Losing faith in this generation of children

This just happened today. I'm walking out of my house towards the car with laptop bag in one hand, and car keys in the other about to leave for class. as I'm walking out i see across the street two young neighbor girls. They couldn't have been any older than 10-11 years old. They were dressed up in odd clothing, something maybe a cheap hooker might wear. They both were walking up and down the sidewalk and they happened to spot me and started saying things like "hey hey, looking for a good time?". the only thing i could do after that is look down and shake my head in disgust. It's sad to think that's the future of our society. And this isn't the first instance something like that has happened. I constantly observe young boys/girls that are 12-13 years old that smoke/drink, probably aren't even virgins anymore, don't go to school, and young girls having boyfriends that are like 17 years old. It's pretty disturbing to think about. It's like children these days, what happened? i know I'm too young to be talking about children like this, but there's seriously something wrong here. when i was 12-13, me and my friend's idea of getting high was taking chocolate syrup shots to get a sugar rush. Kids these days have an over-inflated sense of self-entitlement. they whine and complain about how their lives are so unfair, and are totally rude and obnoxious to their elders. If i ever talked to my parents the way some of these kids do, my jaw would be missing right now. seriously.

But what's to blame? the child? bad parenting? peer pressure? poor propaganda? perhaps a combination of all of these. Another thing i see disturbing are parents that make excuses for their child's poor behaviors. This means the child isn't learning anything from their actions except that you can get through life by making excuses for everything. I remember watching judge Judy once and this 16 year old kid stole some relative's car and crashed it. The father of the kid blamed it on his ADHD. SERIOUSLY? Yeah I'm pretty sure ADHD made the kid steal the car and crash it. this is why i don't watch TV often cause i catch myself yelling at stupid people, through a stupid box, for being stupid! >_< but i digress... anyone else find this disturbing? Thoughts and opinions are welcomed!

A Desolate Soul said:

This just happened today. I'm walking out of my house towards the car with laptop bag in one hand, and car keys in the other about to leave for class. as I'm walking out i see across the street two young neighbor girls. They couldn't have been any older than 10-11 years old. They were dressed up in odd clothing, something maybe a cheap hooker might wear. They both were walking up and down the sidewalk and they happened to spot me and started saying things like "hey hey, looking for a good time?". the only thing i could do after that is look down and shake my head in disgust. It's sad to think that's the future of our society. And this isn't the first instance something like that has happened. I constantly observe young boys/girls that are 12-13 years old that smoke/drink, probably aren't even virgins anymore, don't go to school, and young girls having boyfriends that are like 17 years old. It's pretty disturbing to think about. It's like children these days, what happened? i know I'm too young to be talking about children like this, but there's seriously something wrong here. when i was 12-13, me and my friend's idea of getting high was taking chocolate syrup shots to get a sugar rush. Kids these days have an over-inflated sense of self-entitlement. they whine and complain about how their lives are so unfair, and are totally rude and obnoxious to their elders. If i ever talked to my parents the way some of these kids do, my jaw would be missing right now. seriously.

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You really think today has gone worse?

Look up history when 40 year old guys married 13 year olds. Smoking and drinking amongst youngsters was common thing and considered normal, there wasn't that grown up age. Everybody grew up differently, ones sooner, ones later. Today we have just this odd way to measure everything in laws and paragraphs. Who sais what is right or what is wrong?
Disgust thing is more associated with thoughts of disgust in paedophilia, planted by media. In anciet Rome, this was normal thing, paedophilia was not about rape.

The thing about you noticing spoiled and disgusting youth may have to do something with your upbringing. I am more than sure, that there was spoiled and disgusting youth in your time also, you just hung out in different types of communities and didn't see everything, therefore giving you the illusion of oh so happy and beautiful childhood.

At 42, I see and have worked, as a teacher, with a lot of entitled and obnoxious youngsters. When I was 10-11, I played and hung around with entitled and obnoxious youngsters. I made it out of my youth, just as many of the rest of my generation did, and so will a good many of these young people. I see and agree with all that you said. I think every decade has it's own unique problems with humanity and their behaviors. Is it evolution or devolution? Different folks will have different thoughts. I think all the causes you mentioned have input on the current dynamic. In the end though, bad things will arise but right beside it, so will the good things emerge. If we can keep breaking even with the odds, there will always be something to celebrate, after the tragedies...

I agree. Kids are a lot more disrespectful now than they used to be. When I was going to school, a kid fighting a teacher was the most horrible thing ever and everyone was in shock about it. Now, it's so common, no one blinks an eye at the news.

Kids are in a hurry to grow up. Sex and drugs seem to be what they think makes them grown up. Disrespecting adults seems to be the equivalent of being on the adult's level to them. It's sad. When I was a kid, being on a adult's level meant being able to communicate with them and not be shot down as "just a kid", not being able to hurl as many insults as possible and not get in trouble for it.

To the OP- I believe it is the times we are living in- and it is not just affecting children, but all age groups. I am very disturbed by the things that I see and hear around me and around the country. Call me nuts, but I think something is going on at large. Something just doesn't feel right in the world. I get this feeling of collective tension that I never felt years ago- like I almost feel that society is coming to a point of, someone mentioned this word, devolution. I feel there will be some sort of large-scale self destruction that will force people to wake up and change their ways or seal their fate. It could be in relation to 2012 (doubtful), who knows... but something's definitely going on

I believe in the children, they are our future.

I don't think kids are any worse than they were in past generations. It's not fair to generalize some teenage hookers to a whole generation. That is an extreme example of what is happening to kids.
It seems like when I hear people commenting on how "bad kids today are", there's also a comment about how "when I was a kid, if I tried to (fill in the blank), I would get whipped/spanked/a lecture/punished". Guess what, kids today get punished for bad behavior as well. If you don't have kids or don't spend much time around kids, you're not likely to know that.
When kids are bad, I blame the parents and also the community at large. Mothers and fathers need to be accountable for raising their kids to be responsible members of society. But it also takes a village to raise a child. The next time you see a 10 year old hooker, instead of shaking your head in disgust, why don't you talk to her in a humane way? What is her name, does she need help? Who knows, you might save a life in more ways than one.

Teresa

SofiasMami said:

The next time you see a 10 year old hooker, instead of shaking your head in disgust, why don't you talk to her in a humane way? What is her name, does she need help? Who knows, you might save a life in more ways than one.

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I agree with your post at large, but I don't think this part is feasible for a lot of people, especially if you live in a distressed neighborhood like parts of Baltimore (closest city to me). This could be dangerous, just my opinion.

^^^I'd rather die trying to help fix kids than sit back and ***** about how "bad kids are these days."

But that's just me. I believe in kids as our future. Really, all it takes is touching one life. If you can do that, then you've done your part and you KNOW that one child will grow up to be productive, to help others, and to live a good life. And if that kid touches another child's life...

...well, you get the picture.

Ehh where i live, you don't really know your neighbors. and being as shy as i already am, i prefer not to get involved with my neighbor's problems. I guess the community could be a lot of the reason since i do live in a big city.
The reason why i bring up kids and their bad behavior is because i clearly see it happen in public places all the time. For example, grocery stores (the one place parents detest taking their children to). I'm pretty sure everyone has seen kids at least once disrespect their parents in the grocery stores, but how often do the parents do anything about it? hardly ever. However, there was one time this 7-8 year old little kid called his mom a "stupid *****" when i was at the bank. She dragged him outside and gave him a spanking i don't think he'll ever forget. I thought it was great! The thing is with children, you can't reason with them with adult logic. call me old fashioned, but i think kids need a good spanking once in a while. And before anyone jumps to conclusions, no i was not beaten growing up. I got about 4-5 spankings in my lifetime from my parents and looking back, i did deserve them.
Now to be fair, i have met many well behaved children. But I've noticed that well behaved children more often know what their parents expect from them. for example, i was going out to dinner once with some family friends and they were bringing along there 7, 8, and 10 year olds. Before we entered the restaurant, i overheard the mother of the children say in a very serious manner that she expected them to be on their absolute best behavior and they'd be allowed to get ice cream afterward. Sure enough, the kids were on their best behavior and well-mannered.

Hi-
I don't spank or hit my kiddo but that's a whole other topic - lol.
The thing with kids, is that we adults have to teach them how to behave properly. Like how to behave in public places, how to say please and thank you, etc. The other thing is, we parents have to teach the same things over and over and over and over and over again. Kids don't get life's lessons in one shot, that's just a fact. When you have children, you will learn this. Guess what, you misbehaved repeatedly and embarrassed your parents too when you were a kid and not just the times you were spanked.The children you saw getting an ice cream were probably well-rested and also excited to have their ice cream and involved in eating. Who wants to run around in circles, yelling when there's yummy ice cream to eat? These seemingly angelic children that you saw may have given their parents a run for their money later on the same day. That is life with a child. Ever hear the phrase "stop acting like a 2 year old?" directed at an adult? What do you supposed "acting like a 2 year old" means in that context?
Misbehaving children with frustrated parents who have to teach them how to behave is nothing new. Children were sassy and naughty 50 years ago, 150 years ago and 5,000 years ago. It's a fact of life.
I used to be a perfect parent. Then I had a child.

Teresa