Yes, absolutely. I'm in a position where my job has me working with a lot of teenagers during the summer since the time I was one of them myself, and they are absolutely horrid human beings. They are lazy, mouthy, crude, disrespectful and just plain ignorant AND stupid. I was all of those things at one time too, but these kids take it to a whole other level.

i'm sorry but these fuggin children today are monsters. back in the day, if you even tried to pull some of disrespectful shit that these kids pull would get you an ass whipping with the switch off the tree. parents seem scared to discipline their kids cuz they don't want to go to jail when the kid calls

errant said:

I was just talking to my client The Catholic Marriage Educators and she says the new generation of brides are HORRIBLE and she hopes they suffer and learn some humility in the recession/depression. You can't go through life expecting to get handed everything on a silver platter

My closest observations are the teens at the runaway shleter where I work. There are some fantastic kids in some incredibly difficult situations that they had no part in creating. I am amazed at how resiliant some kids are. One thing we have noticed is the lack of motivation and focus. Many have no goals ~ even immediate ones, and no role models. They often don't know their heritage (many don't even know who their biological father is), and they just sort of wander. It's rare to hear a kid state emphatically that they want to go to college, or be a sports star, or what profession they want for their future. They don't even have favourite musicians. We are seeing a general lack of respect at a much younger age (we take from age 9 through 17). It's been the best job I've ever had though and it is because of the kids that I stay.

MoonSongs said:

wow! glad they have someone caring like you!

kimrachell said:

Thank you
They keep me young!

MoonSongs said:

The work that you do there is truly harrowing and heroic. I don't know how you still do it.

MoonSongs said:

The work that you do there is truly harrowing and heroic. I don't know how you still do it.

TRON said:

Me neither.

Vendetta1 said:

You are my hero, Ivy ~ you do it every day. I haven't forgotten about the call ~ this week.

MoonSongs said:

You make me cry when you say stuff like that.

We're not allowed to discipline our kids anymore. Not like in the old days anyway.

Mach said:

I like that answer. I think the "average" teenager will always be some kind of shortsighted rebel, but when I look at some adults and actually talk to them, I sometimes feel like they are behaving and acting like teenagers would normally do, which makes me feel way older than them. There will always be stupid, spoiled etc. people and no generation is "worse" than another one, the negative characteristics just change from generation to generation, depending on what is happening around the kids.

mdiver said:

That and the fact that we spoil our children. We give them everything they want. We are creating a society of people who think everything should be handed to them.

Let me preface this with: in my opinion.

CORRECTION!

Parents & teachers today are way worse. Back in the day, teachers and parents actually gave a fuck.

Don't blame a child, blame it on where they picked their attitude from.

Vendetta1 said:

I think that's the problem. The spoiling, not the discipline. All the people I knew with the strictest parents turned out the most rebellious. My parents were very lenient and I never went wild, but they definitley spoiled us and it really has damaged me in an unobvious way

Arnotts said:

can you try and explain what it is?

ZombieKitten said:

Well I find it quite hard to go out and do things on my own. I'm not as independent as I should be for my age. Although it could just be due to my personality rather than the spoiling factor. And when I say spoil I don't mean showered me with all the gifts and toys I wanted, I mean more emotionally spoilt. Doing things for me that I should of been doing myself, always giving in to my way. At the time I loved it, now I wish they hadn't of done that. I really think thats the problem with parents these days, most never got spoilt or were shown that much love so they feel they have to be the opposite with their child. Now I say unobvious because I still do everything on my own, and I seem to have turned out to be a good kid, but it is a real struggle.

Harlepolis said:

AND corporal punishment was an option don't forget!