Why our youth is worse every generation

[SlitheryDee]

Then why is crime % SUBSTANTIALLY down (and at it's lowest) from 10 years ago?

The best and most deliciously politically charged answer I've seen to this is one word: Abortion

Who commits the most crimes? Unwanted children/teens who were born into poor, single-parent households. Who is most likely to get an abortion? Poor, single women who don't want children.

The sharp drop in crimes we've seen over the last decade or so lines up perfectly with the Rowe vs. Wade decision which made abortion legal. 18 years later, when all those unwanted children would have been entering their prime crime-committing years, the crime rate in the U.S. begins to fall. It's because so many of the would-be criminals simply aren't there to commit any crimes.

There are arguments against this theory that have some merits, but even the opponents are merely positing that a smaller percentage of the drop in crime can be attributed to abortion, not that it has no effect at all. I tend to agree with Donohue and Levitt, who originally came out with the study though.

In any case, all that is to say that maybe crime rates are dropping not because the younger generation is being raised better than past generations but rather because the parts of it that would have been raised poorly never managed to reach adulthood.

 

[ControlD]

None of this shit matters. The problem happens when you tell them to keep their hands to themselves at school, and then they see a newspaper or hear something on the radio about thousands of people being slaughtered in Syria. You can only lie to them about the world for so long. They will one day realize they were lied to, and then the confusion sets in.

Bull.

You as a parent explain the bad things happening in the world and at the same time teach your kids to keep their hands to themselves. The two are not mutually exclusive. If you don't want your kids to be confused about the world when they grow up, be a parent and teach them. It isn't rocket science.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Correlation != Causation yadda yadda yadda.

 

[JM Aggie08]

Not sure what you're talking about; I piss excellence.

I do attribute entitled attitudes to giving out trophies to children, merely for participation. The constant celebration of mediocrity is holding us back. The majority of people these days don't strive for greatness, but rather settle for the status quo.

 

[overst33r]

Then why is crime % SUBSTANTIALLY down (and at it's lowest) from 10 years ago?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legalized_abortion_and_crime_effect

 

[irishScott]

Oh can we quit this shit already?

Youth isn't getting worse every generation, the previous generation just cherry-picks traits they don't like and declare the doom of society before said generation is even out of college. Sure with advances in technology it's easier to slack off than ever, but don't think previous generations wouldn't have done the same given the same advantages.

Life is better now. Have we lost some of our primal edge as a result? Probably. Is it worth the provided advantages? Society has collectively answered "yes".

 

[sourceninja]

I think it's parenting that is getting worse, not children. I see behavior out of parents that would have never stood when I was a child. I can't even count the number of times I see the way kids are acting while parents do nothing and think "My dad would have beat my ass right there in public!"

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I think it's parenting that is getting worse, not children. I see behavior out of parents that would have never stood when I was a child. I can't even count the number of times I see the way kids are acting while parents do nothing and think "My dad would have beat my ass right there in public!"

Exact same shit with the guy a generation before you.

"A kid dared to laugh in public? Deserves a whippin"

 

[irishScott]

I think it's parenting that is getting worse, not children. I see behavior out of parents that would have never stood when I was a child. I can't even count the number of times I see the way kids are acting while parents do nothing and think "My dad would have beat my ass right there in public!"

Believe it or not I predict parenting will get better over the next generation or two.

I'm 27, and I know a TON of people who are learning about life the hard way after being raised by soft parents who didn't prepare them for the world. But they are learning. I also know young people who have overcome severe abuse, neglect, have served in combat or are otherwise working their asses to the bone trying to make something of themselves. These are the millenials you never hear about because there aren't any downward social comparisons to make.

Granted there are also plenty of rich, spoiled, "party 3 times a week and graduate with a 2.0 in Leadership" kids, but most aren't doing it out of some malicious sense of "entitlement". They're doing it because they have no idea what the fuck they're doing. Mommy and daddy told them to go to college, so they did. They're actually typically very polite and respectful face-to-face, and they mean well. With a little backbone they'd be fine people, and mommy and daddy won't be around forever. Eventually a lot of them will learn too. The laziest of them will proably never even have kids, as opposed to previous generations where the societal expectations in that regard would have forced them to.

It'll be subtle, but with the economy being what it is and no new Golden Age on the horizon, I'd say America's post-WWII coasting has finally ended. The next generation will be substantially less spoiled than the last.

 

[njdevilsfan87]

Here's to hoping Generation Y is the first to put an end to this and just raise our kids the best we can, while realizing change is going to happen whether we like it or not. And not tell them they're stupid and wrong just because we don't prefer to do things the way they do.

 

[GobBluth]

Because ignorance breeds ignorance. simple.

 

[IronWing]

Here's to hoping Generation Y is the first to put an end to this and just raise our kids the best we can, while realizing change is going to happen whether we like it or not. And not tell them they're stupid and wrong just because we don't prefer to do things the way they do.

I remember back in college I was talking to my dad about generational differences. One thing I suggested was that my generation wouldn't have built the suburbs, preferring smaller, urban houses. I was wrong, so wrong. My generation prompty went on to build suburbs on steroids with McMansions, gated communities, and HOAs.

 

[Kaido]

It wasn't that long ago that kids were expected to go to school and work and be obedient and be respectful and be clean and quiet and etc etc etc. Well of course the idea of kids working is the product of a poor society, so as America prospered that idea fell by the wayside and good riddance to it. But kids were still expected to go to school and LEARN, and be obedient, respect their elders, keep their rooms clean and do chores, etc etc etc and working could wait until they were in their teens and needed to learn some self-reliance to prepare for the world. And then a generation later obedience and respect got wiped away because it was considered progressive that kids are individuals and that learning and working hard to prepare for adulthood were the really important things. And then a generation later learning was considered too onerous and a truly enlightened society would take care of everyone no matter how stupid and lazy they were, so classes were dumbed down and grades artificially raised so that no kids would feel left behind. It was no longed important to learn, just like in Little League kids were given a trophy just for participating in school. And then it was discovered that nobody really needed jobs, they just needed a degree and everything would fall into place for them as soon as they had a magical piece of paper in hand that shows they're marginally capable of doing an entry level job that kids had in high school a couple of generations earlier.

Honestly, what is expected of kids today? Parents don't parent, discipline is considered brutality, punishment is considered barbaric, failure won't be allowed because it's clearly society's fault, school is only a place to go to get fed, jobs are for the suckers who are not getting paid by mommy and daddy (or the government) to not work and it's all okay because each generation has to accomplish less, try less, care less than the generation before it and that's a sign that things are getting better because each generation of kids has things better than their parents and by better it means they have fewer of those pesky rules and expectations to deal with.

Good post. The new generation is facing some scary things: high student debt, outsourced manufacturing jobs, and entry-level jobs that require college degrees with years of experience. In the 15-odd years since I got out of high school, I've seen computers change from a specialized, appreciated (especially in terms of wages) field to a $13-an-hour Geek Squad commodity.

The bottom line is that parents have to act like parents if they want the results they're looking for. It's not the school's job to teach them how to balance their bank account, shop for food & cook, treat people nicely, and realize that there are negative consequences for bad actions.

 

[MarkXIX]

None of this shit matters. The problem happens when you tell them to keep their hands to themselves at school, and then they see a newspaper or hear something on the radio about thousands of people being slaughtered in Syria. You can only lie to them about the world for so long. They will one day realize they were lied to, and then the confusion sets in.

You cannot raise the children of yesterday in the world of today. The world of today is no place for a child to be raised, and it will get much worse before it gets better.

See how this works? People will not stop having kids. Population will increase and so will the perils each generation will face. People will clash, the walls of the cocoon will stretch and tighten, until finally, it bursts open and a new humanity will emerge. Humanity+, or humanity 2.0, call it what you will, but our children are doomed until then. We are the necessary sacrifice to be offered on the alter of post singularity earth. The birth pangs are barely starting. Critical mass is a little ways off yet, and there is no stopping it. No way out. Your children must endure the suffering!

The new reality is that you raise your kids in contrast to the media onslaught. That's what I do and I find it effective. I augment discussion at the dinner table with e-mailed articles to my teenager.

For example, she's always wanting to stuff her face with cookie dough against my insistence that it is 1) unhealthy to do so in the quantities that she WANTS and 2) it bears further health risk for contamination. So, just this weekend an article was posted online about a middle aged woman who lost a three year battle with e.coli infection of her organs that was the result of eating commercially available cookie dough.

This same teenager bitches about having to read for school. So, she gets sent articles from places like Afghanistan and Pakistan where girls get raped, beaten, and killed for even attempting to educate themselves.

So, long story short, you educate them through nagging and forcible discussion and you augment with media that drives home your point.

PS - I am considered a tyrant or despotic dictator at times by my children, however, they will have realized when they become independent adults that living at home was both challenging and will thank me one day.

 

[ultimatebob]

Are they really though? I'm curious to see how history will remember the boomers. I'm apparently barely in Gen Y and I think we're doing okay.

Probably as a generation who carelessly polluted the planet for the generation after them in a quest to procure as much worthless crap as possible.

They'll probably say the same thing about us, actually.

 

[z1ggy]

Not sure if kids now a day or "worse" than before, but I think part of it is almost jealousy of sorts by older folks, if they realize it or not.

"Well back in my day, I had to walk 6 miles to get groceries in the pouring rain while a hurricane came through!!! Now you kids can just drive yer faaaaancy automobiles with yer cell phones and Gee Pee Es!!!!"

I mean shit, I have had a full time job since I Was 22, lived on my own since 18 and bought my own house at 23. I don't see how I am "worse" than a 22 or 23 year old was 50 years ago.

 

[moonbogg]

Bull.

You as a parent explain the bad things happening in the world and at the same time teach your kids to keep their hands to themselves. The two are not mutually exclusive. If you don't want your kids to be confused about the world when they grow up, be a parent and teach them. It isn't rocket science.

There is only one explanation for that and you don't want them to hear it. The explanation is that humanity, as it stands, is a failed experiment. It can't be fixed. Humanity is outgrowing its planet and things are going to get very tight around here. Conditions will fully ripen for the worst of human nature to come out in broad daylight. The biggest problems westerners face today is finding a job. The biggest problems our kids will face tomorrow is coping with the chaos of a hollowed out shell of a society.

 

[ControlD]

There is only one explanation for that and you don't want them to hear it. The explanation is that humanity, as it stands, is a failed experiment. It can't be fixed. Humanity is outgrowing its planet and things are going to get very tight around here. Conditions will fully ripen for the worst of human nature to come out in broad daylight. The biggest problems westerners face today is finding a job. The biggest problems our kids will face tomorrow is coping with the chaos of a hollowed out shell of a society.

Then why the hell did you have kids??

You're taking the wrong drugs man.

 

[moonbogg]

The new reality is that you raise your kids in contrast to the media onslaught. That's what I do and I find it effective. I augment discussion at the dinner table with e-mailed articles to my teenager.

For example, she's always wanting to stuff her face with cookie dough against my insistence that it is 1) unhealthy to do so in the quantities that she WANTS and 2) it bears further health risk for contamination. So, just this weekend an article was posted online about a middle aged woman who lost a three year battle with e.coli infection of her organs that was the result of eating commercially available cookie dough.

This same teenager bitches about having to read for school. So, she gets sent articles from places like Afghanistan and Pakistan where girls get raped, beaten, and killed for even attempting to educate themselves.

So, long story short, you educate them through nagging and forcible discussion and you augment with media that drives home your point.

PS - I am considered a tyrant or despotic dictator at times by my children, however, they will have realized when they become independent adults that living at home was both challenging and will thank me one day.

This is an excellent post about how to be the best parent you can in a world that's only going to get worse.

Then why the hell did you have kids??

You're taking the wrong drugs man.

Forgeting about
How too many
Respectful children become
Ingrates
Turn about face and own it
Please

 

[Mai72]

I'm currently watching a 1950s movie about Mark Twain and some guy. The little boy in the movie says "gosh" and ""willy markers." lol...

Kids back then were much more obedient. But, times have changed. IMO, times have changed so it's inevitable that people change as well. I don't think children are any worse then they were 50 years ago. I just think they think differently. Today, teens are more likely to think independently. They are more likely to question authority. That doesn't mean that they are disrespecting adults. I just think that most older adults have a difficult difficult time with this, because they remember how they acted 30 years ago.

 

[smackababy]

What exactly are are "our" youth worse at? Technology? Nope. Literacy? Nope. Math and Science? Nope. Crime? Nope. Smoking? Nope. Mortality rate? Nope.

In fact, the only thing our youth seems to be worse than previous generations at are "morals" we pretend are the only acceptable ways to live and being annoying.

 

[moonbogg]

What exactly are are "our" youth worse at? Technology? Nope. Literacy? Nope. Math and Science? Nope. Crime? Nope. Smoking? Nope. Mortality rate? Nope.

In fact, the only thing our youth seems to be worse than previous generations at are "morals" we pretend are the only acceptable ways to live and being annoying.

They are better at all those things you mentioned. Those things form the guts of the cocoon. They are what transforms us into something better some day.
But they are also better at killing each other. The violence threshold has been moved way closer, right where it evolved itself to be, as a first and natural response. We haven't responded easily with violence in the past because our needs were met, but those needs will no longer be met, and once enough people fail to have their needs met, violence will become primary once again.
Only when things get really terrible for the majority of people will the things you listed finally save us.

The threshold of violence starts at our feet, it moves away from us and is viewed as progress, but it then rubber bands back and hits us hard, right where it started. It comes full circle and once it finally does, then we realize there are no options left. No plan B. We are done. The only thing to do is transform.

 

[ImpulsE69]

shrug


I sent one of the kids to bed early for not eating their salad

I'm calling DHS. That's torture. (the salad that is, not the bed early)

 

[ImpulsE69]

Not sure if kids now a day or "worse" than before, but I think part of it is almost jealousy of sorts by older folks, if they realize it or not.

"Well back in my day, I had to walk 6 miles to get groceries in the pouring rain while a hurricane came through!!! Now you kids can just drive yer faaaaancy automobiles with yer cell phones and Gee Pee Es!!!!"

I mean shit, I have had a full time job since I Was 22, lived on my own since 18 and bought my own house at 23. I don't see how I am "worse" than a 22 or 23 year old was 50 years ago.

I do, myself, and people older than me were working at 12 and out of the house at 16! (ok last part isn't true, I left right after HS graduation). You may be the minority these days though. I know 30 year olds that have never left home. Way too many actually....

 

[moonbogg]

I'm calling DHS. That's torture. (the salad that is, not the bed early)

You mean CPS? I think that would be a CPS call. If he was letting the kids play with explosives, then you can call DHS.