Problems with the younger generation

I am terribly sorry and shocked to read that you experienced. I won't say that the problem is the younger generation, although you remarking that they are digital natives may be part of it. Most people fortunately do not actively target people with obvious neurodiversity, but the few that do (and don't care less that they've ruined someone's day) can be found between ages 1 and 100. They're petty bullies feeling good about themselves for having a go at someone who they feel they can get away with their unacceptable and unforgiveable behaviour.

Going back to the 80s I was in the same place. I was unaware that I was neurodivergent (the word was hardly known), but I was aware enough that I seemed to be a target of being teased. One day, walking home from school (alone), I walked into two older boys who without being provoked started to call me names. When I didn't respond they started to push me. Telling them to stop ....as if they'd politely oblige... they took it to the next level, and seconds later I found myself in a ditch overgrown with stinging nettles.

There is some really nasty folk around, and if I was to express my sincerest feelngs about them it would be me who'd be locked up and not them.
Being a digital native or being someone barely an adult I feel adds fuel to their feeling of impunity. They lack the social experience of facing real causes and effects, most of their 'experience' is based on stories they watch online. They might even legitimate that harassing someone in real is needed to have that real experience (I remember a front page article in the 00s where two teenagers killed a younger girl 'just' to see what it was like to see someone die). The issue is, they feel it is fair and square to do as they wish to fulfil their agenda and interests, but once they get pushed back into their boundaries they are first to accuse others of not respecting them.... WE are the older ones so WE should know better how to respond (according to their wishes), and THEY are still young and for US older it is mean to 'take it out' on someone younger.

Whatever you try to do with someone is thinks it's ok to harass or bully, treat them like an idiot. As the saying goes, you don't argue with an idiot. And keep them at bay whenever and wherever.

These are the things I can't do anything about, or understand why people are how they are or what they gain from doing this.  I was an 80's child born 79, I thought when I'd left school or went to University or got a job this would all stop. You'd hope that some of these extreme people get removed or excluded from society, but for that to happen something awful has to happen. Its also that there are more of them now, so its also a kind of normalisation. If you live in a major city and are viewed as 'different' its very likely you will eventually be accosted in some way if you are on the streets too long. Its more that some situations are unavoidable if your'e minding your own business going from A to B.

Spare the Rod, spoil the Child!

We just live in a disrespectful, and debauched, society! That's the long, and short, of it.

I will disagree on the rod, but sanctions still hold their justified place in education. 

I don't think that the modern view of parenting 'praise when good, negotiate when not' will guarantee a good crop in the orchard, unless you're fond of brambles. 

I would need to see the slightest evidence that videos are circulating on social media telling kids to actively cruel or disrespectful to others. Unless they are the meanest ones propagating hate.

I think it is that this is the first generation that was told 'you can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do' without the caveat 'but don't expect that if you cross boundaries, and that includes hogging shared resources and areas, you're not going to get repercussions'. 

My daily walks sadly reconfirm it, having to squeeze myself against hedges and walls, or jump onto the road, when a parent with two kids on their tricycles come the other way, all walking abreast. The embarrassment in the eyes of the parents, the fleeting 'thank you' or 'sorry' of the parent, and the empty stare in the child's look trying to figure out what to do say it all.

I was brought up to think ahead before acting. If you're using the pavement, there are others who use it too. You're the user, not the owner, so behave accordingly. Do not even walk side by side unless you can there is nobody coming your way for as far as you can see, because just by acting that way is causing an inconvenience. Prepare your children for situations that are very likely to happen, so they know immediately how to avoid inconveniences others. If you're outside, look ahead, not down, use a phone or whatever draws your attention away from what is ahead of you only for the absolutely necessary. This did not ruin my life, this did not give me 'mental health', this made me a person. 

I think social media has alot to answer for. The influence it has had on current gen is insane. And it influences the parents too. This gen are about as desensitised as it gets from it all. And the entitlement of this gen is also at ridiculous levels

Add all that to what you get with alot of the younger crowd in general with the attitudes, the cockyness and feeling untouchable. Its a recipe for a really sh*tty demo

I think social media has alot to answer for. The influence it has had on current gen is insane. And it influences the parents too. This gen are about as desensitised as it gets from it all. And the entitlement of this gen is also at ridiculous levels

Add all that to what you get with alot of the younger crowd in general with the attitudes, the cockyness and feeling untouchable. Its a recipe for a really sh*tty demo

I would need to see the slightest evidence that videos are circulating on social media telling kids to actively cruel or disrespectful to others. Unless they are the meanest ones propagating hate.

I think it is that this is the first generation that was told 'you can be anything you want to be and do anything you want to do' without the caveat 'but don't expect that if you cross boundaries, and that includes hogging shared resources and areas, you're not going to get repercussions'. 

My daily walks sadly reconfirm it, having to squeeze myself against hedges and walls, or jump onto the road, when a parent with two kids on their tricycles come the other way, all walking abreast. The embarrassment in the eyes of the parents, the fleeting 'thank you' or 'sorry' of the parent, and the empty stare in the child's look trying to figure out what to do say it all.

I was brought up to think ahead before acting. If you're using the pavement, there are others who use it too. You're the user, not the owner, so behave accordingly. Do not even walk side by side unless you can there is nobody coming your way for as far as you can see, because just by acting that way is causing an inconvenience. Prepare your children for situations that are very likely to happen, so they know immediately how to avoid inconveniences others. If you're outside, look ahead, not down, use a phone or whatever draws your attention away from what is ahead of you only for the absolutely necessary. This did not ruin my life, this did not give me 'mental health', this made me a person.