The only constant is change-whenever we have family get togethers, the same statement can be made by my parents of their generation, my grandparents of theirs, etc.
Secondly, everything Marina said, plus the idea that kids are overly protected these days from failure; a colleague of mine coined a phrase (not sure if it originated from him): “the age of esteem,” whereby kids’ self esteem trumps learning of life’s “hard lessons.” This pattern is perpetuated early on in our kids’ lives, to the point that it is internalized.
Underperformance in school, lack of motivation, apathy, lack of individual voice are all symptoms I get to see when they hit high school and college (I’m a college professor). Somehow, there is a common denominator in all of these things-parenting skills.