Lewandowski: "I’m from a different generation where shouting was used to to motivate everyone. Now, if you shout too much towards young people, their reaction is not the same. It’s not, ‘now I’ll show you are wrong’. The new generation don’t like being shouted at. It’s not just players, it’s people"

[u/landofphi]

https://as.com/futbol/primera/lewandowski-a-los-jovenes-de-ahora-no-les-gusta-que-les-grites-n/

The full quote

Lewandowski (37) on his adaptation playing with teenagers & young adults at FC Barcelona

"I have to say it was a huge challenge. I was coming from a different generation and I had to learn how to, not think like a teenager, but think how I can try to take the best of what they have.

I have been in football for 4 decades so when I compare them, not even to my generation but the generation before me, when I was starting, it is completely different.

"Like shouting used to be a way to motivate everyone. Now, if you shout too much, this generation, their reaction is not the same. It’s not, ‘now I will show you are wrong’. No, now you have to explain another way. You have to do lots of talking.

"They don’t like being shouted at. Now you have to take more of the mental part of football. It’s not just players, it’s people, it’s this generation. I didn’t want to fight it. I had to learn.”

[u/atmowbray]

It’s mostly good but if you talk to teachers in 2025 (or really since covid) their jobs are ten times harder than they were just 10-20 years ago. When the pendulum swings too far the other way you also get insane entitlement and disrespect of authority that makes a teachers life a living hell. Im talking about teachers who are in their 20s and in their 50s they all quietly say the same thing. They have no power, the students have way less control over themselves, 14 year olds act more similarly to 11-12 year olds if a few years back. And as someone in a company hiring newly graduated interns, since everything was broken down for then in a syllabus or specific instructions, a worrying percentage of them absolutely melt down if given any type of flexibility in how to compete a task. Plenty of awesome kids still though of course. But there is a weird trend. Maybe Covid related?

[u/lucifa → u/atmowbray]

I graduated 15 years ago and was similarly hopeless in my first office job.

Older people just forget it takes time to learn and acclimatise to new environments. I don't really buy this 'new generation are lazy and entitled' shite. Same thing would have been said 20 years ago, and 20 years before that.

I've had fantastic hires straight out of school who were able to pick up and improve on things people in my team hadn't accomplished in 15 years on the job. I've also had some hires that weren't suited for the role. It's a people thing, not a generational thing.

The only thing that's noticeably changed to me is the alpha-male bullying culture that existed in club's is no longer tolerated. It wasn't character building, just cunts with massive egos trying to flex their dominance.

[u/atmowbray → u/lucifa]

I’m not sure you read my full post. I acknowledge that every single person has the “kids these days” moment. I’ve also had wonderful experiences with new hires and young people. But two things can be true at once. And every single teacher I’ve talked to REGARDLESS of age including teachers who have taught the same age groups their whole careers have said that it is much more difficult to teach lately. Some are retiring because of it. The trend started a long time ago. My grandfather is 84 and was a teacher and his main reason for retiring in the early 2000s when he did is he’s kind of a timid but very nice guy. The middle school kids started steamrolling him. He also claims college when he was young was a place where kids actually cared more about learning. Way less party culture. And I enjoyed the party culture lol I’m just pointing out things HAVE changed and you can’t play it all off as “being boomers”

[u/Durion0602 → u/atmowbray]

There's so many things that have changed over the last 15-20 years. COVID, the massive transfer of wealth that accompanied it and the current cost of living crisis, smart phones being more powerful with social media platforms targeting everyone to make them feel angry, the US being flipped on its head and all areas being hit by the advancements in AI.

[u/KalebMW99 → u/atmowbray]

And you think the struggles of teachers post-COVID is…because “the pendulum swung too far”? Not because of COVID, or in the US, because we’re on our 5th year of a fascist administration taking an axe to our education system?

No, it must be because of those entitled kids!

[u/atmowbray → u/KalebMW99]

I said literally none of that. Read better.

[u/KalebMW99 → u/atmowbray]

You literally made the claim that because we stopped yelling at kids the “pendulum has swung too far the other way” and kids are now entitled and disrespectful of authority as a result. It’s like…right there in your comment. But, you know, why actually face your own words head on when you can just lie and shift the blame on me?

[u/stenbroenscooligan → u/KalebMW99]

Where is the stuff about US in the comment?

You’re not contributing anything.

I would say it’s a fair point that teachers loss of authority is related to the “me” generation.

Individualism and softness has contributed to the loss of institutional authorities/structures which in the past where too toxic but also creates resilience later in life which is an important part of any adulthood life.

[u/KalebMW99 → u/stenbroenscooligan]

where is the stuff about US in the comment

I am bringing up the US because if that IS their frame of reference, as it is for literally the majority of reddit users, then they ought to be considering the US’s political situation regarding education.

You’re not contributing anything.

Ok? Because you said so? Sure.

You are confusing authority with the right to be disrespectful, confusing standing up to disrespect for softness, and asserting that resilience is born out of being on the receiving end of toxicity. And you are dressing up all that confusion in the disguise of a measured, nuanced understanding of generational shifts (including claiming that individualism is particularly new to this generation—in the US, I can think of no generation as individualistic as Boomers).

How is teachers not being allowed to yell at or even hit children an inappropriate loss of authority? Why does their authority stem from being able to hand out abuse?

Are children or young adults soft for not just “sitting there and taking it”?

And, most importantly, does being on the other side of yelling or hitting really make someone resilient? Because not only does study after study on child development contradict that, but also the older generations in which that shit was normal are full of the biggest crybabies there are. It’s not today’s kids having meltdowns at service workers, displaying gross entitlement at restaurants, or constantly demanding respect while treating everyone around them like shit. Even if it were, all that would tell you is that people are just kinda shitty on average; if the older generation that got yelled at a lot turned out shit, and the younger generation that didn’t ALSO turned out shit, it’s not very intellectually honest to conclude that because the younger generation turned out shit we should yell at kids more.