Are Kids Today Really Worse Off?

The "kids these days" narrative, which posits that modern youth are uniquely fragile or depressed, is largely an illusion driven by cognitive biases rather than objective reality. Research into long-lost student interviews from the 1970s, rediscovered by Harvard’s Alexis Redding, reveals that today’s college students face the same developmental struggles—loneliness, academic pressure, and existential uncertainty—as their predecessors. This perception of decline is fueled by the negativity bias, which highlights current problems, and the fading affect bias, which softens memories of past hardships. While clinical mental health crises have risen, much of the perceived generational shift is a misinterpretation of normal developmental transitions. By recognizing these universal human experiences, adults can replace judgmental attitudes with empathy, fostering more meaningful connections with young people who are navigating the same challenges that have defined the college experience for decades.