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

[manic_depressive13]

No. That's like saying all gamers are immature, idiotic fuckwits just because of every experience you've had online. Hang on...

Okay it's not exactly like that, because the generalisation regarding the kids is actually false.

 

[drisky]

I've noticed them learning to become shit heads earlier, I guess the plus side of that is that they would learn to stop being shit heads earlier too, maybe. When you see 12 year olds grid dancing its just not a good thing, but just because middle schoolers are terrible people doesn't mean they will always be.

 

[TheScientificIssole]

It's not that they're worse, but the younger kids now are fucking invisible. When I was very young, if I did something bad I would feel really bad about it, and if someone told me or asked me to change something I was doing, and I didn't know it was bad, I would feel like shit. I'm a terrible good person in real life, because I'm afraid of hurting people. Unless that person is being a dick.

Kids are just ya know... Okay, so these kid's grandparents, they probably were told don't swear, sit still, be quiet, respect your elders. These grandparents probably HATED that shit, and it was their childhood so it stuck. They become parents they want their kid not to follow that same life. They loosen the rules, they set new rules along with getting rid of some of the old ones. Now its no violent video games, rated R movies, or music with controversial meaning. Those kids in turn raise the modern child; they hated the restrictions put on them, so they want to let their kid have more than they did.
Or at least that's what I think.
Edit:

i smoke weed and i drink

That's two Zappa no-noes. Also your disrespecting elders by not following laws, laws that are set by people.

 

[Supertegwyn]

Secondly, intelliigence in most developed countries is going up by 3 percent a year, so that argument just went out the window.

Heh, I love how you misspell "intelligence" in a sentence about intelligence rising.

Fourth, the rate of crime has been going down pretty much since the beginning of man, and it continues to do so to this day.

Ya what? How does that work? Are you saying that crime has been constantly going down in the last 200,000 years? You would think that crime would be eliminated by now.

are full of potty mouths.

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

Calm down, what's wrong with potty mouth? It's not that immature at all.

 

[Jewrean]

I'm a high school teacher.
Short answer: Yes.

Long answer: Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeees

 

[Crescent Sun]

In reality each generation is equal, just in different areas.

The real problem is that the media is better at showing the horrors, and the news would be boring if it came on and just stated "everything went perfectly today". People like to hear conflict or overcoming.

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

You're complaining about the generations younger than you. Do you know what this means?

You're getting old. Best find a nice cane and porch yell at those goddamn kids from.

 

[the spud]

Secondly, intelliigence in most developed countries is going up by 3 percent a year, so that argument just went out the window.

Heh, I love how you misspell "intelligence" in a sentence about intelligence rising.

OK, you got me there, that extra i ot past me.

Ya what? How does that work? Are you saying that crime has been constantly going down in the last 200,000 years? You would think that crime would be eliminated by now.

With some wavering, the rate of crime and cruelty has generally been going down over the years. We are probably living in some of the most peaceful times in history. In the 1300s, you were 35 times more likely to die of a homicide in than you are now, and back in the 1600s people would light cats on fire and watch them run around for entertainment (no, they really did that). The homicide rate has been falling for hundreds of years, and while there are always jumps in the graph (it popped up in the 70's and 80's) it generally follows a downward path.

 

[albinoterrorist]

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.

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

The kids aren't getting any worse fundamentally - their opportunities to act badly are just in different ways and much more visible (especially due to the spread of mass media).
Frankly, if you take off the nostalgia goggles, I think you'll find plenty of people you knew back in your childhood (if not yourself) were equally shitty. Killing things, starting fires, picking on "that weird kid" - hardly angels. Forgive me if I feel that their lack of drug abuse or sexual relations was more down to lack of knowledge or opportunity than being "too good for it".

Plus there's the fact that you're only noticing those who are the active extremes - the minority. In your childhood, you had connections to more balanced people, and so could get a far more representative view of how bad things actually were.
Now you're just looking in from the outside - that'll never give you a clear picture.

In conclusion, the game has not changed - just the ways of playing it.

 

[AndyFromMonday]

Well the last few generations raised them so if anything, it's actually the parents who are becoming worse.

 

[LeafofStone]

Hindsight is always 20/20. Though I do admit from what I've been able to observe, there are quite a few more parents these days who absolutely refuse to discipline their children.

Pretty true, I remember me being a little shit and my grandma spanked me and this guy came up and said to my grandma "what kind of a cruel ***** are you?" to which she replied "listen, now that i have spanked him he will do what he is told for the rest of the day, but if you were to try taking care him i bet you $5 you couldnt get him under control in a day let alone in the time the pain from his bottom goes away".

 

[Smooth Operator]

OP you know everyone has been saying this since the dawn of humanity?

What you are experiencing is perspective change, as you move towards and away from generations you start to see them differently and those far from your age you lose understanding for.
Or in other words, when you were a kid all the grownups were stupid, when you were a teenager all the old people and kids were stupid, and as you are a grown up all the elderly, kids and teenagers are stupid from your point of view.

All I can say is you were once a kid and you do know how that went, even if you won't admit it.

 

[darkfox85]

Now this is particularly close to my heart.

Not only do I find the attitude that people (not just children, people) are getting stupider and crueller to be grimace provokingly snobbish and babyish in its condemning full-metal-jacket cynicism but it?s one of the most despicable political lies ever told.

People have always had sex, people have always treated each other with cruelty, people have always arrogantly dismissed wise and virtuous philosophies, but with the advances in technology and communications affecting every part of our lives, people are still smarter and more benevolent than your parents were ? and this trend will continue if advancements are uninterrupted and we don?t just give up with the lie being used as ammo for the cowardly surrender of ?we?re all doomed.?

But that?s not the worse-case scenario. I constantly hear people willing to sell their liberty and entertain authoritarian measures in exchange for the illusion of combating these bogus fears. Sure it starts off with notions that parents should assault their children or that even more CCTV should be erected but if the mindset that supports these notions isn?t challenged then the steps back I?m about to talk about will become more like strides.

Now I?m not naïve enough to be blind to the fact that times change. Hell, the political and philosophical climate of entire continents can shift drastically and suddenly but the one true indicator of degradation (be it morally or intellectually) is poverty (which is one path to parental neglect) but no one wants to talk about poverty because no one confidently knows how to tackle it but everyone confidently knows how to treat the youth with such utter contempt and ? even in the face of technology ? they?ll live down to expectations. Ironic really when the aging side always whines about ?respect.?

Still, we?ve witnessed poverty rise and recede here and there for decades and although progress is rage-inducingly slow and we?ll constantly suffer setbacks, we?ll get there, and we?ll get there without the help of certain peoples and mindsets. The British tabloid the Daily Mail has a favourite slogan in ?Broken Britain? that it oozes into the public lexicon like the thick black ejaculate from the hairy, calloused and veruca-covered cock of the devil himself. This perfectly captures this evil idea and I wonder if the US has such a catchy jingle that neatly encapsulates the true lack of intelligence in society.

I?ve had plenty of horrible experiences with the youth ? believe me, I have, but retreat is not the answer. I want us all to move forward, but we?re not going to move forward whilst looking backward at how things used to better in the old days. Those days were much worse. Don?t forget that.

 

[Zen Toombs]

I wouldn't say that kids are getting worse over time, just changing in many ways some of which are "good" and some of which are "bad".

Also of note is this Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal

 

[pppppppppppppppppp]

Nope.

The newest generations will always seem worse and worse to you. It's called getting older, you see everything as social and cultural de-evolution.

 

[LazyAza]

Kids are always going to seem worse as every generation goes along because you forget how bad your generation was at the same age. I'm 25 now but I still remember all the dumb nonsense I got up to at 13-14. Smashing chairs for fun, throwing bottles at cars, cursing up a storm for no reason, getting in to fights for no reason. Kids do dumb things all the time, it's just part of growing up.

 

[tthor]

I greatly believe that the only reason people ever think that "each generation is getting worse" is simply because each generation is different than one's own generation, and people often don't like change.

Generations aren't getting worse, they are getting different.

 

[DanielDeFig]

No.
But asking these kinds of questions and discussing it openly is actually pretty important.

I don't want to get too much into this but Ii want to add two things.

1. The fact that kids swear is not something I see as a bad thing, except that they are using words they probably don't understand the meaning of, and the fact that many of them sue them because they know they're "forbidden"/offensive.
Personally, I think there is something wrong with our society when we constantly proclaim publicly available speech/text should be allowed freedom of speech, but we censor some specific words so strongly that many people are censored from using them in the privacy of their homes (because someone else in that home is old-fashioned and perceive some words as "offensive" without even stopping to ask themselves whether they personally find the words offensive).

2. Kids being disrespectful to people is an issue, we all need to respect each other. But ask yourself, did those people the kids are "disrespecting" earn the respect of those kids? Or do you just assume those ppl should be respected, by virtue of being older or in positions of authority?
If not, then the problem has nothing to do with the kids, but those who are older and think they are entitled to respect because "I'm older now, and it's my turn to demand respect, just like I had to put up with when I was a kid" (Or maybe as innocent as teacher not trained well enough to know how to earn respect from their students, but that's still not the fault of those students).