85 Teachers Explain The Differences Between 1997, 2007, & 2017 Students, And Some Of Them Are Worrying

1997- We all thought parents were doing it all wrong and raising kids so poorly that we were all going down hill in a hand basket.

2007- We all thought parents were parenting poorly and raising kids that did things wrong and that we were all going down hill in a hand basket.

2017- We all think parents are failing their children by raising them wrong and that we are all going down hill in a hand basket.

Teenagers now are robotic. No one talks. No one has friends. It is all fake. All plastic.
I remember in '97 and even in '07 students showed some form of expression. But now, it is like staring at bodies without consciousness.

The 2017 students are much better learners and much nicer. They pay more attention and there are much fewer cases of alcohol/drugs/weapons on the school campus that any of the 2007 students.
The parents on the other hand... they are much much worse when it comes to their children.

I'm an old geezer (age 55 and taught in the mid 80's) and I'm disturbed by how many of these these teacher use incorrect grammar and spelling.

I do some counselling and the biggest difference I see is in the discipline factor. I think the discipline factor and lack of it, is what has led to the feeling of entitlement. I've had teenagers tell me to my face that they "own the teachers", they can't do anything to me and I can cause them so much trouble. I talk with them and every single person that has received a well deserved crack on the ass, is now a "victim of abuse" and they can't handle anything. One girl in the group bragged that when her mother sent her to her room without supper as a consequence for very bad behaviour(she had told a teacher to f off in class) she called child protective service on her for "failing to provide the necessities of life) and that led to police involvement and a big investigation, that did go to court. Parents are terrified to look at their kids sideways, for fear that they are the ones that will be persecuted/prosecuted. We've given them all the power and none of the responsibility.

Not a teacher but I do notice many changes. In 2017 nobody can pay attention because everyone is too fidgety (I am fidgety, I have trouble paying attention sometimes) but people are just using this to sell new things like fidget spinners and all that crap. If I'm feeling fidgety, I can twiddle my thumbs or whatever quietly under my desk. That's not the case anymore. Everyone has a fidget spinner and the teachers aren't allowed to take them away because the parents think they help kids concentrate when it's the opposite. The things are loud and disruptive and all you can hear is WHIRRRRRRRRR, it doesn't help kids concentrate on class, they just concentrate on "fidget spinner tricks" and I bet and hope that wasn't really a big issue in 2007 and 1997

1997 - Back in some mythical time in the past, things were so much better.

2007 - Back in some mythical time in the past, things were so much better.

2017 - Back in some mythical time in the past, things were so much better.

2027 - Back in some mythical time in the past, things were so much better.

I wasn't old enough to teach yet in 1997. I was 4 years out of high school, young and naive.
* In 2007, students were semi-glued to their phones, but the technology to integrate them into the classroom (Twitter accounts, Facebook, Snapchat, etc) wasn't there, not was it encouraged in any way through administration. There was still a "phones away" rule...for the most part.
The students in my tech courses at the college I was working were older. Either getting re-certified, new degrees, or simply enhancing their current skills with newer ones. I would put most of the ages in the late 20's to mid-30's.
* In 2017, I have young students right out of high school. It's rare now that I have an older student. Most of these students come in with at least basic knowledge of technology/hardware/software, but more often than not they are even more advanced than that.
It's interesting how the tech group got so much younger and more skilled, while the older group...I don't know. Do they not move forward anymore? Are they switching to different careers?

Recently had a parent/teacher conference with my daughter's 7th Grade Science Teacher. For reference here: 20 years ago I was in the 7th grade.
I asked why my daughter's grade was so low in Science. The teacher looks at my daughter with this teasing, friendly manner and is like "I don't know kiddo, why's it so low?" She fesses up that she didn't turn in two of her lab notes. "That's right and you have zeroes, but we talked about it today didn't we and you're going to get those in." "Yeah, you know it girl." They giggle and do some weird high five inside joke thing. You'd have thought they were best friends.
Two things drastically different from 20 years ago:
1) I would have gotten reamed at that meeting for even wasting a teacher's time when I know I wasn't turning in my homework. She would have looked at my mother and been like "He's going to fail, there's nothing I can do about it." These days my child would have to literally skip school for like 2 weeks to fail.
2) Her teacher was smoking hot. All of her teachers are, they are all young and hip and seem really laid back. My teachers were all over 45, hanging on to tenure, and hated everything about their lives.

In my case, it's not the change in students, but the change in environment. In the late '80s/early '90s, bomb threats were taken a bit more lightly than they are now. Today it's multiple felonies, but back then it was a serious talking-to from the principal. Maybe a suspension. Anyhow, my friend had a band, and he wanted exposure, so he set up a generator, a drum kit, and a few amps in the back of a pickup. He called in a bomb threat, and while they were clearing the school, he played a quick set to an audience of 2,000 in the school parking lot. Tracing bomb threats back to indivduals was very difficult back then, so while it was obvious what happened, there was no proof, and he went unpunished. We can all imagine how that would go down today.

'97: no distractions. No cellphones, meet schoolmates only at school by default.
'07: a lot more distractions, at home mostly (fast internet, social networks rising). Discipline nosedived, less assiduous with homework.
'17: everyone is snapping and whatsapping all the time, everywhere. No class passes without cellphone notifications ringing. They'd stay late tending to their facebook but only spare 10 minutes for homework because that's how little it takes for them to copy their harderworking schoolmates' notes.

College prof here.
1997 - Students did work
2007 - Students still did work but complained about it more.
2017 - Students do some work when they feel like it, and try and bluff that they know more than faculty. Shit, if you do, then leave and work. Why are you spending money on tuition then?
Gonna be a lot of sad and unemployed students soon when workplaces that have no time for their shit cut them loose shortly after hiring them.

I'm a current high school student and I can't really speak for 1997 and 2007 but the biggest difference I see now between the portrayal of high school students and actual current students is that there's a much bigger sense of community and interdependence.

Your child is a little behind in his/her English and I would love to work with them after school to get them caught up.

97'- Parents are very appreciative and concerned about their child's well being. They support their child at home and ensure they are practicing and doing all of the homework.

'07- Parents are concerned about their child getting into college and set up tutoring outside of school as well as the teacher working with them.

'17- Parents sue the teacher and demand their child gets 1:1 help with the teacher or district hires a 1:1 aide.

Going to sound like an old man here, but when I was in high school in '97 we had a system where various teachers aides would photocopy all of the notes, answer keys, homeworks, etc. and put into an unused locker. My whole class - even the future valedictorian - used that locker. I'd imagine cheating efforts have advanced since then.

Graduated high school and went to college in the late 90s, started teaching at the college level in mid-2000s, still teaching at the college level.
I would say that in general I didn't notice much of a difference between when I went to college and when I started teaching at college. I went to a state school, I now teach at a (different) state school. Students generally got done what they needed to get done, partied, enjoyed chatting and having fun in the classroom, and more or less seemed to live their lives fairly similarly to how I did.
The last few years have been different, and I'm not entirely sure why, and it is specifically the last few years when the shift occurred. I've spoken with numerous other teachers about this, and everyone I talk to about it that's been teaching for a while seems to have noticed.

Students from 1997 and 2007 got to enjoy Daft Punk's Alive concerts

I was in school in 1997, a student in 2007 and in 2017, I am a former teacher (now prof. ).
The things I observed is the lack of self confidence, that is hidden under a coat of more arrogance and ignorance towards others. It is as if it is suddenly "cool" to be stupid or not be someone with expectations and goals in life.
When we were young (generation 1988 for me), all these new technologies were popping up and the internet was just trying to be something "public".
the students of 2017 seem to have their brains and thoughts in the cloud. The digital one. They seem not to be able to learn anything simply because they can have it all on google, in a matter of a second, provided of course they have internet.

The sad kids in 1997 listened to OK Computer
The sad kids in 2007 listened to In Rainbows
The sad kids in 2017 are listening to A Moon Shaped Pool

I was a 1997 student. And now a 2017 teacher. So much has changed... My "most awesome" teachers/lessons is what I need to do on a daily basis now...