The Absymal Generation of Youths

For a while now, many people including me have experienced disrespect from the current generation of youths. Ironically, at first I thought kids would be more and more respectful to their elders, friends, and family as time goes on. However, the exact opposite is happening nowadays, as a student I cannot go on one day without some discriminating remark being thrown at me, is this a "normal" sign of teenagers? Or should children be more ethical and moral as they get older? The signs are not only in behavior, but also prevalent in education.

In High School, I've heard of or seen teens having sex with each other, beating each other up, flaming till one throws the fist. There are 17 year olds still flinging rubber bands around at teachers and other students. You have immature individuals making the most impractical and unneccessary joke. One time I saw this adult walking through the door way into an outgoing traffic, and he he walked through one teen turned around and slapped him in the head and called him a "cracker". I've seen midlde schoolers walking home throwing books at cars and instigating fights with homeless people. There were also incidents where 12 year old kids just talking trash everywhere they go and picking on adults who seemed to be smaller than them. The possibilities are endless.

Now how about the grades?

Math Compared to Other Nations

The national results in international comparisons have often been below the average of developed countries. In OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment 2003, 15 year olds ranked 24th of 38 in mathematics, 19th of 38 in science, 12th of 38 in reading, and 26th of 38 in problem solving.[48] In addition, many business leaders have expressed concerns that the quality of education given in the US system is generally below acceptable standards, and should be adapted in order to conform to the needs of an evolving world. Bill Gates has famously stated that the American high school is "obsolete".[49]

THIS IS AMERICA, the most powerful nation in the world, why can't people care more about education which is the backbone of success, placed in the 10s and 20s? how many nations out there have the modernity and capability of mass education of the U.S.? Many kids just take home a bunch of C's, D's, and F's without even feeling bad, they seem to not even be worried. Schools here ARE OBSOLETE. I've havn't learned much history or science and especially language arts since 6th grade. In high school, I took 4 AP couses in my sophomore year and my god what the hell did I learn. My school is part of the Internationale Baccularrete program as well. Look at my abominable vocabulary right now, I don't see a future for the rest of the current generation of youths. In China and India the exact same things are happening as a result of worldy distractions, the kids don't seem to give a damn about what they learn only knowing that they have to learn it to not get scolded at.

Nowadays, we can detect some causes of this deterioration. The internet seems pretty obvious with Facebook, Myspace, and World of Warcraft taking time which could have been allocated into more meaningful applications. Another cause is the lack of parental responsibility. Nowadays you have teens doing DUI, drugs, sex, shooting, and slacking off in their studies. The parents seem to do #, as the controversy between violence and video games always ends up with the parents as being irresponsible and not "taking care of their children".

Look at the children of America compared to others:



The current generation of youths was presumed as the children and rulers of the future. This is the most misleading statement I have ever seen; kids are becoming obese and stupid with the failing education system; kids are ruthlessly lacking respect for others. Why do people still see these children as a sign of hope for the future? Is this hope blind?

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

"Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats

From all the corruption, I began to think whether the New World Order might work. This generation of youths is supposed to be the new fighters for freedom. The people are LOSING, the dumbing down of society is taking place now. Maybe the Iraq War was fought so that money could not be allocated to education? I don't think we have to worry about running out of resources; there is no future.

Soon the most powerful individuals in the world will be able to manipulate the population while the elderly sits back staring hopelessly knowing that they have failed in raising their children.

I'm in Canada, but we have much the same problem. I think the issue was summarized quite succinctly when (back when dinosaurs lived!) I was in grade 6 and my teacher was fed up with us misbehaving. He said "the problem with you guys is that you want all the privileges of adults but none of the responsibility."

I think that is exactly the problem. Most kids/teens want to be able to goof off and not have to worry about anything, while getting allowance from mom/dad for nothing, playing video games all day, not having to work, and so on. Without any responsibility or discipline, we degenerate into exactly the kind of person you are describing.

This is exactly why I refused to go to public high school as a teenager and get homeschooled. I could not stand seeing the idiocy of todays youth. For the first year and only year I was at public high school I got into a fight almost every day. Kids would literally instigate a fight with me for being white. This one time I saw a jock harassing this girl he was trying to grab her and stuff, thats just really messed up in my book. So I went and told him to leave her alone, and then a fight ensued. That was the last day I went to a high school

I just couldn't stand how these kids thought they were above everyone and if your not like them then they try to start a fight with you. I don't understand why the youth are so disrespectful, because I was never like that.

I take certain offense to my young generation being degraded by those of you who I assume are of the "baby-boomers" generation.

First, to have the opinion that we are "no good", you must be oblivious to the fact that you are our parents, teachers, public officials, role-models. Thats right, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!

Our parents have been anything but selfless and modest. In fact, who do you think taught us to be self absorbed, self indulgent, self serving, hypocritical, materialistic, lazy zombies? You did.

Has your generation been too busy "getting ahead" to notice this? Have you been too busy "getting ahead" to realize that you allowed our country to be run into the ground in a single generation?

Your failed us. Quit blaming "the establishment" because somewhere along the way, your generation became "the establishment" and you suck at it. We don't run the system. The system is broken and its on you guys.

How are we young Americans to fix the mess the boomers got us into? We will probably "do whatever we want and screw you if you don't like it." After all, we learned this from you.

So, thanks for all the false wars, the deficit, and especially for deconstructing our industries and inviting the invasion of millions of illegal aliens. Thank you for disassembling our republic and replacing it with a near fascist state. Thank you for making me a commodity.

I'm sure your beloved welfare state will take great care of you as you disappear into the wastebasket of our history.


[edit on 23-4-2008 by METACOMET]

In my opinion, public education has never been particularly conducive to a strong development of the mind. When you utilize the same method of instruction for each child, regardless of his or her idiosyncratic learning style, you are bound to fail in the endeavor.

The current attitude in education is that children will learn all that they need to know during the hours spent in the classroom. Parents feel no obligation to continue academic instruction at home, choosing instead to allow entertainment to take the reins. Most people would be appalled at the suggestion that they should exert energy towards teaching their children at home, but this is what is needed if a child's potential is to be met. *I do not deny that there are many exceptions to this. Indeed, many parents do a commendable job, but they are certainly a minority.

In the area of behavior and attitude, parents are again in the primary role. The impudence you find with a child is a reflection of his upbringing. As an individual ages, personal responsibility must be addressed; by doing so, many disagreeable behaviors can be eliminated. Unfortunately, most ill-behaved teenagers are either unaware of or indifferent to their own responsibility and power in the matter. One can only hope that they will be able to address these issues as they mature.

I was educated in a public school until grade eight and attended a private secondary school for one year (grade eleven). During grades nine, ten and twelve I studied independently. During my single year of private schooling at a distinguished institution, I found the curriculum to be dull and unchallenging, maintaining a 4.0 with ease. Is this an indication of prodigious intelligence ? Though I wish it was, it is instead an indication of an educational system that requires very little of students.

I am a firm supporter of independent education, in which the needs and abilities of each child are addressed. When implemented properly, this type of curriculum is exceptional. I believe humanity would experience far greater advancement if we allowed ourselves to be truly challenged intellectually, but this cannot be done if we are reliant on the public educational system.

METACOMET, I do understand your feelings in the matter. However, I must take issue with your denial of responsibility. You state, "who do you think taught us to be self absorbed, self indulgent, self serving, hypocritical, materialistic, lazy zombies? You did...How are we young Americans to fix the mess the boomers got us into? We will probably 'do whatever we want and screw you if you don't like it.' After all, we learned this from you." While you lambaste your elders for failing your generation, you admit that you are likely to continue the behavior. You hold them accountable for the ills of youthful society but ostensibly deny your generation's own responsibility to overcome these problems. If you continue the pattern of behavior, how do you imagine your own children will behave? And would you entertain the thought that perhaps the parents who failed you were failed by their own parents? It is a cycle, and one worth breaking. Those who choose not to do so are truly abhorrent.

reply to post by METACOMET




What does a generation "running us into the ground," have anything to do with teens fighting/feeling they are above anyone and being all-around more hostile? Most of these teens don't even think twice about the "failure," they just have some sort of belief in which they think they can do anything without having to care about what may result from their actions which is summed up nicely by DragonsDemesne's sixth grade teacher.
I see these problems everyday attending a public high school and I just sit back and wonder why we have come to this. Anyone else want to try and explain this?


(removed large quote)

[edit on 27-4-2008 by Jbird]

Yes I shall try, as part of this generation you are all talking of. And i am also of the matter that alot fo the fault is the generation before us.

People say we play too many video games; which generation makes and seels those games, which generation allows us to play these games and youngsters bringing us up to think this is normal. When you play a game non stop for a weeks as a young person it can change you for the rest of your life.

By the time people are at the age that they should know what they are doing is wrong, it is often too late; they are so accustomed to the game and TV culture they think it's perfectly normal what they are doing.

There is also of course all the stress and unfair treatment from older generations. The government doesn't know me so how can they decide how I live my life as much as they do.


Yes it is my generation commiting these acts, but yours caused it...

(Waits for the inevitable responses against what i've said)

reply to post by umbr45


I don't really agree with the video game part(GTA 4 tomorrow hell yea:lol but I do agree with the older generations being at fault somewhat for alot of today's youths actions. I have seen alot of hostility from alot of adults just for being a teenager, especially in churches.

Why do older generations treat us like that? We're not all bad you know. Alot of adults won't even talk to me because i'm a teenager.

Video games don't affect me personally, but I assume they may well affect thos more open to 'mind control' for lack of a better word.

I have the same happen to me, you can even test it, if you go onto a board like this as a teenager you will likely be ignored, but if you go on as an adult but reveal your age later you surprise people at 'how mature you are'.

These sort of experiments clearly show we are unfairly treated purely on our age. Sure there are teenagers who act out like this, but there are plenty of adults as well.


A question to people who think it is our generation at fault... Why would one generation all of a sudden lose all respect for everyone without ever being taught to do so?

I'm going to ba attacked for saying this, but I'm going to say it anyway.

A little violence goes a long way. A good slap at the right time was all it took for me to understand the word "respect". Pain is a fabulous motivator.

I'll back you up there, I was smacked as a younger child if I misbehaved badly, and let me tell you it worked very well.

reply to post by umbr45

Exactly. There are no longer real consequences for negative behavior. When there is no fear of real consequences for negative behavior, negative behavior continues and escalates.

We are living with the results of the No-No-Bad-Dog Verbal Method. Needless to say, as a society, we're scr*wed.

Are you forgetting that the law says that such dicipline is child abuse?
Had CPS found out your parents could have been arrested and you put in a foster home.

I was once investigated by them because I refused to buy new shoes for my boys everytime they wore holes in the toes, which they did in short order by crawling on hands and knees. The shoes were good otherwise; no different I would think than the open toed shoes worn by girls.

[edit on 28-4-2008 by OhZone]

reply to post by OhZone

It's that kind of ridiculous attitude that got us into this mess.

Lack of parental supervision is a big part of the problem. It is not all the parent's fault though. Used to be, in the 50s, 60s, 70s, one working parent could support a family. The cost of living increased, and was combined with pressure from a consumer oriented, materialistic society to create what became a generation or more of latch-key kids with two working parents barely getting by. The breakdown of the nuclear family is not the fault of the boomer generation. I believe it is a concerted effort on the part of the ptb to disenfranchise parents and replace them with the state. To replace higher education facilities with penitentiaries. To consolidate and insulate the upper class and turn the middle and lower classes into what basically amounts to indentured servants.

To have rank and file boomers and Gen X and Yers pitted aginast each other suits their purposes perfectly. One more divisive social conflict to further their sinister agenda. We must stop blaming each other and step back a couple frames to take in the bigger picture, the larger construct taking place around us. These are really the ideals of Social Darwinism appropriated by a segment of the Greatest Generation, those that came before even them, and select progeny, now being applied on a global scale to rob the rest of us of our liberty, freedom, and future. The plans have been in the works for hundreds, if not thousands of years.

The solution here in the States is to stop spending on all but the bare essentials. Two thirds of the economy is based on consumer spending. Stop discretionary purchases and the system will come to its knees before we are brought to ours at the feet of the beast.

reply to post by METACOMET




The ironic thing is that I'm a kid as well. I'm below 18.
Ever since I came to the U.S. from China I witnessed corruption and irrationality among the youths from very young ages. Children from third world apparently and unsurprisingly, behaves differently than American kids due to different lifestyles. One rich, one poor; even if you think you're poor here in the U.S., just know that in China a pair of wearable and genuine pants still costs a quater of your monthly earnings. A kilograms of ribs costs a tenth of your monthly salary. I remember the days when I get 1 new tee-shirt and 1 pair of pants a year. But that was the old days.

Kids nowadays in developed countries thinks that they deserve so much respect from their parents because of taking 2 tests in one day or getting a B on a test. Boy was life amazing once I got to the U.S., virtually no homework in elementary schools. Life here is good with all the video games and leisure, and that is the current principle that I stand by .

I don't know what changed my views so much in the past years. Is it because of my experience from immigrating? Or is it because I got so sick and tired of blasphemy and discrimination? I lack respect for my parents too, and I've been trying to make up for my stupidity. It takes a while to realize how much the previous generations have suffered to bring the current generation to maturity, even though they have failed; but it's not their fault, more is to blamed on ignorance and materialism.

It is my opinion that the degree of downright stupidity is no greater in this generation than in any other. Are you telling me that the last few generations, who seemed hell-bent on trying to destroy themselves and the world in one form or another either through wars or rampant breeding and pollution, are somehow better than this generation currently coming up? Come on.

They may be scum, but so were their parents, and their grandparents, all the way back to the first idiots who sat around the campfire complaining about one thing or another, telling stupid stories, and running off in the middle of the night to kill their neighbors.

Originally posted by OhZone
Are you forgetting that the law says that such dicipline is child abuse?
Had CPS found out your parents could have been arrested and you put in a foster home.

[edit on 28-4-2008 by OhZone]

I'm not sure if it was when they did it to me over here in England. But hey if it was let somebody try to arrest them because that action did not instill fear or mentally harm me. It let me know my parents were telling me what to do and anbyone who tries to arrest them will have to take me as well.


And surprising to see the amount of people who say it wasn't just this generatyions fault.

reply to post by METACOMET

Excuse me METACOMET. The boomers are not the parents of the currant teenage generation. Our children are the parents. I'm a boomer and my baby is 36 years old.

Playing the blame game is an easy way out of a sticky situation. But I'll play this time. It would be easy to blame the boomers children for the ills of the teens now. They seem to think it is child abuse if they don't furnish their children with a cell phone, ipod, television in their rooms, computer, and all the other trappings of the teem world of today. And the majority of teens do not have to work for anything they get lavished on them.

The biggie for me is all the young , unmarried teen mothers. Where the heck did this come from? Yes the boomers opened the closet on sex but we had enough sense to take precautions and not get pregnant. But no, the teens of today don't have enough responsibility and self esteem to protect themselves from life threatening disease or pregnancy.

Today's teens are spoiled rotton. But, I see a light at the end of the tunnel. I see a very intelligent teenage population with a good portion of problem solving capabilities. When the poop hits the fan I firmly believe the teens will make the right decisions and be an asset to us all. I have 7 teenage grandchildren. Yes they are rotten but all smart and will preserver and help change our world for the better.

OK I've played the blame game. It is not new. It is a very old game past generations have all played. Isn't it time to stop blaming and start fixing the problems we share?

By the way, I love the younger generation and would rather socialize with them than my age group. They are our only future.

reply to post by umbr45


Please explain the stress and unfair treatment your parents have caused you.

The only thing I can think of is that they were too easy on you because they were too busy working and making money to keep you in video games and other accoutrements.

I will concede that too many of today's young parents have gotten bogged down in the drug situation. Many of us boomers experimented with drugs but did not let it take over our lives. The current generation of parents of teens know nothing of moderation and self discipline.

What ever happened to basketball in the drive way or base ball games in the vacant lot? Why are 10 year old girls so concerned with sex?

Before you think I'm an old fool that knows nothing of teens I must tell you I have worked with all types of young people for 40 years. I respect even the most contrary one and they respect me.

I am sorry if someone has mistreated you and caused you stress.