Why do people think that children are worse than they used to be,when they are not?

Question

What's going on?Surely human nature hasn't changed much over the years-or has it?

Answer 1

Human nature hasn't changed but politically correct attitudes have seen everyone change ,even if its only slight,IE: through TV,and of course the Internet.

Answer 2

I think that kids...at least behavior-wise...are about the same as they have always been. Intelligence-wise, I think that they're far smarter than the kids of my day.

The big difference is that what we used to call "pranks" are now crimes. I once gave my English teacher some "chocolate" which was actually Ex-Lax. We all had a good laugh over it after I told him. If I had done this today, I would be in jail and my face would be headlined on "The Smoking Gun" and the "Drudge Report."

It used to be fairly routine to either get beat up or to do the beating up...and the parents and perhaps the principal would deal with it...usually ending with an apology. It was not uncommon to get beat up by some kid one week, and then be his best friend the next week. Kids have always gotten into fights.

But today, if more than two kids are involved, it's "gang warfare," and the National Guard, SWAT Team, and CNN are called in, the school is locked down, and the "Resource Officer" (armed cop) runs every mace-laden and tasered participant and witness off to jail. The parents then sue each other...and the school.

Instant and an overabundance of communication also makes kids seem "worse" today. 30 years ago, I would have never found out about say, a 6th grader in a town 2,000 miles away pulling down the panties of a schoolmate. Today, the parents of the victim would be on every TV network's morning show and a Congressional investigation would ensue.

Answer 3

There is much more divorce now. Most Mothers have to work and family relationships are no longer close. My wife stayed at home and looked after our two children, even though we were poor, we were a family. We eat meals together and went out together and visited family together. My Daughter and Son have degrees and are happy. My wife now works and enjoys her job free of worrying about the children. The problem is we all have too much, and demand too much, at the expense of our kids. The results are not difficult to see. Broken homes, drug addiction, poor education and pointless lives. The problems are nearly always with the parents, who blame the schools and the government. Children are much worse off in this country and we should be looking at why Italy and other countries do not have these problems.

Answer 4

I have to agree with misha-non-penguins on this one. I also think children are growing up more quickly these days, or they think they are anyway. When my mum was younger she said most young tennagers were still going out together to play and things like that. If you think about it now most teenagers don't even think about playing, they are off drinking in the pubs and nightclubs and having sex at a very young age. Also, I know I get away with being quite rude to my parents sometimes, which I know isn't nice, but a few years ago, children would never have just got away with that, they would have had a clip round the ear! lol!

Answer 5

I think it has. And I am not talking from the perspective of old age!
Human nature hasn't changed, and that means to sink to the lowest levels society will allow, at least in some of the population. Just as others rise as high as they can.
Thankfully most are in the middle.
"That Cheeky Lad"

Answer 6

I am getting on in my years and so know a thing or two about what you are asking. We never had knife wielding schoolkids, we never had children having babies, we never had graffiti spray, we never had drugs at school, we didn't steal cars, we didn't have teenage binge drinking, we didn't have violence on the TV, we didn't mug and beat up old people, we didn't roam the streets at night terrorising people, we did have respect for other people, and we did have manners and morals. We also listened to our elders and learnt from them. The main point of my answer though is we did have responsible parents who at least tried to set examples and would not tolerate the behaviours I have listed. If it takes programmes like Super Nanny, or We're Killing our Kids to show parents how to raise their children, well that tells me one of the reasons why kids are are far worse than when I was a kid.

Answer 7

There are more children from broken homes, more children exposed to drugs and sex at younger than ever ages, more children lacking proper boundaries, more being taught the Godless religion of secular humanism in our schools, prayer is out, pledge of Allegiance is out, so yes, we are suffering from a generation whose parents likely didn't have any natural affections for them and they are lucky they weren't aborted as inconveniences of their parents sex lives. It is sinful depravity in human nature and it's worse than ever before. They are a lost generation in need of something solid to believe in and some direction. The last frontiers of rebellion are some of the worst. That said, there are still some great parents and some great kids around for us all to be proud of that are just as American, God and apple pie as some of our former generations and they are the hope of this nation.

Answer 8

There is a fear driven in parents by society, our government and local adult and family services.
If we are seen spanking our children for any reason, we have a very good chance of having the police call on us and facing time in jail or losing our children.
Our children are taught in school, that if their parents are spanking them, they can tell their teacher and the teacher will call social services and have the children removed from the parents.
It's not the children that are worse it's society and their need to involve themselves in private matters.

Answer 9

I think they are.

Nowadays many kids are like young criminals, smashing windows, stealing things and general yobbish behaviour.

There doesn't seem to be the same parental discipline. Plus, the police and government are far too harsh on them. They used to get sent to juvinal institutes etc, now they don't get sent anywhere.

Perhaps human nature can't change but cultures can.

Answer 10

Are you kidding me? Of course, kids are worse than they used to be. I'm not sure how old you are but did you have to worry about classmates bringing guns to school and shooting everyone? No one was pregnant in my high school. Drugs weren't being sold to me by my peers. My friends weren't in the back of the bus giving 'head' to some boy. I didn't argue or talk back to my parents. I respected them. I graduated HS in 1987, in a class of 200+. It was a large school with problems but nothing like today.