Why are there so many disrespectful kids these days?

[Doink]

A lot of young people think they are oppressed, so showing respect for each other means they show disrespect for other people. I think they are so sensitive that they want to take revenge against any group that did better than them before. In other words, young disrespect old, women disrespect men, blacks disrespect whites, etc., in retaliation.

In the past, the policing was done by the groups that were then said to deserve more respect, and there was some abuse of this power. Since then, many social changes and different use of laws have made it look like people have an excuse for their behavior if they are in a victim-status group. Media and the internet increase the power of emotional appeals related to victim-status groups. The internet allows a group of people to tell each other they're good, and to say that the other group is mean. When they come in contact with you, they are ready to over-exaggerate these beliefs.

I can relate to your situation with the young couple. A lot of young parents may have had kids quickly in order to make the grandparents cough up money. They seem to treat their kids as equals. My parents didn't want me to work a job during high school, and never bought me a car. As a result, grades were the most important thing, and I'd be stranded at home unless I went to college. I think that parents now want their kids to feel happy and feel good about themselves in their social group.

In the old days, you could use any method of parenting you wanted, and it would be called parenting unless it looked like the child's life was in danger. Most people credit Dr. Benjamin Spock as the first childrens' expert who said that you can't ever make children feel bad about themselves. Since then, it seems that parents will allow their children to do most anything that feels good, instead of making them follow a set moral code at an emotional cost.

There was a flip side to the old ways, too. Back in the day, you would only see the most able-bodied, able-minded, and morally conforming people on the street. However, everyone else was in jail, in a mental hospital, or in the military. If parents knew that the family usually had children with bad behavior, they would have the children join the military as soon as they were of age, to "straighten them out." If you didn't work fast, hard, or long, you could be considered mentally ill, even if you were smart.