Poll: Are the generation of kids getting worse and worse over time?

[McNoobin]

The reason I'm bringing this up was because I was leaving the high school walking to my car, a child (probably like 7) walked passed me, dropped a book, and proceeded to yell "FUCK!" I picked up the book and handed it to him baffled. (the kid was probably some teachers kid from what I assume since he was walking into the high school) The freshmen this year are disrespectful (and I don't just mean by bowing down to seniors, like disrespectful to all their elders) over 70% of the entire middle school population are major druggies, like 4 sixth graders have gotten pregnant, and well, the elementary kids, as far as I know, are full of potty mouths. And I know it can be better or even worse in other places. To sum it up, each generation of kids are getting worse and worse in attitude (and intelligence) each year.

I think a lot of it is coming from the parents being less strict on their children. Many months back I was at Wal-Mart buying Fifa 12, and next to me was a child, maybe 10, and his mom. It was obvious that the mom didn't want her son buying Black Ops because the moment she saw me, a 17 year old, buying a sports game, she tried convincing her son to buy a game that wasn't "as violent". The kid said, "Nope, I want Call of Duty!" and she bought him Black Ops. Even before that, an almost identical situation happened, except the child wanted his mom to buy him Gears of War 2. (I don't think it was the same kid)

So for the sake of discussion, are the children in your area getting progressively worse as time passes? Why or why not?

** We live in a fairly small town so it's not like they're being corrupted by gangs and stuff ...as far as I know...

EDIT: Here's basically the chain of things getting worse:
Grade 9: Disrespectful, annoying
Grades 7&8: (above) + majority using excessive drugs
Grade 6: (above) + sexual relations

EDIT 2: Looking at it, in reality I don't think they're all getting worse in every single way possible, I just notice the numbers of kids disrespecting their teachers going up more and more which led me to believe that "as kids, they're worse compared to how my class was at their age". Basically, I'm not comparing them to how my class is now, but how we were at their age.

** I'm going to sleep but feel free to discuss it with other posters

 

[Drakmeire]

It's not true at all. If anything, kids today are less intolerant then ever and actually fairly considerate. Problem is, you would never notice this because the only children that catch your attention are the annoying ones.
Think about it, the only kids you see on XBOX Live are the ones who were raised by crappy parents who would let them play on XBOX Live. If you play shooters, you're bound to run into a foul-mouthed little brat at some point...or a foul mouthed full grown brat as the case often is.
I have a decent amount of hope in the next generation despite what I may say about humanity. All kids just seem awful after you grow up. If I ever met myself at 10-15 years old I probably would smack me for being such a little asshole.
It's only the bad ones you notice...At least I hope so.

 

[Sassafrass]

Here's my experiences with kids at my work place.

Kid walks into shop, gets book, brings it to counter, puts it on counter asking if she could buy the book. I serve her, give her the change and as she walks off, she thanks me and has a nice day. Every kid I've served at work since I've started has been like that.

Now, lets look at the adults in the same sort of situation.

I served one today, who paid with a £10 note for something worth 99p, asking her that, due to change shortages, if she had anything closer to the amount the item was worth. Her response? "Can you just bloody serve me, I'm standing here." I've had customers like this about 2 out of 20 times I've served an adult.

So nah, I don't think are getting worse. I think they're getting better. (At least in my local area anyway.)

 

[McNoobin]

It's not true at all. If anything, kids today are less intolerant then ever and actually fairly considerate. Problem is, you would never notice this because the only children that catch your attention are the annoying ones. I have a decent amount of hope in the next generation despite what I may say about humanity. All kids just seem awful after you grow up. If I ever met myself at 10-15 years old I probably would smack me for being such a little asshole.
It's only the bad ones you notice...At least I hope so.

I guess that's true. Because it's the bad ones that constantly draw attention to themselves all the time, and I don't pick through ever single person in every grade and judge them. I haven't really lost hope in humanity, that'd be taking things a little too far. Aside from a few curse words being thrown, I think the elementary kids have great promise. Although the teachers from both the middle school and high school agree that they're getting worse which worries me a little. Fifth graders will be joining the middle schoolers now which might lead to them becoming "corrupted" by the older groups of kids...

 

[Humza Ahmad]

Man there are always bad kids like that in any generation. You have had the misfortune of meeting these kids by the looks of it. But, its hard to say if kids will get worst or better. Either advancing technologies will help these kids or worsen their attitudes.

 

[Thaluikhain]

People have been complaining about such things for most of recorded history.

On the whole, I'd say kids are getting better at the moment. A mere hundred years ago, people, kids included, were far less tolerant than they are today.

 

[McNoobin]

Nope.

That's how it's always been.

Teenagers will be teenagers. They are only a tenth as mature, funny, and intelligent as they believe themselves to be. It's not a bad thing, it's a part of growing up. All you've witnessed is what some kids are like. Attitudes really aren't changing, they just aren't always as suppressed as they've been in the past.

As for intelligence? Well, while IQ isn't really a good measure of intelligence, it has overall been rising for a while now. People are, generally, getting smarter.

Remember that things aren't always as they appear. You were once a young, obnoxious idiot as well. Or, you were a young obnoxious idiot in hiding because you were too shy or introverted to express your young obnoxious idiocy, but you were still younger, dumber, and less mature than you are now. You're just seeing other kids go through those same motions.

That might be somewhat true. I completely agree with me basically looking at what I was like when I was their age and thinking "omg so annoying" which will probably be what they do when they become my age as well. Maybe it's just the whole disrespecting teachers thing that bothers me, it's not that they all are, but the numbers of those that do are going up. During parent-teacher conferences they told my parents I was so mature and courteous and what not. But on my own time it didn't stop me from drawing a massive penis on the back of my friends paper.

 

[KILGAZOR]

are full of potty mouths.

Stopped reading there. Seriously, potty mouths? You're the one who needs to grow up, not them.

 

[McNoobin]

are full of potty mouths.

Stopped reading there. Seriously, potty mouths? You're the one who needs to grow up, not them.

That was sort of meant to mean "they swear, but I'm not gonna condemn them to forever fail"

 

[ElectroJosh]

One thing that the OP has noticed is that, compared to him, younger kids are immature. Thats what happens as you get older. A senior will not think most Freshmen are on his level in high-school and the jump between a high-schooler and someone who is finishing university or graduated high-school and been working a few years is even bigger. But its nothing to do with their generation.

Hell I am a "gen-x" guy and remember being told, in a school assembly by a guest speaker, that our generation were going to basically end western civilization. Hmmm... doesn't quite seem to have panned out that way. It turned out the "gen-xers" can get jobs, be parents and keep society humming along (they are all in their 30s and early 40s now). The gen-y kids came along and we looked down on them but now they are growing up and starting to complain/worry about whatever people are naming the next generation of kids (I actually hate terms like gen-x, gen-y and gen-whateverthefuck).

 

[KILGAZOR]

are full of potty mouths.

Stopped reading there. Seriously, potty mouths? You're the one who needs to grow up, not them.

That was sort of meant to mean "they swear, but I'm not gonna condemn them to forever fail"

Well what was the point of mentioning it then? New generations are almost always better than the old ones because they are more prone to realize that some concepts of the old generation like "swearing" are total bullshit.

 

[CthulhuMessiah]

Grade 9: Disrespectful, annoying
Grades 7&8: (above) + majority using excessive drugs
Grade 6: (above) + sexual relations

I'm in grade 11, I'm a virgin, I never used drugs (unless you count the few times I was forced to go to church and got wine at communion), and I try to respect my elders to a point (if they don't respect me, I won't respect them back).

 

[McNoobin]

One thing that the OP has noticed is that, compared to him, younger kids are immature. Thats what happens as you get older. A senior will not think most Freshmen are on his level in high-school and the jump between a high-schooler and someone who is finishing university or graduated high-school and been working a few years is even bigger. But its nothing to do with their generation.

Hell I am a "gen-x" guy and remember being told, in a school assembly by a guest speaker, that our generation were going to basically end western civilization. Hmmm... doesn't quite seem to have panned out that way. It turned out the "gen-xers" can get jobs, be parents and keep society humming along (they are all in their 30s and early 40s now). The gen-y kids came along and we looked down on them but now they are growing up and starting to complain/worry about whatever people are naming the next generation of kids (I actually hate terms like gen-x, gen-y and gen-whateverthefuck).

well what makes me think the way I do is that when we came into the high school, the middle school teachers said they thought we were an exceptional group of kids (which we still have our idiots too) and the same teachers say these kids are going to be terrible.

 

[Gregg Lonsdale]

Thinking back to a discussion on another topic on this forum, teenagers are like 3D TV: You only notice that it's there when it doesn't work properly. You don't notice the kids who aren't terrible because those ones are nice and quiet, and let you continue on with your life unabated.

 

[Joccaren]

No, as getting worse is subjective.
You just have different standards of politeness then the youth of today have, and whilst they should be respectful and conform somewhat to the expectations placed upon them by the 'more' polite people, those people should also loosen up a bit when around them. It is a shared world, and everyone must respect that.
Things like swear words are becoming a part of teenage culture, and their not necessarily bad. If they are, what makes them bad? What the words mean? Therefore we should treat words like faeces and poo the same way we treat S**t? What is meant by the user? Most of the time, nothing offensive. It's just a more emotive way of exclaiming themselves or getting a point across. Some people find them offensive, and most I know respect that and try not to say it around them, however some don't find it offensive. The people I know that find it offensive don't try to force those who don't to not say it when around others that don't find it offensive, and aren't too annoyed when they accidentally swear when around them, so long as they have been trying not to, and honestly that's the way it should be. Each generation to their own social standards, but all respecting the standards of others.
That said, you will come across some people who have no sense of respect, and are just all-round rude, but I've seen as many adults doing this as I have children, so it is not just a problem with each 'next' generation.

 

[McNoobin]

are full of potty mouths.

Stopped reading there. Seriously, potty mouths? You're the one who needs to grow up, not them.

That was sort of meant to mean "they swear, but I'm not gonna condemn them to forever fail"

Well what was the point of mentioning it then? New generations are almost always better than the old ones because they are more prone to realize that some concepts of the old generation like "swearing" are total bullshit.

I know, in fact I agree that swearing itself is no problem. It's the excessive use when it's unnecessary. I did a project in Sociology one year about how it's good for you to swear since it's a good way to express emotion if used properly and we shouldn't be punished so harshly for simple "words"

 

[RatRace123]

I hate kids. I honestly don't know why evolution decided it would be a good idea to have humans start life as an annoying, screaming, sticky abomination of burden.

It would be so much easier in life if people just popped out as fully formed adults with adult mentalities and behavior.
Granted that would probably be a bit of a strain on the vaginas popping them out... but it's still worth it damn it!

But back on topic: I wouldn't really notice, kids are always ungodly irritating to me and the amount of annoying ones doesn't seem to have decreased over the years, so I'm gonna assume things are still the same as they ever were.

 

[Drenaje1]

I can't really say for sure that any of the kids in this town of mine are quite so...horrible. However, I know that there must be the occasional seven year old walking around with some sort of swagger, swearing at everything, and bitching at his parents to buy him some CoD game. I know that there must be SOME good mannered kids here and there, but they honestly are few and far between. I can say with complete certainty that the middle and high school kids here are godawful. Disrespectful, arrogant, manner-less, constantly tapping away on a cell phone, but that's pretty much it. Although, I think I remember a few cases in which there were high school pregnancies, and maybe some drug related issues here and there.

Also, the principal at our local high school got fired for some kind of 'misconduct.' I know for a fact he has a history of drinking, abusing his wife, various assaults, and maybe a few thefts. What a wonderful role model. The police haven't explained what this 'misconduct' was, but I think you can infer. Anyway, in my opinion, I guess most of the responsibility rests with the parents to at least talk to their damn kids. It's good for parenting to try and adapt/change for the modern times, but please don't go soft on them. You end up with the generation of kids I'm starting to see, and I just don't want the next generation of world leaders and innovators to be a race of entitled little pricks who've never felt failure, or been denied something they've wanted, or who've ever had a level of discipline that actually made them stop acting like dicks.