who has an idea about what the hell happened to today's youth?

Question

do you get blown away by the stories you here? i'm talking about everything from columbine to that girl who ran off to jordan, to my own family members... that didnt happen in my day (i'm only 23 so my day isnt that far back). what is up with these kids today? never heard of any of it when i was growing up... no we didnt have internet but we had everything else, guns, gangs, sex, drugs, you name it. whats so different now that the kids these days are so out of control? wheres the discipline?

i think its the whole you dont belive in spanking the kid (I SAID SPANK NOT BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF). they just walk all over everyone and get away with it or a time out in there rooms with tv an xbox and a pc. so its the parents' fault. god bless any parent who is doing their thing and has raising good kids, aparently its the hardest thing to do.

single parents can do it!! i grew up with just my mom and my sister, she worked 2 jobs and i had to stay with my sister since i was like 9 she was 3. we came out better than a lot of ppl i know. i'm sure everyone has heard a story about a couple of kids that did or are doing something dumb, i dont mean whats on tv, things close to home, that are more upsetting than the things you see on the tube.

Answer 1

I started to read this--and was considering whether to answer--and then you mentioned spanking. OMG--there is someone who thinks similarly to me!

Almost everyone thinks I am oversimplistic about this--but I really believe if there was a lot more spanking there would be a lot less problems with youth.

Of course--that is not the sole answer--but it is one simple thing that could go a long long ways in helping. There was a reason that for centuries children were spanked and there is a reason it was said "spare the rod and spoil the child"--in the last 50 years it has turned around so parents feel like criminals if they swat their kids--and look what the result has been...

~Becky

Answer 2

I do get blown away, sometimes. So many things have brought this situation about.

The economy, it takes two incomes at least. One to pay the rent, the other for food, utilities, clothing, entertainment, child daycare. Some families, one of the parents not only has a full time day job, but a part time job too. There is no one around to supervise the kids, most times.

Schools. The more powerful families children get special hands off treatment while regular kids get treated poorly, and special Ed kids get treated even worse. It's politics. And it comes at the wrong time in a young person's life. This is why they have no respect for those in authority. They see better than most of us the inequities of life because they live through it. When I was growing up you started school at 8:00 A.M. and left at 4:30 P.M. That way kids had study hall and did homework. Teachers were around and the library was open. The sports team worked out on the field or in the gym. The kids were supervised.

Communication. It's hard to talk to teens, always has been. But just like you demand respect, they deserve it also! Kids today just see the results of your actions, not why adults make the decisions they do. By taking teens and kids through your decision making process they learn critical thinking and reasoning skills. When we had family conversations on moving, cars, entertainment, etc., I was surprised at some of the options my own kids came up with. Some were so good we implemented them.

When kids are treated like trash, they return in kind. GIGO Computer term applies. Teach children decision-making skills. It starts out simple. Let the little ones decide one thing that will be served at a meal. Selection of clothing. What chores they choose to do. Give them a choice. Teach them to look for choices. Show them consequences of chioces. Come to school and teach young children a simplistic class on ethics. That's a definite win-win. Teacher gets a break, and the class doesn't worry about grades and quizes. Parents coming into the classroom to talk on a popular subject has a major impact on the class and kids. You have to follow school guidelines, but that's not hard.

Yes, some children do need a little more discipline than others, they do need to know there are guidelines in behavior and they will be inforced. Sometimes logic will not suffice. Children are not too logical under the age of seven.

Shouting does not work and is a sign of loss of control. The kids know it, you know it.

Kids need to learn restraint. That is a hard one. Bottom Line, Listen. listen, listen, help them find alternate choices. "If this happened, what could you do, what would you do. There is a difference."

Answer 3

I think you're overgeneralizing and making a lot out of a small number of news stories. Not all kids growing up today have these kind of serious problems. There is some truth in what you say though. It's not that mothers are working outside the home (saying all mothers should stay home would be so 19th century) but when you have both parents working overtime, or a single parent who doesn't have time for the kids, who is really raising them and teaching them their values? TV, the internet, and other kids. It worries me a lot and I hope to raise my own kids differently.

Answer 4

I think you are right on this one. I think that todays youth falls into the "it's all about me category" and sadly the parents are mostly to blame. I agree with some of the other answers about how children will report the slightest thing to school counselors and from there it gets blown out of proportion. I can't even raise my voice to my son who is acting up in wal-mart without getting a hateful look from someone. And the zero tolerance crap about bullying! People, it sounds like a good idea but hear me out. If you have a child that gets bullied in school and the bully hits your kid, even if your kid does not fight back and a teacher sees it happen, they BOTH get punished! So now when it comes time to go to another school your kid who has done nothing wrong looks bad because of a record saying he was in a lot of fights. That's my own experience as a father of 3 boys.

Answer 5

I think it's all because parents are afraid to discipline their kids. Parents are letting their kids get away with murder (literally) these days. Kids are walking all over their parents because the parents are trying to be a friend to their kids instead of a parent. Also, people just don't give a crap anymore about anything it seems like. They don't care about waiting until marriage to have sex, and when they do get married they end up getting divorced because getting divorced is no big deal anymore these days. Kids need to be in a stable environment, not in a home where they grew up half their life with not father or mother and finally when they got one things were happy for awhile until the parents got divorced and so on. It's a sad issue and the people who are responsible when it comes to having a family are the ones who are going to pay for it.

Answer 6

Part of the problem is that it is drilled into a child's head that if anyone lays a hand on them to call the police or speak to a counselor at school. I have seen where children have been spanked and then went to school the next day and reported the parents for abuse. Unfortunately, at that point it has to reported to the police and a full investigation has to be done. By the time that they figure out that the child was just spanked, the parents lives are in a shambles.

Answer 7

Many parents do the best they can to teach their kids to be their best. Some parents do not care, then we have the government and some in the medical profession saying we can't spank. Add to this, peer pressure, what they hear on the news, from others at school, immorality everywhere you look,including tv and it's a recipe for diaster. It's up to us as parents to start at home and hope we've given them a great start to avoid these things.A good spanking( not beating) hasn't ever hurt anyone, and be careful what your kids are exposed to.

Answer 8

kids are no better and no worse than any other time in History. my aunt ran away too and this was in the 1920's. 2 cousins of my fathers used to torture cats for fun -- this was again in the 1920's and 1930's and they were 14 and 15 yrs old -- the details are gross.

if anything, youth these days are more aware of human rights and of consideration for others. but if you talk about crime, gangs, rapes, etc. -- it was probably even worse in "the old days". it all depends where you live and if youth are respected or treated poorly by the adults around them.

Answer 9

i am going to respond to this very purely. i became a children 20 years in the past, as you will discover, I became out fantastic. ha ha moms and dads were extra efficient moms and dads in my day. they'd extra efficient priorities that placed the kin first, no longer monetary income. children in the present day are spoiled rotten because their mums and dads are too busy operating to preserve them. that is a extra materialistic international we stay in. moms and dads purchase their little ones crap as a replace of spending time with them. Or they placed them in the front of the small screen television or a play station. Then they ask your self why their kiddies are failing in school and change into juvenile delinquents. And is all people happier for each of the stuff that they have in the present day? No

Answer 10

Im with you on this! I believe its alot of everyone being in such a hurry and always thinking of themselves first! My mom was always home when I got home from school Im ALWAYS home when my son gets home from school! Most kids have so much freedom just so they dont get mad at parents they let them and that only leaqds to more trouble! Plus if u spank their little butt its abuse! Hell I remember picking my own switch! But it only took once on my bare butt to never do it again!