Have boundaries broadened for youth in affluent countries?

Question

In affluent countries have boundaries of behaviour broadened for young people in the last 5 years and, if so, what do you think are the causes?

Answer 1

I think it's mostly that kids can get away with doing stuff they shouldn't do easier than they could in the past. For example, it's not that US society thinks it's ok for girls to get pregnant at 14, it's just that we're getting so used to it happening anyway that most people go "oh it's just stupid kids" and forget about it the next day.

I think a large part of it comes from parents being unwilling or unable to discipline their kids properly. Heck, adults can't even agree on what proper discipline *is* anymore, so how are we supposed to teach our kids how they ought to behave? Especially when they can just go whine to some agency and say their parents abused them (even if they didn't) and cause a major uproar. It's getting to the point where some parents are afraid to tell their kids no you can't play your Xbox, do your homework, because then the kid might go to the authorities and say "she SPANKED me!" So basically, adults are losing their control over kids, and in some cases kids are even the ones with control over their parents. Somehow this doesn't seem right to me.

Answer 2

No, I think the states have put more boundaries around the children. The other countries are more opened minded then the States. For example: Germany, kids are able to go to the club at age 16 and drink. But they don't abuse it. The ones that do abuse it are teenage americans who got the taste of that liberty and who doesn't know how to react.