Young Adults Falling Behind On Traditional Milestones

nytimes.com:

Baby boomers have long been considered the generation that did not want to grow up, perpetual adolescents even as they become eligible for Social Security. Now, a growing body of research shows that the real Peter Pans are not the boomers, but the generations that have followed. For many, by choice or circumstance, independence no longer begins at 21.

Read the whole story: nytimes.com

Comments

[bassaiguy]

07:57 AM on 06/16/2010

As a high school teacher and college instructor (and parent) I see this as a growing cultural problem. The delay of adult responsibility and extension of juvenile priviledge has had an overall negative influence on our cultural institutions and social cohesion. I'm 39, married, a parent and I hold steady employment. I want my daughters and son to have the opportunity to partner and grow with adults, not bif spoiled children. Maybe our kids should read A long Days' Journey into Night, an anthropological text like The Irish Countrymen, or if they can no longer read literature or non-fiction because we've allowed their minds to atrophy, at least watch Wall-E and think about what happens when adults are infantalized.