachers in my high school said that there used to be huge riots that would constantly break out in school back in the 80's and 90's. Now everything seems to have died down and we even have this "peace" program where we're not supposed to crowd around a fight if one occurs (I know it sounds corny :-\\).


WTF? They are much wilder. Everything in fact hasn't died down, but have gotten really bad, particularly with violence (especially of the sexual nature) and the lack of AIDS understanding. As a teacher, I can honestly tell you that this statement is not correct. Sorry.

WTF? They are much wilder. Everything in fact hasn't died down, but have gotten really bad, particularly with violence (especially of the sexual nature) and the lack of AIDS understanding. As a teacher, I can honestly tell you that this statement is not correct. Sorry.


I can't speak for him, but maybe he's just saying this from his observations. Every geographic area and every person's experiences are a little different.

Sure, there's violent kids now, and good ones. That's always been the case, though. Every generation says this stuff about the previous ones. As innocent as we all think the '80s and '90s are in relation to the post-9/11, Iraq War and Columbine world, I know back when that was actually the present, people were saying the same things - about violent and bad it was compared to the '50s, '60s and even '70s. Although I kinda agree with it about the present myself sometimes, this can get ridiculous.


I think it's perfectly fine to say anything is your opinion, if it truly is. I'm not confronting you here, but can you understand how phrasing it like "I think", or "I've observed it being this way" comes off as more diplomatic and less confrontational than making blanket statements?

Now, a point I forgot to make earlier (and I apologize if I did so) about you being a teacher: maybe the students in your school are prone to trouble and violence, that may be the case and if it is, I won't argue that. If you've personally had to deal with them on a daily basis, I'm sure that's not fun and I can see how that could sway your views. But, honestly, can you say with complete certainty the same things you see are true for every other school in every town across the country?

For the record, I'm friends with a younger HS teacher born in 1977. In the times we've ever talked about it, she's basically said her students aren't really any different than when she was in Elementary School in the '80s or in high school in the early-mid '90s. All she's said that's glaringly noticeable is "we didn't have cellphones and Ipods", lol.

I can't speak for him, but maybe he's just saying this from his observations. Every geographic area and every person's experiences are a little different.

Sure, there's violent kids now, and good ones. That's always been the case, though. Every generation says this stuff about the previous ones. As innocent as we all think the '80s and '90s are in relation to the post-9/11, Iraq War and Columbine world, I know back when that was actually the present, people were saying the same things - about violent and bad it was compared to the '50s, '60s and even '70s. Although I kinda agree with it about the present myself sometimes, this can get ridiculous.


I think it's perfectly fine to say anything is your opinion, if it truly is. I'm not confronting you here, but can you understand how phrasing it like "I think", or "I've observed it being this way" comes off as more diplomatic and less confrontational than making blanket statements?

Now, a point I forgot to make earlier (and I apologize if I did so) about you being a teacher: maybe the students in your school are prone to trouble and violence, that may be the case and if it is, I won't argue that. If you've personally had to deal with them on a daily basis, I'm sure that's not fun and I can see how that could sway your views. But, honestly, can you say with complete certainty the same things you see are true for every other school in every town across the country?

For the record, I'm friends with a younger HS teacher born in 1977. In the times we've ever talked about it, she's basically said her students aren't really any different than when she was in Elementary School in the '80s or in high school in the early-mid '90s. All she's said that's glaringly noticeable is "we didn't have cellphones and Ipods", lol.


While, of course, there are exceptions. But, as a whole, yes, they are dealing with a more permissive society than teens of the early 1990s. Since I'm working on my Ph.D., (I'm doing a journal piece on teens and society, btw). I've studied two schools in CA, one school in GA, three schools in PA, and one in Ohio (racking up those frequent flyer miles are actually pretty good, lol). Quite frankly, only two of the schools are urban, one is considered rural, and the rest is suburban - schools that are not "prone to sex and violence". The school I teach in is indeed suburban and in an affluent, upper middle-class suburb of Los Angeles. My statement is an informal means of stating fact and opinion. Much of my work is confrontational and less diplomatic since I seek (along with other my partners) to confront the issues at hand and not hold hands about it. In my research, I don't sugarcoat my findings (if I've upset you, sorry).

Unfortunately, many teens today (yes, there are exceptions) are seeing a disconnect of imagery/fantasy from reality/consequences. Let me give you an example, I was a teen in the early 1990s, I knew the consequences of AIDS because I grew up in the midst of the craziness/paranoia that the onset of AIDS brought on to the world; however, teens today did not observe that directly. They tend to see HIV/AIDS as a disease that can be maintained - thanks to seeing people like Magic Johnson living longer lives - and not necessarily a health detriment.  This is one of the many, many issues that I'm researching and unfortunately, I'm seeing an overwhelming amount that disables me from using the words, "some" or a "few".

I think today's teens are considerably less mature than the teens of the 1990s-I've mentioned in PMs with Marty McFly that, even for the upper middle-class, holding down a part-time job seemed fairly common. Teens today expect everything to be given to them, and seem to value money and success to the point of worshipping it at a premium. They have been trained to be competitive while at the same time coddled. I think much of the difference is the parents as well of the kids. Parents are both more permissive and controlling, and tend to give their children adult things (money, clothes, cars, tolerance of harmful habits) without the children earning it. The parents of your average 16-year old (born in 1990 or 1991) among the upper middle-class was born around 1958-1962, probably absorbed yuppie ethics and lifestyle (though to varying degrees), and has applied the self-absorbed ethic of "the me generation" to childrearing as well.

A point about teens of my class nowadays is that a senior girl is currently out from school getting her breasts "enhanced"-she got a $5000 loan. She's had eating disorders before, and I just see it as a way of her "fixing her body" now that she's under medical supervision. While I could see that happening as far back as the '80s or early '90s, I think there would have been far more groans about it back then.

It is true that the teens of the '90s seemed more laid back. But, on the other hand, cliques and high school hierarchy seemed more fierce-but I've noticed that coming back in the grades below mine-I think it sharply increases in people born after 1990. Schools were more laid-back as well, for the most part. My Spanish teacher, born in 1973, who I'm close with, cut school in the afternoon over half the time after she learned how to drive. She got straight As and the school didn't seem to care. Security, everything, just lording over students seems more severe.

WTF? They are much wilder. Everything in fact hasn't died down, but have gotten really bad, particularly with violence (especially of the sexual nature) and the lack of AIDS understanding. As a teacher, I can honestly tell you that this statement is not correct. Sorry.


I was referring to the amount of violence in MY school. There used to be heavy drug and gang problems going on in my town back in the 80's and early 90's (which is how we got stereotyped as the "ghetto" town) and although there's still some of it going on, it's not as big as it used to be back then.

There is acting "older" and acting more mature.  I think that todays teens are more informed, they aren't as innocent, but the lack of maturity is a curse and blessing for teens of all eras.

I think today's teens are considerably less mature than the teens of the 1990s-I've mentioned in PMs with Marty McFly that, even for the upper middle-class, holding down a part-time job seemed fairly common. Teens today expect everything to be given to them, and seem to value money and success to the point of worshipping it at a premium. They have been trained to be competitive while at the same time coddled. I think much of the difference is the parents as well of the kids. Parents are both more permissive and controlling, and tend to give their children adult things (money, clothes, cars, tolerance of harmful habits) without the children earning it. The parents of your average 16-year old (born in 1990 or 1991) among the upper middle-class was born around 1958-1962, probably absorbed yuppie ethics and lifestyle (though to varying degrees), and has applied the self-absorbed ethic of "the me generation" to childrearing as well.

Very true about there being spoiled teens who had things handed to them (that's always been around, but it's pervasive in the mid '00s). I've also seen firsthand, parents who do things like smoke weed with their kids. Particularly, say former '70s teens who are very casual about drug use with the "I'd rather they were doing it with me than out there" philosophy.

A point about teens of my class nowadays is that a senior girl is currently out from school getting her breasts "enhanced"-she got a $5000 loan. She's had eating disorders before, and I just see it as a way of her "fixing her body" now that she's under medical supervision. While I could see that happening as far back as the '80s or early '90s, I think there would have been far more groans about it back then.

It is true that the teens of the '90s seemed more laid back. But, on the other hand, cliques and high school hierarchy seemed more fierce-but I've noticed that coming back in the grades below mine-I think it sharply increases in people born after 1990. Schools were more laid-back as well, for the most part. My Spanish teacher, born in 1973, who I'm close with, cut school in the afternoon over half the time after she learned how to drive. She got straight As and the school didn't seem to care. Security, everything, just lording over students seems more severe.

That's interesting about your Spanish teacher being sorta "allowed" to cut, with the school turning their back to it since she got great grades, but I can believe it. Schools did seem slightly more permissive back then. Interestingly, one of my teachers herself attended that very same high school (she was born in 1961, so this was from 1975-'79 or so), and back then, it had been an open campus. Students could leave for lunch, and generally weren't punished for being late as long as they showed up. Whereas when I was there from 1996-'00, if you missed the bell by any more than about five seconds, you could be considered tardy (although most teachers didn't enforce it that close).

I've always thought teens back then seemed more adultlike - or at least not like overgrown kids with raging hormones...I think back then there was actually more pressure to grow up than now - and things like sex and drug taking was actually just as, if not more prevalent back then than now. As Marty and others have mentioned the difference seems to be they are less aware of real life - they think they have it figured out, with the encouragement of their bourgeous Boomer parents, and all this confidence boosting crap. They think they are so well adjusted - some are, but only because they live in their little bubble. Of course I'm talking largely of middle and upper class teens who mainly live in the comfortable burbs - the situation might differ somewhat in lower socio-economic areas. But that's my two cents.

Yes, 90's teens IMO acted alot older.  Teens these days are so self centered and all they care about are their "problems".  they sit around a whine and cry and waste space.  Its kind of sad really.  You always hear people say stuff like "these kids our are future".  I really feel sorry for the future of this nation if these kids are the future.  Teens these days are very lazy and pretty much worthless.  I guess thats how emo music has gotten so popular.  Teens these days are so out of touch with reality.  Teens these days go off on tantrums like little kids when something isn't going their way. 

I also think teens back then cared alot about what was going on around them.  If you asked a teen these days what the current topics of the world are, they wouldn't have the slightest clue, but they could name off all the songs on their iPods by heart. 

Yes, 90's teens IMO acted alot older.  Teens these days are so self centered and all they care about are their "problems".  they sit around a whine and cry and waste space.  Its kind of sad really.  You always hear people say stuff like "these kids our are future".  I really feel sorry for the future of this nation if these kids are the future.  Teens these days are very lazy and pretty much worthless.  I guess thats how emo music has gotten so popular.  Teens these days are so out of touch with reality.  Teens these days go off on tantrums like little kids when something isn't going their way. 

I also think teens back then cared alot about what was going on around them.  If you asked a teen these days what the current topics of the world are, they wouldn't have the slightest clue, but they could name off all the songs on their iPods by heart. 


Do you think the grunge era of 1991-1996 almost echoed the late '60s/early '70s in that regard? Both sorta had similarities - a tumultuous time with highly revolutionary things like music.

BTW, I'm going out on a limb here, but it seems like my immediate generation were the ones who tended not to care about politics. Even though both the grunge era and the Iraq era are "my time", I don't quite fit into either (regarding high school life, I mean).

I hate to label anyone, but I remember lots of my peers being bored whenever those things came up in class. Maybe it's because the late '90s were so innocent, that the biggest thing in the news along those lines was Bill and Monica, lol.

In other words, the early '90s as well as the '00s had more of a reason for people to be political, due to what's going on, so maybe that was just timing?

Yes, 90's teens IMO acted alot older.  Teens these days are so self centered and all they care about are their "problems".  they sit around a whine and cry and waste space.  Its kind of sad really.  You always hear people say stuff like "these kids our are future".  I really feel sorry for the future of this nation if these kids are the future.  Teens these days are very lazy and pretty much worthless.  I guess thats how emo music has gotten so popular.  Teens these days are so out of touch with reality.  Teens these days go off on tantrums like little kids when something isn't going their way. 

I also think teens back then cared alot about what was going on around them.  If you asked a teen these days what the current topics of the world are, they wouldn't have the slightest clue, but they could name off all the songs on their iPods by heart. 
I have met a few people that were still in High School in the last 2 years and they seem like alright people but they don;t act as older as "Marty" has said as us Xers did in High School in the 90's. Its like we(us people that went to Hight School inthe 90's) we had a chip on our shoulder I think (maybe it had something to do with the grunge/alternative rock and gangsta rap culture)but todays High School Students ther're more innocent and go with the flow of things.

Marty(and I) bring up the music(i.e. grunge culture) but also we had pro basketball players in the 90's that High School students could look up to such as Michael Jordan, Karl Malone, Hakeem Olajuwan, or a David Robinson for a good role model. In my opinion and this maybe be a strecthing a little bit but the people that I went to High School with were huge basketball fans(the guys at least) and maybe watching pro basketball players play on TV who were in their mid-late 20's/early-mid 30's at the time in the 90's maybe that was the reason that made teens in the 90's act older too. Todays sports atheletes are always in throuble with the law although the NBA has cleaned up its bad image of late and the NFL is working on cleaning up its image.

For the record I did grauate High School in 1998 a few days after Michael Jordan retired from Chicago Bulls and 6 months before Britney Spears came out and put Generation Y culture into overdrive.

I also think that us teens who grauated High School in the 90;s we didin;t have the internet back in 1994 when I started going to High School or reality TV back then. We didn't grow up like the Yers do now I mean the ecomomy in 2007 is much better than the economy in the early to mid 90's although in the mid 90's the economy improving from where it was in the early 90's. Also, we didn;t have day to day reports what Hollywood Celebs were wearing, what places they were going, or who who each celeberity was dating. We really didn;t care about celeb cluture in 1996(my sophomore year of High School) the way people did in 2000 with Jennifer Lopez just to use an example. I mean the only real following that the Hollywood media gave big exposure too in the mid 90's was maybe to the cast members or the TV show as a whole was too the sitcoms of "Friends".

Bottom Line: Todays Yers are showered with excess such as a good ecomomy, celeb news, reality TV culture but us xers weren' showered with excess when we went to High School in the 90's although I think in 2007 the excessive 00's are starting to taper off.

I was surfing through random wiki articles and I came across this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Howe

Scroll down to "Generational Archetypes". Apparently we're (GenY/Millennials) part of the "hero" generation.

Heroes are conventional, powerful, and institutionally driven, with a profound trust in authority. They grow up as the increasingly protected children of an Unraveling (this part sounds so true lol...any boomer parents remember"Baby On Board"? :x), come of age as the Heroic, team-working youth of a Crisis, become energetic and hubristic mid-lifers during a High and become the powerful elders who are attacked in the next Awakening. The G.I. Generation that fought World War II is an example of a Hero generation. Millennials are expected to emerge as the next generation of this example if all goes well.

I know this doesn't have much to do with teenagers but the predictions of us growing up sounded interesting.

^I think that's a very accurate statement all around. It tends to be human nature that if you deprive yourself of something, you'll almost overcompensate later trying to get it back. That's the very reason people miss stuff and appreciate it more once it's no longer around. Even to use a loosely related example, like I've said on here before, I wasn't too into some '90s music in the actual '90s when it was everywhere, but I've come to really like it now.

Lost youth is probably the same way. Heck, when I was 13 I probably acted "older" in some aspects than I did when I was 18. The divider to me was getting out of high school. That was when I suddenly didn't mind letting my youthful side show more often (although in reality, I've always basically acted the same).

Yeah, 1995 was like THE ultimate peak of older acting teens. Hey, the 18-year old of 1995 sometimes acted 30, and now they are 30 and probably act 18!

^ No problem, dude. :) I'll give you a point as well.

While we're on the subject, I'll also say a big factor (both in what I remember of the actual time and what I've seen in shows or clips later on) is the style of dressing. In the '90s most people had an older, more college-oriented fashion sense. In the '00s most people have more teen-esque fashion! It's ironic how the very same people might actually come off as younger now than they did 10-12 years ago.