Signs That We Have Seriously Messed Up The Next Generation Of Americans

There`s noway we can predict what this generation will be like when they grow up but what we can do is to look at the generation that currently holds the power and calls the shots and see what society was saying about them when they were teens and how good of a job they are doing running things now.

Lets just pick random starting and ending ages for the people who now control the power and call the shots. Lets say 50-70 year old age range, since it seems like a lot of congressman and business leaders fall within that age range.
so people born between 1940 and 1960 would have reached their teenage years between 1955-1975.
What were some of the things society was saying about teenagers during those years?
since we can now see what a mess those kids have made to the economy and the world we can judge whether the things society was saying about them when they were teens was correct.

Basically thats the baby boomers,
peace
love
equality
age of aquarius
pot smoking
draft dodging
love your fellow man
etc

They are calling the shots now this is their society they created it.
I don`t remember what society was saying about them when they were teens but just looking at the mess that the world is in today I would guess that whatever society was saying about them wasn`t far off the mark.

reply to post by RealSpoke


The high poverty rate has a big affect on children. It's why rich suburban schools and private schools out perform inner city schools. Having said that, blaming education in inner city schools is really ignoring the problem. The classroom environment isn't anything like it was years ago. Corporal punishment is no longer the answer for student apathy or classroom disruptions. Students are more street smart today and have less consequences than older generations before them. A teacher can motivate students by making learning fun, utilizing technology, talking with them and respecting them. However, as the saying goes, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink." Some children no matter what you do to motivate them, just don't care about their education.

I grew up in poverty and was taught to respect my elders, my teachers and authority. Poverty isn't a new concept, older generations experienced the same thing. Parents are the role model for their children. There are poor and rich parents that can be poor role models. Children imitate what they see and hear in the home.

My wife and I are both teachers. Today, like most days, we both discussed how our day went. Here is a perfect example of how different this generation is compared to older generations before.

My wife had (3) girls conversing loudly during a demonstration in her science lab. She asked them several times to please refrain from talking during the demonstration. They ignored her every time. She than approached the 3 girls and told them that their behavior in class was unacceptable and if they continued they would be sent to the office. They all mocked her and than one girl said to her, you must be menstruating! (In my day, nobody would think of saying that to a teacher). If my parents found out I said such a thing, there would have been hell to pay.

Here is just one incident that crossed my path today. A student comes to school wearing a black t-shirt that has a saying sideways in large white letters on his chest that reads, "If you have to turn your head sideways to read this, you owe me a bl-w job." I walked the kid down to the principals office, the principal just says, that is unacceptable and not part of our dress code. He just allowed the kid to turn his shirt inside out for the rest of the day. No consequence for breaking the school dress code. These kids are just plain bold and in your face. What parent would even allow their kid to own a shirt like that let alone wear it to school? My wife and I can tell you stories that would make your head turn.

(Oh by the way, I once had a boy that pissed in a plastic bottle in class!).

reply to post by FailedProphet


Stupid article. Not one mention of alcohol and and how alcohol is the cause for 80% of the list.\


Thats the facts. Stop drinking america. You are becoming dangerous morons.

All these excuses for failing as a parent are just that, excuses. your children are growing up to be exactly like you, they make excuses for why they are failing their classes, and why they are disrespectful thugs. They learned from you that it is easier to fail at something and make excuses for why they failed and blame other people for it than to actually try hard and succeed.

reply to post by FailedProphet


Why do we need "signs"?

Isn't this something already known?

Its funny that im about their age and i KNOW this already.

Mike

reply to post by FailedProphet


Not to mention the divorce rate has skyrocketed since thrity years ago.

The number of people i knwo, including myself, that have come from broken homes is just outrageous.

back int he day apparently, no matter how bad it was, the parents stayed together and didn't fight in front of the kids so badly. The kids see this drinking and drug abuse brought on by parents that still happen to think being a hippie is okay when they have children and it seriously messes with them.

I don't know exactly how it was, but i believe that the abolishment of "Blue Laws" had something to with this.

I heard that no matter what, on Sunday afternoons the whole family would be together for dinner, and then spend the rest of the night together. If you didn't want to eat, you still sat at the table.

Just my opinion, but i think that if blue laws were still in effect, we would see much less of this,
Mike

Sadly the younger people LEARN from Example. So Society has failed them as a whole, not really there fault, the generations before, failed to keep Brains a first priority. I fall just before this Generation, and its a shame, because I feel that I had a very good teenage life, with just enough Tech, and common sense mixed together. What I find really scary, is that my 1 year old, can open an I-phone, go to any app and starts to try and play with it. I found it amusing at first, but now I wont let her touch one. I feel she needs Hands on knowledge and Tech to have the upper hand in her future. Not neck breaking texting, and eyeball sweating comma, stuck in a trance looking at just a smart phone. Gosh I hope the youth realize it takes hard work, Common sense, and determination to succeed in this cruel world. They have a HUGE wake up call, when they reach adulthood, if they do reach that

Ah yes the next generations is screwed up. This has been proclaimed since the dawn of time. When this generation are in charge they will be looking at another list about the next generation and how they are screwed up.

These stats are pretty depressing but not surprising. Life sucks for the most part these days and I doubt its just because of the economy.

All of our media sucks, tv, music, books....it's all garbage.
There's no work, no opportunities.
The war of terror still rages on although Saddam and Bin Laden are with their virigns.
Kids don't go outside anymore.
Adults are all glued onto their smartphones.
Even marriage has been destroyed.

Originally posted by LightWarrior11
Sheeple parents make sheeple kids.

Really what more can be said? Sure one can blame this that and the other but you can beat having your offspring become a statistic if you're aware of the problems, are realistic, and stay involved and on top of things as a parent.

Lots more can be said. What if the parents are damaged in the first place?

the obligitory monthly grumpy old man shaking their cane at the durned youth thread?

Cool.

And they always walk all over muh lawns...disrespectful hooligans, back in my day, everyone was respectful and we always did what we were told!

-shakes fist and takes a nap-

reply to post by Shadow Herder


Alcoholism is a symptom not the sole cause.

IMHO

Originally posted by SLAYER69
reply to post by Shadow Herder

 

Alcoholism is a symptom not the sole cause.

IMHO

Yes its not the problem, yet it is an attibute to the problem.

Its a tree on the landscape of the big picture.

Id write up a list of small discrepancies that contribute to my generation being screwed up...

...but i do believe that we ALL, already know of them.
Mike

reply to post by benrl


Superb.

One of the best posts I have seen in a while

reply to post by FailedProphet


I listened to Chris Hedges being interviewed on public radio this am bout the plight of the generation too young to be aware of their plight. Perhaps we can inspire them. Have 1,000,000 young people, say under 16 years old march to the Washington DC mall. That would have some effect.

The people in this thread are complete idiots. Speaking as someone in the age bracket discussed, the problems are a hell of a lot more complex than you all seem to think. The problem with kids is not the music they listen to, or video games, or anything else so bloody topical and insignificant. The reason today's youth are apathetic and disenfranchised is because of you.

That's right, you saying that teens are to blame for everything that ever happens, saying that the "rap music" and video games are ruining society while you loot the system for everything it's worth. We've got no hope, no opportunities, and no motivation to do anything. Why should we get out and vote when we know it won't make a shred of difference? Why should we take a minimum-wage dead end job that either doesn't pay enough to live on, or works us to the point that we can't do anything else? What you're seeing here is more people simply choosing to opt out of the modern system entirely, and I can't fault them for it.

As a young person of 25, I have noticed that most kids these days are lazier and less interested in books and such as me and my friends were just a few years ago when I was still in my teens. Case in point. The other day i was at an older friend's house, he has just passed his 40th birthday. His son came home from school, walked in the door and said, "Hey, Dad, Dave (referring to me, he is a nice kid at least) can one of you help me with my car?" My friend and I were both sort of excited, with this chance to pass on knowledge. We went outside, and he was literally driving on the rim, there was no tire left, and the rim had lost so much, that it would never be used again. I had to laugh. My friend said, "What the hell son? Why didn't you change your tire?" His response? "I have a raid that starts in a few minutes." He was talking about World of Warcraft. He literally ruined the rim, and endangered his own life, because of a game. I couldn't believe it! Granted, that's a pretty extreme situation, but I've noticed several instances of things like that, not quite as extreme, but thing so stupid that I could not think of any of the kids I went to school with doing. Kids have become a bit too dependent on the electric babysitters, as have their parents. A month ago I was babysitting for my cousin so that her and her husband could go out, they have four kids, the oldest is 12, and the youngest is 4. There was a storm and the power went out, so I lit some candles, and found some books and board games. None of the kids were intersted. The 2nd oldest, who is 8, was at such a poor reading level that I was astonished that he'd never been held back a class. The hell of it is, he is a very smart kid, all of their kids are. Now, I know that although they're family, and I love them, they aren't the best parents, not that they're abusive or anything, but they just don't interact with their children's education. My parent's were big on us reading. My dad is dyslexic and still has trouble reading, but he was very big on the importance of our educations, one of his most overused sayings was "Boys, you need to pay attention in school, so you don't end up like me." and my mother taught us all how to read well before we started kindergarten, I could read at a 6th grade level, when I was in the 1st grade.

I guess i got off on a tangent, but I have noticed, that most kids just don't read anymore, if you suggest that they read a book, they almost act like you're speaking a different language, with a lot of kids these days, it's just something that they do not understand. My cousin's oldest kid loves the Harry Potter movies, so the other day I said "If you like the movies, Jayce, you should read the books." He said, "Why would I read a book if there's a movie?" I didn't get it, When I was 12 I'd read all the Tolkien books, all the S.E. Hiinton books, a couple Steinbeck novels, and several other books. We had the Accelerated Reader program, which I'm not even sure exists anymore, but what a great program it was, I'm glad we had it, because of that program, I love to read.

One more thing, and I'll get off my soap box. The other day I stopped at McDonalds for a cup of coffee, and I was amazed at the number of kids I saw there. Now, granted, the town I grew up in didn't, and still doesn't, have a McDonalds, it's just too small, but when I was a kid, it was a big deal to go there. We rarely got to go to McDonalds or any other resterant for that matter, every meal I had was home cooked, and my mom worked full time, just like my dad, hell, we were excited if mom bought pop tarts. Most of the kids my age were in the same boat. I have noticed that most people my age, can't cook for themselves more than frying a hamburger or making some ramen noodles. When did we become so dependant on premade foods?

Originally posted by all2human
Ya i'd say there's a few issues..

That is creepy, it reminds me of the time I went to pickup a pizza at a local pizzeria. These two late teen's/young adults, sitting across from one another for 5+ minutes just texting. Not even acknowledging each others existence.

I may be viewing this the wrong way, because they are destroying their futures and in the grand schemes could bring down society, but I simply view it as less competition for me. I am little under a decade older then them.

Kind of like guy's who like to dress with their boxers exposed or other silly styles. It just makes it easier for me to look good, less effort is required on my part(but more effort for maximum results).

Now I feel bad because I am coming across as totally narcissistic, ohh wait I am being narcissistic lol.

But that type of talk illustrates things better for younger people, then any amount of chiding ever would.

reply to post by dave_welch


I'm sure most of you saw the "star witness" for the prosecution in the Zimmerman trial at some point today. That's so sad and pathetic. Is she the norm for a whole culture of people? Was she 16? or 18? I bet she doesn't even know.

Mobs of people demonstrating in Texas - to kill babies?

Our country is dead.

I won't even mention all of the greedy, narcissitic, money grabbers that the whole obozo administration scandals are based on.