kids just have it too easy in these days.

[HARDKOREBJ]

when i was a kid it was tought.i worked did chores and school work.kids are just not being taught hard work these days.

 

[lobito]

I didn't think there were any adults left in the world that stood up to their kids anymore.

If I tried 25% of the crap kids get away with these days, I'd be dead now. When I was a kid, it was disciplining a kid to spank them, now it's child abuse.

 

[flawed_ethics]

Well...

Perhaps kids today are too rambunctious.

On the other hand... perhaps we don't notice the kids ho are growing up as they should - productive members of society. There ARE good kids out there - those who study - those who keep healthy - those who keep up with issues and are still enjoying their times as kids.

After all, they are kids, and they'll be kids only once - so I think every kid deserves an occassional break.

But I agree, there's a good deal of rotten apples out there. Let's just try not to let the few rotten apples make the whole batch look bad.

Of course, this is coming out of the mind of a 21 yr. old, so take it as far as you can throw it...

 

[Always]

hey I was a good kid... I did what my parents wanted. doesn't mean i didn;'t bitch about it and hate them for it, but i did it. that's all anyone gets out of me without earning it.

 

[Closet Desire]

I have to disagree...

...I think that one of the only things that has changed about growing up is that we actually expect more from children. For example, when I was growing up I didn't have to learn about computers because they didn't exist and the truth is that even a word processor is more complicated to learn than a typewriter.

Two of our kids are just finishing their high school educations and I truly feel they had to endure far more than I did.

I think that what does change is our perception of children as we grow older. I think we see things that we didn't see when we were younger and I think we sanitize the things we ourselves did. We may think we did chores etc etc, but I'm not so sure our parents would agree that we did.

Most of the kids I see around me are decent kids and I'll lay odds that 99% of them will get on with their lives in the same way we did. Some will be successful--some will not. Some will be happy--some will not.

There is a tendency to think we know more about kids now because we have such easy access to news and media, but this only heightens our awareness of the ones who are trouble. If you see a "gang" of kids being troublesome in a car park you should ask yourself "how many kids are there" and then think about what a small number it is compared to those attending the local school or living in your neighborhood. I sort of puts it back into proportion.

Just an observation...

 

[LadyDarkFire]

Kids go through alot more today, have different things to deal with, so why judge them by the past? If you look at the differences in schooling alone, you can see why kids are different. Speaking from recent expirience, I was raised by two older parents, and I had different values than my friends because of it. I value the lessons that having that expirience taught me, but alot of lessons, I learned harder than my friends, because I was not prepared for them. In the 1960s, the issue of drugs was not as complicated as it was now, and was considered a huge issue. Designer drugs, school violence, sex, pregnancy, and alot of other things have moved into a major roll in the world of a teenager. Teenagers today are expected to grow up faster than the last generation, some disturbance is going to come from finding out what that roll means exactly.

 

[HARDKOREBJ]

i was a good kid

but when i did something wrong.i had to get a hickory from the tree and take it.most kids today just get no phone or tv for a week.oh wow like that really going to make them learn.

 

[shadowsource]

yeah

They're too polite & dull, altogether formatted for mall culture.

 

[HARDKOREBJ]

kids

they need to be taught respect and a work ethic when they are young.

 

[Bob Peale]

I didn't think there were any adults left in the world that stood up to their kids anymore.

If I tried 25% of the crap kids get away with these days, I'd be dead now. When I was a kid, it was disciplining a kid to spank them, now it's child abuse.

So far, I haven't had a problem with this. The line between discipline and abuse is not nearly as fine as people like to make it out to be.

On the other hand, a spanking should be a last resort...I'm talking Defcon 1 here. If a child knows he's going to get whacked for every transgression, after a while he learns to steele himself against the physical discomfort.

 

[livin_simple]

I think it isn't so much the kids as the direction our society is heading that bothers me.

As some examples:
-we equate access to information with knowledge.

-having an attitude is equated with having grit, the deep down inner steel that pushes through the hard times.

-having the look is equated with having the ability

-We even have on-line communities of people who've never seen each other

We have become a society of fakes and facades. We are politically correct and exercise spin control on all of the current events. There is no right or wrong - it is all a matter of perspective, viewpoint and personal experience. There is no such thing as a long-term perspective or seeking what is the greater good. Everything is measure by the quarterly bottom-line, the weekly opinion polls and immediate self-gratification.

Hey, it's not just the kids. We're all part of the problem.

 

[shadowsource]

I'll second that one!

It's all a fraud.

 

[Comshaw]

posted by HARDKOREBJ
when i was a kid it was tought.i worked did chores and school work.kids are just not being taught hard work these days.

I hate to rain on your parade, but that is horse shit. Yes there are a number of kids that are getting into trouble, but if you check the percetage, it's no more then it use to be.
And as for discipline, a hiding does absolutely nothing for some kids. I was one that got beat on a regular basis, my old man would break 3 or 4 willow switches over my back, and I still kept getting into trouble.
I fought with my son all the way through his teen years. I used every type of punishment short of a hiding(I absolutely refused to do that) and he insisted on getting into more trouble anyway.
But you know what? He's now 24 and works 10 to 12 hour days and won't take a hand-out (gift of money) from his parents. He has borrowed a time or two, but after presenting us with a signed contract for repayment.
My daughter is the same way. She's 21 and very independent.
And to prove it ain't just families with both parents that raise good kids, my sister was divorced 11 years ago. Her son just turned 20. Yes he was a pain in the ass growing up, but he now works 6 days a week as a roofer, and his boss wanted to know if there were any more where he came from.
The generality that kids are shiftless, lazy and no good these days is so much fertilizer. I was a scoutmaster for 12 years, and I watched a whole group of young men grow up. All but one are now hard working, productive members of society.
Everyone seems to fall back on the argument,"Well back in the good old days, we learned how to work hard and were taught discipline with the strap", Yea right.
If that's true, where did people like the Barker family, Bonnie Parker, Clyde Barrow, Pretty Boy Floyd, Al Capone and the like come from? Or go back even farther, Jesse and Frank James, John Harding, Frank Warren, William Bonney, where pray tell did they come from?
Besides, for my money, I'd rather try and do something about a few kids close to me, then bitch and moan about the entire generation. As I said, I was a Scout Master for 12 years, I was active with a church youth group for 10 years, a part of the Four H for 11 years and through the JayCees did a lot more youth oriented projects. All weren't just for my kids, but for each and every kid involved. I believe that each time I touch a young life, try to assist a youngster in finding the right path, or just show concern or interest it will make an impact.
Try the "touch a young life and make a ripple felt down the ages", concept. Be a mentor. It works.

Comshaw

 

[teresafannin]

I have to agree with Comshaw. The vast majority of kids I know all worked at least part time during high school, bought their own cars, kept their grades up & are now doing the same thing in college. Yes, at times they were a pain in the ass, so was I when I was a teen ager, but when they got into trouble, they paid consequences, just like I did. There are so many more good kids out there than bad ones, it is just that the good ones very seldom make for good headlines. I am so proud of the young people I know. Their senior year started out with the death of one their best friends, but they pulled together & helped each other through it. The future isn't in nearly as much trouble as people like to think. I spent a lot of years in PTA, Scouts, band boosters, church & youth activities & met some awesome kids & their parents.

 

[Guest]

 

[Renegade]

When I was a kid, we had to walk 50 miles through snow just to get to school. And back then, we didn't have pacifiers, we just sucked on pieces of wood. And back when I was a kid, we didn't have t.v. sets. Why, back when I was a kid we didn't even have real clothes. We just wore potato sacks with little holes cut in the sides for our arms and legs. But you kids these days? Bah!

 

[Cheyenne]

Some things never change...

Didn't they say the same about *YOUR* generation? "You kids have it so easy. When I was your age, I fill-in-the-blank."

As long as there are adults and kids, there will be comparisons to "the good ol' days".

Yup, exactly right.

I don't think the kids these days are any worse than the kids of my generation. There are a lot of good ones out there, we just don't hear as much about them as we hear about the bad ones.

The part I have a problem with is the kids LOOKING like my generation! I wore those 70 clothes in the 70's! They look hilarious to me on kids in the year 2001.