Who's to blame for the new breed of kids today...?

Question

Most kids today are disrespectful, obnoxious, too grown for their own good, lazy, etc.

What do you think is causing this? Is it all the working mothers? Is too many people with negative views of corporal punishment? Is it too much state involvement in child rearing? Is it the media, video games,and Music? What's causing all these disrespectful little brats?

When I was a kid all the kids in the neighborhood were outside playing and interacting with each other learning social skills and getting fresh air. We read books, created games, used our imaginations. We were scared when we heard of violence, we didn't search for it on TV and video games. We got scrapes, scratches and broken bones and our parents were never accused of abuse by the emergency room nurses. We got spankings by mom, dad, and your next door neighbor if you didn't want to listen. We worked for allowance and not just get money handed to us, that is if we even got allowance. I miss the old days.

LOL, I got a few emails from people asking my age. I guess they thought I was an old lady, LOL. I'm 30. I grew up in a inner city neighborhood, but I still grew up a kid. Even in one of the roughfest neighborhoods in Chicago. I still climbed trees, fell off the monkey bars on to concrete not wood chips, we rode bikes, We created our on TV shows by cutting out one side of a box, LOL. I had to be in the house when the street lights came on and my mother worked, but for some reason knew if we didn't follow the rules before she got there. I would never curse out an adult and threaten to call child protective services on my mom if I got spanked for my childhood shenanigans. I have a two year old now and I will raise her with old school values. No matter how much she fusses and says what the other kids do...We''ll have our own rules.

A friend of mine has a daughter and she never heard of "RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT" I couldn't believe it, LOL.

Answer 1

Is too many people with negative views of corporal punishment? YES.
Is it too much state involvement in child rearing? YES

Is it the media, video games,and Music? YES

It's all of these things and parents who don't want to fight against all of those factors to raise a good kid.

Answer 2

I'm 18, so I believe I missed those times of growing up, I don't blame parents, and I don't blame the PS2. Going to play outside these days is boring, our imaginations are dwindled, and neighbors keep to themselves, I wouldn't be surprised in another few years kids will be met with a glare rather than a friendly hello from a neighbor. The point I'm getting at is the video games and media, the parents, the government all contribute, but I think what really defines the generations today is almost a paralyzing fear of the world. 10 years ago, if not more, there was a time before 9/11, there was no worry of the coming of the apoclypse, there was no global warming. There are more cars on the roads, there were less paved areas. If you want kids to be kids, and act like kids then give kids a place to be kids. Give them time to act like kids, Teach kids how to be kids, and then teach them to grow into adults, because if they just jump into becoming adults and they certainly aren't ready to handle all the "bad" stuff in this world, of course they are going to suck at it.

I think my point is clear, if not, feel free to email me for clarity, or whatever.

Answer 3

I think that you've forgotten your own childhood because things have not changed that much. Children, on a quest for their own independence and identity, have always challenged authority figures. Nothing's new here. What I will say is that the Internet has allowed children to have access to more information that backs their viewpoints which may come off as being arrogant and obnoxious to parents who want their kids to follow their point of view.

The same kids who were outside playing were the same kids who still engaged in drug use, had premarital sex, drank alcohol, got in trouble in school, etc. Also, I think that children have always had a fascination with violence, to some degree, but that goes back aeons. It's primal. Many people are looking at abuse nowadays because some people actually feel that resorting to violence (i.e. spanking, beating, etc.) is not a good way to raise a child if you don't want that child to resort to violence themselves.

Overall, I think that you've become jaded to the problems that face young kids today. They're alot bigger and badder than problems you may have faced growing up. AIDS. Global Warming. Wars and more wars. School massacres. Pedophilia. And parents who don't listen to their kids.

And "most kids today" are actually good kids with the same issues that we all went through.

Answer 4

I think that the main problem is than nobody want's to take responsability.

A big part is the family itself, they tend to treat the kids as if they are fragile and anything bad can traumatize them later on. Also, since usually both parents are working, the kid doesn't have too many role images to look at. We like to take shortcuts, and that also leads to the kids.

As parents, we don't want our kids to suffer what we did, and while this is understandable, some tend to overdo it.

Also, society in general makes it very hard. Violence is everywhere, in books, movies, cartoons, videogame, you name it. Maybe you try to keep your kid from that, but since all the other kids have videogames and access to other media, if you just isolate them, they won't feel integrated to the society. So it's hard as a parent to decide up to which point you're letting your kids watch violence and sex, and which is too much.

Also, before, the streets were safe. I also remembered walking from my house to my grandparents (about 5 blocks away). The only worry my mom had was street crossing. I doubt that today I would feel safe knowing my kid was in the street, where anything can happen.

We, as adults, also have a hectic life, and when we have free time (whatever's left) we like to rest, not go out to a park to play with our kids. Or we just don't have enough time. So, that makes less time you're with your kids.

Also, I think we're, as a society, overdoing the childs care. While I don't think you should whip and electroshock your kid if he enters your house without cleaning his tennis shoes when he's 2 years, I do think that sometimes one has to be firm and teach him values.

Somehow, we all want instant gratification for our efforts, and the kids learn from that.

Answer 5

Kwitcherbitchin!

Kids today are just as immature as they were a generation ago -- or two or three generations ago. Most of those immature kids grew up to become responsible adults. There's no reason to think that today's kids will be different. It's in the nature of "old" people to be aghast at the actions of youngsters. Maybe some of it is simple envy...because they realize that "youth is wasted on the young!"

Answer 6

parents are the ones to blame, along with TV, pop songs and lack of discipline in schools. The breakdown of family life - step families and various relationships get complicated. there's alot of anger and hurt in many kids as they see relationsihps fail around them. There's no one single cause but a culmination of factors. Each generation since the war has displayed an erosion in manners and I suppose therefore that each generation of parents lets their children get away with a bit more than they were. This is a huge genralisation I know - my children are amazingly well mannered (aged 24 and 26 now) and I'm proud of them.

Answer 7

Probably, evolution or corporate america, society, etc. I am not trying to exnorate the parents or their roles in raising their kids (I am a parent myself) and I take full responsibility for how my daughter's are being raised or how they turn out to be. But, you have to look at the situation (our current times) through an objective paradigm or point of view. Society has a great influence on our kids, I would even dare say that's greater than us, the parents.

Answer 8

I think there are a number of factors to this new generation being the way they are......TV for one big big factor, there are things on there I wouldn't watch, but somewhere TV became a babysitter for some busy people. The adults these days 18 to 30 something are for the most part just foul mouthed , disrespectfull so I would say they picked it up from family as well.

Answer 9

in my opinion its the parents to blame. its the parents job to teach respect, morals, values, right and wrong, etc. parents seem to be too caught up in their own lives to worry about what their kids are doing or how they are behaving. i think the issue of the video games is the same thing. it's the parents job to put limits and controls on what their kids do. when i was young i wasnt allowed to have a cell phone, a phone in my room, or a tv in my room, because my parents thought we needed to spend time together as a family, not me hanging out in my room all the time. my sister and i also were only allowed to watch tv after dinner and our homework was done. many parents dont do this anymore. the kids get what they want, when they want, and limits are rarely enforced. what ever happened to no, please and thank you?? excellent question by the way!

Answer 10

I am a mother and my children are very respectful. But to answer the question it is part society and allot the parent.

You know it says it takes a village to raise a child...Well in someways the village is too involved but yet not involved enough. They jump on a parent for spanking but yet like when I was growing up you do not see them out in the streets throwing balls to the kids and interacting with them. But then we go back to being to involved. Because people are scarred to interact with a child that is not of blood, because somebody might take it wrong.

But parents also have to be held accountable for not doing there parts. I do not care were I am at I will correct my children if they are rude. I do not beat my children but I do make them be responsible for there actions. That is our job as a parent. I limit the time my children or watching TV, on the computer ( I use to help them learn i.e. learning programs or research) I limit gaming time too. If it is a video game they only get a little time. I buy books by the truck (at least it seems that way) I encourage them to draw and to think. I want them to use there imaginations. I want them to challenge me (which my 12 yr does) I want them to challenge the world. I have my own religious beliefs but I keep the door open for my children to learn about all so that they can make an informed decision when they are old enough. I try to encourage them in any way possible. I teach my children that the body regardless of shape or size is not something to be ashamed of. I teach them to accept people for whom they are on the inside not the outside. I want them to learn to look past that.

We have to give children space to develope there own personality, but we have to as a parent put up guide lines. I try to make my children's life better than mine growing up because as parents that is what we want for them. That is what the proccess of learning is.