I Wonder - Saratoga Springs,NY

I would hope the next generation's best strength is to actually understand inclusion and embrace diversity.

Get ready, like it or not, we are leaving the "comfort zone"!

Their weakness will be having had parents who are clueless about the above concepts.

to be honest i dont think the next generation will not be nearly as tough or resilient as ours. There are way too many children being raised to be "soft"- everyone wins, no child left behind, no hitting, no yelling, time out, reasoning instead of disciplining. The competitive edge has been completely breed out of our children parents are so worried about hurting the child's feelings that they forget to be parents. They are antibiotic- Clorox cleaned to the point that their immune systems are failing them, the are diagnosed with syndromes and medicated at 4 and for the rest of their lives. Sorry this sounds like a rant but I feel sorry for children when they hit the real world and there are winners and losers and they are left behind.

I think one of their greatest weaknesses will be what our children face, as a generation. We live in wild times. Booming global population, increased globalization (globalization has many benefits, but is also comes with many a dysfunction, challenge and risk), environmental devastation, political unrest (always has been present, but due to a globalized economy , has more of a global impact), chemical/biological/military warfare, and technology that surpasses the imagination. Add to that health issues (obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, etc.) and a disappearing middle class.

I'm not sure that they'll have the tools to deal with the world that we have created.

On a less dramatic note, I feel one of the saddest changes, even since my childhood, is the loss of freedom that children have. When I was a child in the 80's and 90's I spent MOST of my day chasing dreams and climbing trees. I knew to avoid rattle snakes, poison oak and cars. For the short time that we lived in town, all of us neighborhood kids would congregate and play in the street. Doesn't seem like that is the norm any more.

Playing outdoors, I learned many a valued lesson: When you fall down, brush yourself off and get back up, teamwork, the value of one good friend, common sense, independence, how to never be bored, how to trust myself (and when to not trust), etc. Fresh air is good for the body.

I think their strengths *might* include tolerance, a fight towards equality, adaptability, resilience and innovation (although it may come out of necessity, later in time). I hope so, at least.

I think that the strengths of the next generation will be more tolerance of other people. Discrimination (racial, gender, gay/lesbian, etc.) has already gone down a LOT in the last generation, and hopefully the trend will continue into the coming generations until it's gone altogether. I think one of the greatest weakness will be respect. Already, respect has gone down the drain. there is no respect for elders, opposite gender, authority, disabled, etc. Everyone is just out to help themselves any more, and I think it's sad.

There will be an even stronger sense of entitlement and a lack of resiliency.

I don't know what their strength will be. I know how I teach my own children, but I keep them out of school for a reason.

So far, as a group, I don't see any strengths, but I see a TON of weaknesses. Like, the desperate need for social acceptance, having a phone attached to their head or fingers, a lack of drive to make something of themselves, the girls are dressing like prostitutes and the boys are full of trouble and think it's cool...and their role models, yeesh.

I am being snarky on this one. Their strength will be that they are not as narrow-minded (but that probably comes through apathy....everyone is different and they just don't care about it anymore) and their weakness will be that they never intend on moving out.

Edited: Ok. I was being snarky but I also mean it. I think (I hope) more people are raising their children to be open to the beauty of the differences in all of us but I also know that extremism (political, religious, etc.) is on the rise globally and those people have children too. Unfortunately more and more children seem to be relying on their parents for basic necessities later into their lives. While multi-generational living is by no means new and can be wonderful it seems that there are more and more older children relying on their parents to feed, cloth and shelter them so that they can spend their money on fun things. It is one thing to live with your parents because you need the help (or if you have an arrangement that is mutually beneficial) and another thing to live with them because you have better things to spend your money on than rent and groceries.

Weakness:
1) The social skills of the next generation will probably be lacking. Kids these days are focused on playing video games, using ipods and cell phones and all social interaction is done through text messages or facebook. It seems like kids these days don't interact with each other like we did when we were kids.
2) Proper grammer will be lost because kids of the next generation are accustomed to shortcutting words when they send texts.
3) Will not longer be self relient because they haven't learned to do things manually. They will be too dependant on technology and unable to cope in the event technology breaks down.

Strengths:
1) They grew up with constantly advancing technology and will have the resources/know-how to continue the trend.

Based on working in an elementary school, here's what I'd say.
Their strength will be a strong ability to advocate for themselves.
Their weakness will be a huge sense of entitlement - and possibly frequent unemployment since they don't know how to speak appropriately to authority figures.

STRENGTH: better educated on the ways of the world because of technilogical development. The information highway is a godsend from my day and age

WEAKNESS: less educated on the ways of self-reliance because of the dependency of technological development. (if the power goes out they won't know what to do) Knew a child who couldn't finish his math homework because his calculator broke. He was in the 5th grade and didn't know his Multiplication Table. :(

No PATIENCE!! Everything is so instant now, you can get anything or watch anything with a click of a button.

Our children will never know how to just wait a little bit....

I actually think the next generation will be kinder and better mannered overall...there is always a "backlash" against what came before. : )

Plus, men will be allowed to cry and will be better able to talk about their feelings. They'll also know how to keep house and cook and raise children -and will share these responsibilities with their partners without thinking that they are doing "extra."

People will be computer savvy and will easily "disconnect" from the external world to connect with the virtual...but they will also value companionship...and nature.

Anyway - that's what I am shooting for, and my boys are NOT "odd" among their peers...and no, we don't live in a bubble....

I also think:
The workplace will be totally different. Both men and women will take leave when their children are born and no one will blink. Work will be so portable that the idea of 9-5 in most arenas will be obsolete.

I HOPE:
Shopping will no longer be what we "do" on Saturdays and Sundays and all workplaces will value shutting down for at least one day/week....as time with friends and family means more than profit. Only clubs and restaurants will stay open late into the night...and because offices will not be open 24-7, this will hurt no one....(I know this may seem to contradict my "I think" but I can imagine various scenarios where it does not)

I have seen the increase in the watching of TV and playing video games in my own children. Also, I have seen how we parents tend to protect our infants by carrying them everywhere and reducing the amount of time they spend on the floor. At the same time I work with the increasing numbers of LD kids, and have seen the transformation of their abilities once they start moving their bodies. By replicating movements normally done during the first year of life, their brains increase the number of synapses and complete neurodevelopment that may have been stinted during their early developmental stages. Older kids suddenly increase their abilities to process sounds and visually, and begin to overcome theri learning disabilities.

So, if the next generation does not move like our grandparents did, we will continue to see a rise in ADD/ADHD, LD, Dyslexia, and other problems.

Strengths? The ability to quickly process video games! My boys are amazing at this and I can't begin to do what they can.

Also, the children with Aspergers, who are geniuses, will be able to solve unbelieveable problems without all of the social/emotional attachments that non-specturm kids have.

It's going to be a wild ride! Theresa, I'm right next door in Ballston Spa, so we will be seeing the same next generation together!
Great question!

Strength: They will believe in their power to do anything they want and follow their dreams
Weakness: They will believe in their right to have and do anything they want.

Two sides of a coin. But on the whole, I think the up and coming generation is a group of wonderful kids. I can't wait to see what they will acomplish.