This dude is a conservative talking about how under-socialized men are today. I was a Gen-X kid during that time frame. Things were violent but weak kids didn’t regularly die and disappear. But IME it’s poser assholes like this, the pufferfish who aspired to be Fallout Raider Youth that made kids avoid socialization in favor of going online. People are under-socialized because dudes like this *tried *to cull the herd.
But bullies did cull the herd in another way. Male youth suicides skyrocketed from 1981 on up to 1998 according to ojp.gov (+51% vs +24% for females).
Rose-tinted glasses, I guess. Part of our socialization and bonding was via getting ‘kicked out’ by our grouchy dads and playing games at our less strict neighbors’ parents’ houses. Everyone on the block had a different system, so that made it more fun. Of course we never told our parents that. We still played outside. But video games were newish and magical at the time. There were always ways for us to escape through digital means, even back then.
Yeah we went outside because there wasn’t any other choice. Soon as we got another choice kids abandoned that culture almost entirely. Sure, video games and the internet are at fault, but nobody asks why kids turned to that so fast. My opinion? Socializing in person was more toxic than not. Bullies ruined everything, especially for boys.
I think we’ve gone off the rails a little about a hyperbolic post but I want to point out that bullying among girls was just as prevalent if not more so.