A very notable exception to this is the rich/well off kids Ive been with. They very much do not show the same empathy as even the middle class type kids (or upper middle class) that I work with. There is definitely a massive divide there.
The location of the school also has a significant impact on this too.
I would say generally the big differentiator is that the kids who are meaner/less empathetic are the ones with less anxiety, regardless of wealth status.
Overall though, anxiety is definitely just a massive problem among youth.
"They’re handling it admirably, but we really did them dirty."
Because of social media?Despite what we may think about our children (or "the youth of today"), they are basically the same as they've always been, behaving well for adults--mainly I suspect to keep the adults attention away from them.
I think that, as long as we keep the above in mind when we deal with the younger generation we'll be able to help to them rise above our mistakes.