Teenagers-do they lack values and morals?

Question

I don't know what it is, but it seems that teenagers are less responsible, careless and are filled with so much angst. I can say some of it is probably attributed to a lack of good parenting, but really, does anyone else notice this? I realize that not all teens are like this, so I am really trying hard not to generalize.....but what is your opinion of this? Honestly! What differences have you noticed since you were a teen? I was one years ago, and I can honestly say that things are very different. I know that they have more peer pressure and other issues at hand, and I know that times change as well. And I know that through all generations it's a rough period of time to grow up. And I realize I will probably get a lot of slack from teens, but it will only prove my point.

Answer 1

I would like to start out by saying, not all teens lack morals and values. Sadly, however, the number of teens who do lack morals and values is growing by leaps and bounds.

Society is the number one reason why teens are turning out like they are. I do agree parenting is a big part of the problem, but I hesitate to say how much of the problem parenting accounts for, just due to the fact there are some kids who go bad in spite of the fact they had good parents who tried to raise them properly. Yes, as someone else has already pointed, they do the same things we did as teens; like skipping class, getting high, having sex, staying out past curfew, and dress in the style that is popular to them. But, they are doing much more than we did as teens also, like killing another student over a pair of tennis shoes, or going in to a school with a bunch of guns and homemade explosives and kill people before killing themselves, and attacking and killing smaller children just so they can see what it feels like to kill someone. The societal depravity in America is evidenced in our entertainment with things like sexually explicit music, TV shows and movies.

Here is a statistic for you: In the 1950's, the number one issue facing teachers in school was talking and chewing gum. Through the 1990's and in to the 21st century, the number one problem facing teachers is violent assaults by gangs, rape and murder. In 2003- 122,000 students admitted to carrying a gun to school for personal protection.

To answer your question, yes I have noticed this also. We live in a perverse and depraved society, and being a perverse and depraved society we are turning our children in to perverse and depraved people. Look at the average home these days, moms and dads are to busy working, having extramarital affairs, going on vacations without their kids, and divorcing and then having no contact with their children what so ever.

I don't care what anyone says about separation of church and state, ever since SCOTUS stopped teaching the Bible in public school systems and allowing classroom prayer, the quality of education in our public schools and the quality of the people made by our public schools have been on a downward spiral. We no longer teach our children reading writing and arithmetic with a moral foundation that has clearly defined boundaries between right and wrong. Now we teach our children morality is relevant the individual, and is no longer a standard that is necessary for them to follow. "Go ahead", we say. "If it feels good to you, then do it." We have reached a very sad day, when colleges, businesses, the military, and law enforcement agencies have to include in their training, a section devoted entirely on morals and ethics and knowing how to do the right thing because they recognize most people have no clue as to what the right thing to do is.

Answer 2

Teens will be teens in terms of rebelliousness. Every generation has it's own style.
This generation of young people has had to deal with a lot more than mine. The two income household and daycare. More and more advertising directed at them. The tremendous amount of information that they have to sort through can be overwhelming.
It all still breaks down to the same issues. What do human beings need as they are being raised? That has not changed. How the needs are met has. Material things and activities cannot replace the direct attention of a parent for a child. It takes a hell of a lot of energy to be a successful parent these days.
I am encouraged by what I have seen of young peoples values and morals. For all of the chaos that they are encountering, they seem to be sorting things out fine.

Answer 3

I very much agree w/ you. A lot of teens seem to be very "fast" and I've noticed that this generation in particular seems to be very much focused on dating, sexual activities, drugs, violence, etc instead of focusing on education. But as u know, not all teens are like this. I believe the cause of this is due to the parenting or lack thereof. Of course society has a huge influence on the younger generation, but it's the parents that should have an even greater impact on the children. The parents are the ones who should be teaching and maintaining values for the better of their children.

I am only 17 years old, yet I'm very well-behaved and mature. I was raised on moral and Christian values and set high goals for myself. Being a teen is a life-changing experience. I've learned to become more independent while still appreciating the love the efforts of my parents and the adults around me. I want you to know that a lot of teens have good values and are mature enough to know the difference b/n wrong and right. Being a teen is tougher these days because we're not only influenced by culture, but we're constantly pressured to do well in life and achieve as much as we can. We're at that age where we're not kids anymore, but we're not grown adults either, so that makes it even more difficult.

Good blessings to you

Answer 4

Teenagers always get this criticism from older people. I don't buy it, and I'm a "responsible" adult in my 30s. Maybe you could see this sort of difference comparing today's teens to those in, say, the 1950s, but I'm not even sure of that.

You and I probably hung out with the more responsible, college bound types when we were teens. But now when we encounter teenagers, it's more random and so you see more of the irresponsible ones that are present in every generation.

Thinking back to high school, I can remember plenty of my fellow teens getting in trouble, slacking off, dropping out, partying, etc. I don't think it's much different now.

Answer 5

Yes teenagers lack values and morals they're teenagers its normal to be rebellious when your're young. Teens today are not much different from when we were young even though they may seem to be. The difference is we have grown up, experienced life, matured, and have responsibility, we don't look at the world the same as a young person. The real problem is people who are grown up that lack values and morals.

Answer 6

I think any person from any generation since Socrates could have written your question, and many did ask similar ones. It's mostly a matter of perspective, and of not truly understanding the world the teenagers are living in.

Teenagers just lack experience as adults. They don't average any better or worse than the rest of us.

Answer 7

I don't think that it comes down to teens not having any values or morals, but a lack of responsibility. The way I was raised and the way many of my friends were raised, none of us were really taught that our actions have direct repercutions to ourselves. Throughout our lives our parents were always there to take care of things,get us out of trouble, give us money when we wanted something, dote on us, and try to make us feel good about ourselves.

Parents need to teach their teens more about responsibilities.

Answer 8

Not all of them but many as less, It is necessary for the teens to know what kinds of friends they hang out with.. and also teens must always get a long with the whole family.

Answer 9

I think most of it comes from learning more about the world, and wanting to do things, but since you can't really do much of anything these days without being 18, they just lose interest and give up.

Answer 10

Well, my friends and I hate teenagers like that. We hate going to the mall, just to see a bunch of girls dressing like sluts trying to get the numbers of 10 boys within one hour. We hate teens who go and yell at their parents and say the stupidest teen "saying":
"That's not fair." but whatevers.
By the way, we're all around 16 years old.