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Comment by donatj | Hacker News Reader

I am a total introvert and some of my happiest high school memories involve friends pushing me to go to giant parties that pushed me out of my comfort zone. I would say that there are moments in there which are integral to who I am as a person.

I really feel like they’re missing out on a developmental milestone.

I almost feel like these kids are brainwashed but that’s probably just me looking in as an outsider. I am just getting old (31) and struggling with the fact that I no longer understand the youth.

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It's much easier to remember things that are different from your norm. I grew up around giant parties as in 20+ kegs and you still run out of beer. However, some of my strongest memories where odd things that happened not so much masses of people dancing.

Funny, most of my worst memories involve friends pushing me out of my comfort zone. Sometimes people are not social for good reason.

> I really feel like they’re missing out on a developmental milestone.

Are they though? Those milestones can take many different forms, as evidenced by the fact that "giant parties" are a relatively recent phenomenon, historically speaking.

>as evidenced by the fact that "giant parties" are a relatively recent phenomenon, historically speaking.

That is nowhere near true.

Teenage boys and girls partying together without adults is something many kind of societies frowned upon. They used to be scared of unwanted pregnancy a lot.

It did happened occasionally, but it was seen as something bad and stigma (especially toward such girls) could be quite high.

>Teenage boys and girls partying together without adults

I was assuming you were suggesting large parties regardless of age is a new historical phenomenon.

Although, fraternities and sororities have been around for hundreds of years and they're 17-21 or so. I'm sure they've had parties most of that time. It's probably how they started. Not sure if that counts with teen-only criteria. The concept of adult age has changed over time as well.

Humans party. Always have, always will. They of course were called "feasts" in historical times. Lack of partying is probably more of an anomaly (assuming the article is true). Of course, I would venture that even having a large online gaming or chat session would constitute a party. I mean its a group of people socializing, and I'm sure some of them are having beverages or botany of their choice, plus some hot pockets.

Sororities were around for hundreds years? Are they not offshots of fraternities after women were allowed on universities?

When I read old times, I tend to imagine either rural living or middle classes in cities or something else more common. Of course they had fun and socialized, but it was not the same as 80ties or something.

US Sororities have been around in the US since the mid-late 1800s, but that's not really the point. The point is teen-ish people have been having big parties a lot longer than "recent phenomena." Fraternities, think Greeks and Romans, pagan festivals, etc.

Kids are missing out on developmental milestones, I know I did. It doesn't have to be parties. The just hanging out thing is down too according to the article. Many people are leaving their teen years far too sheltered and socially underdeveloped, because indulging in endless digital distraction takes up more and more of our time as a society.

I've been wondering for years now, what is the difference between hanging out irl, and a chat room, or Facebook, or whatever? Not trying to be rude, but I just don't get how talking to your friends in meat space is socializing, but talking to your friends on the phone is a distraction?

I agree with you on the sheltered thing.

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