youth

[michel555555]

This afternoon my family was cleaning out our basement and invited some of the neighbors over to take any junk that they wanted and that we had no use for. While we were sitting down for coffee my neighbor and I got into a discussion how children have changed since our youth. Not really sure how we got into it but both of us are from different times but have alot of experiance with children. I am a swimming instructor and lifeguard and she was about twice my age and a school teacher. Durring this discussion we brought up instances where children are behaving more rude then either of us remembered from out own childhood. One thing that i remember most is having a 10 year old child use a more coulorful vocabulary then even I have in front of my other students, even going so far as to push another student from a different class into the deep end of the water. Of course i removed him from my lessons and i got into a huge argument with his father about it even though he was sitting in the gallery watching while his child was doing all this. My neighbor also related several of her own experiances at the nearby school. One that caught my attention was a child swearing at a teacher and telling her that she couldn't tell him what to do. So we got to talking over what has caused this shift in attitude between out generations. She came from the time when it was still common to use spanking, soap, tobasco sauce ect. and said that this was the reason why children these days are so unruly. I however come from the generation where this is uncommon and no one that i know of was actually ever severly punished yet we still never were this rude.

 

So i'd thought that this would make a great topic to discuss. What is causing this shift in attitude? or has it always been there but we just notice it as we get older?

[Grim_]

I blame popular culture. While I am one of the "children" of this generation you speak of and rather resent being called a hooligan I can see your point. In my school it has become rare for someone to hold the door for a complete stranger or even close friends. While this in itself is trivial its deeper meaning (at least for me) is that people do not find worth in their companions or at least to the degree that they used to. Like I said before I blame popular culture for this more specifically certain mainstream "rap" cultures as from what I have seen they promote unruly behavior to say the least. Just my two cents...

[Giordano]

Parents. End of debate/topic/argument/whatever.

 

Acting out of place was so dangerous as a kid because we had to face our parents later. And that was bad.

 

Now, what are parents going to do? A slap on the wrist because they can't punish their "princess".

 

This whole attitude that children are angels and not people in need of guidance/teaching is killing the youth.

[Saru Inc]

I got the [cabbage] beaten outta me when I was bad. I turned out fine. (although I am a conservative which on these forums means the same as mentally [bleep]ed up)

 

 

Also, what do you wnana bet 50 years ago people were talkking about how rude the kids of this generation is. Every generation gets "looser" morally.

 

My mom saw online, a newspaper somehow saved from the 1920s, and they were [bleep]in about how the swimsuits on laddies went up 1\2 an inch inspiring harlotry. Damn if they saw bikinis...

[Giordano]

I got the [cabbage] beaten outta me when I was bad. I turned out fine. (although I am a conservative which on these forums means the same as mentally [bleep]ed up)

 

No you're only mentally [bleep]ed up if you have the need to say your political standing in most of your posts.

[RpgGamer]

We're too soft on kids today. They're too reliant on technology. They're too desensitized to traumatic experience (thanks internet) and everything is so SAFE. I've heard my dad rant about this all the time. In his childhood, by the standards that he was raised on, todays kids wouldn't last past age 11 when compared to today's standards.

 

No child left behind?

Seatbelts?

Child labour laws?

child abuse law suits?

 

Kids today suck. Alot. I hate being part of this generation.

 

BUt it's not just that...it's the new parenting styles too. Parents today rather suck. why? Numerous reasons that I can't even begin to list. The biggest I would say is probably the rising divorce rates. Divorse messes up kids. You can't fight truth.

[Nero]

Damn kids these days with all their rap music, skateboards, and premarital sex! I blame big government for this debacle, since they're always to blame for everything!

 

/crotchyoldman

[Nadril]

Sure the language of the times may have changed since the 80's and 90's but kids are still pretty much kids. You've still got spoiled douchbags and you have the sensible kids (at least, sensible for their age haha). I don't think some people really realize or remember what they were like as a kid or a young teen, chances are you probably were just as irrational as some of these kids may seem today.

 

 

Really the only issue I could find is that it does seem like we have less kids going outside due to gaming and such becoming much more mainstream. I played a lot of video games as a kid but even then I managed (well, my parents helped encourage...) to go outside for a good bit of the day. I can't really complain too much about people playing too many games but just saying, that is about the only difference I have seen.

[doomy]

I don't think the swearing and such means as much now as it used to. Or the language you were using at that age was the equivalent to the language the kids are using now.

 

I mean, the stuff you hear now on the TV and such, there probaly was not as much of it exposed to the youth back then as there is now (mostly the internet). Because its more accepted now.

 

Also your memory probaly isn't as good as you think it is.

[Dizzle229]

A mix of pop culture and parents not being willing enough to punish their kids. Alot of them are too far gone to understand respect, that needs to be taught to the young ones early on. This unruly generation, you can't stop them from being jackasses at heart, but as long as they know there are consequences for this behavior, most of them will step in line.

 

Example, a few weeks ago my younger brother (9) had some friends over (all 9-8). They were all using my computer in my room (they know they aren't supposed to, they touch the screen and get greasy little finger prints on it). I quickly explained to them why I didn't want them their, and asked them to please leave.

The response I got back was a chorus of "[bleep] YOU!'s". Alright, punishment time. I come back with a hockey stick (not too hard, not too light), and say one more time, please leave. Same answer. I cracked one on the head the back of the stick. Immediately, all 6 left the room and never came back again. This kind of thing should never have to happen, wouldn;t have happened when I was younger, but it's the only way to keep these little [cabbage]s in line.

[mario_sunny]

Lots of contributing factors:

 

-Today's 'modern' psychology. Too many parents read up these idiotic psychology articles in magazines with barely any research to back them up, with all these new ideas of 'positive reinforcement' instead of punishment.

-Today's media. Probably the biggest contributor to be honest. The TV has powerful effects on children; they imitate it and act how other people act on it (and there is tons of research to back that up).

-Increased divorce rates. As said before on this topic.... really messes up kids.

-SCHOOL. The 'bad-[wagon]' kids teach the good kids all the punk stuff, and then they think that's cool and suddenly they think they're 'bad-[wagon]' too and teach more kids.

 

I'm just glad there are some good people out there. Not all kids today are bad.

[RpgGamer]

A mix of pop culture and parents not being willing enough to punish their kids. Alot of them are too far gone to understand respect, that needs to be taught to the young ones early on. This unruly generation, you can't stop them from being jackasses at heart, but as long as they know there are consequences for this behavior, most of them will step in line.

 

Example, a few weeks ago my younger brother (9) had some friends over (all 9-8). They were all using my computer in my room (they know they aren't supposed to, they touch the screen and get greasy little finger prints on it). I quickly explained to them why I didn't want them their, and asked them to please leave.

The response I got back was a chorus of "[bleep] YOU!'s". Alright, punishment time. I come back with a hockey stick (not too hard, not too light), and say one more time, please leave. Same answer. I cracked one on the head the back of the stick. Immediately, all 6 left the room and never came back again. This kind of thing should never have to happen, wouldn;t have happened when I was younger, but it's the only way to keep these little [cabbage]s in line.

 

Now that just seems violent, but it's sadly true. You literally have to beat these kids into telling them you mean buisness.

 

I think the reason this generation (let's say born after 2003) will be so [cabbage]ty is because they don't have any good cartoons to watch.

HAHAHA

TRUE! 90's Nickalodeon destroys anythign that's on TV these days. When I have a kid, I'm dowloading every episode of every show from that era and making them watch that instead of whatevers on at that point in time.

[rangeor]

I think the reason this generation (let's say born after 2003) will be so [cabbage]ty is because they don't have any good cartoons to watch.

HAHAHA

TRUE! 90's Nickalodeon destroys anythign that's on TV these days. When I have a kid, I'm dowloading every episode of every show from that era and making them watch that instead of whatevers on at that point in time.

Spongebob was just as terrible as the shows on today. They both have random humor, where if you don't get what's happening, you laugh. GOOD cartoons were shows like Scooby Doo with fun yet predictable plots and a bit of humor. However I'll admit some of the cartoon shows today aren't about random humor, and are just stupid... But we also had those back in the 90s.

[Range_This11]

It's all relative. If you got "the crap beat out of you" for misbehaving, it must mean you misbehaved. And in all liklihood, you probably did it more than once. We just like to perceive ourselves as better and more respectful than this generation because we're viewing from a slightly more mature outlook. The only thing that truly sucks about the new generation is the music. It's even worse than the 80s, and that, to me, is hard to top.

[Guest Mrmegakirby]

I think the reason this generation (let's say born after 2003) will be so [cabbage]ty is because they don't have any good cartoons to watch.

 

And the family channel.

[RpgGamer]

I think the reason this generation (let's say born after 2003) will be so [cabbage]ty is because they don't have any good cartoons to watch.

HAHAHA

TRUE! 90's Nickalodeon destroys anythign that's on TV these days. When I have a kid, I'm dowloading every episode of every show from that era and making them watch that instead of whatevers on at that point in time.

Spongebob was just as terrible as the shows on today. They both have random humor, where if you don't get what's happening, you laugh. GOOD cartoons were shows like Scooby Doo with fun yet predictable plots and a bit of humor. However I'll admit some of the cartoon shows today aren't about random humor, and are just stupid... But we also had those back in the 90s.

 

I was never a huge fan of Spongebob. I found him rather annoying. Scooby Doo was the [cabbage] though. Didn't even matter which version of it. The only bad one was the "baby" scooby doo when they were all kids. I mean obviously, not all 90's TV/cartoons were amazing...but overall they were far superior to the crap that's on Nickalodeon or Cartoon Network these days.

 

Nickolodeon now is just Dan Shneider taking a dump on his former genious.

[Danqazmlp]

It all stems from kids having very few consequences for their actions at the moment.

 

School: Teachers have almost no powers over the kids any more. Just touching a kid on the arm to stop them if they are fighting, or to pull them out of a room if they misbehave is not allowed. One of my old science teachers had the best trick for countering this, but unfortunately I doubt many other teachers at the moment would take up his methods. He always had a hockey stick in his room, which if somebody misbehaved would smash it down on their table right in front of them. It is scare tactics, but it worked a treat.

 

Home: What is wrong with hitting a child that misbehaves? It is what I call the 'super-nanny' generation. I tell you, when I was little, a slap around the back of the legs worked much better than if I had been told to sit on the stairs for 20 minutes. Violence in this case does solve something, parents now days seem scared of their children, it should be the other way around.

 

Mental illnesses: Every little thing now has a mental illness that a child will use as an excuse to misbehave. I don't mean to offend people who truly have a mental illness, but damn, there is one for everything at the moment, they are not ill they are just ignorant little [cabbage]s who have not learnt the correct way to behave!

[RpgGamer]

Actually, I was a fan of Spongebob (but then again, when it was in it's prime, I was like 5). Spongebob, Cat Dog, Rocco's Modern Life *cough* look at my name *cough*, DOUG, Rugrats... the list goes on.

 

 

Sadly I didn't like a single one of those shows. Except Rugrats. That was a masterpiece. It seems like your only old enough to remember the downfall of the great 90's Nick Empire.

 

Unles you can recall

Slimetime Live

Doug

Hey, Arnold!

Rocket Power

Legend of the Hidden Temple

Lizzie Mcguire

the ORIGINAL All That cast

Keenan and Kel

The Amanda Show

 

...and so on and so forth

[champion]

Oh [cabbage] it's gonna turn into another "let's reminisce about the '90s" thread.

[RpgGamer]

Oh [cabbage] it's gonna turn into another "let's reminisce about the '90s" thread.

 

 

Too late.

 

Remember when we weren't at war with a faceless enemy, and the only thing people cared about the goverment was the fact that Clinton was a womanizer?

I miss that.

[Dizzle229]

Oh [cabbage] it's gonna turn into another "let's reminisce about the '90s" thread.

 

 

Too late.

 

Remember when we weren't at war with a faceless enemy, and the only thing people cared about the goverment was the fact that Clinton was a womanizer?

I miss that.

 

Remember when the most dangerous terrorist organization we had to deal with was Cobra?

[RpgGamer]

Oh [cabbage] it's gonna turn into another "let's reminisce about the '90s" thread.

 

 

Too late.

 

Remember when we weren't at war with a faceless enemy, and the only thing people cared about the goverment was the fact that Clinton was a womanizer?

I miss that.

 

Remember when the most dangerous terrorist organization we had to deal with was Cobra?

 

ROFL

 

Remember when people really thought they could catch 'em all?

[Dizzle229]

Yep. People blew away hundreds of dollars "catching them all", only for 300 new ones to come out every other week. Actually, the "gotta catch em all" marketing was genius.

 

But lets take this to the thread you made in Music Movies & Television.

[Hydra_55555]

Mild punishment (slap on the legs, backside, confiscation etc) should still be allowed and parents should use them appropriately.

 

When I was a child, this whole "slapping your children is a no-no" thing was just coming into the public interest, and guess what? My parents and even my grandparents didn't pay any attention to that if I misbehaved.

 

Sure, I could have landed them in hot water if I said something to someone, but I didn't. Why? Because I understood that it was a punishment for me doing something wrong. I wasn't scared of my parents, but I knew it was a consequence to fear them if I had done something I shouldn't have. (Fear may be too strong a word, respect would maybe be better).

 

All those people blaming culture are ignoring one thing: it's still up to the individual to decide their own actions. You can listen to rap music and still be a courteous person.

 

Teachers in schools is a bit of a grey area, they obviously shouldn't be allowed to punish someone like parents can, but on the other hand they need more power to stop disruptive individuals.

[Zierro]

Their egos are too big nowadays. I didn't get my ego until I got the internet.