Quote:
Originally Posted by Dion
With both parents working to keep a roof over thier heads there's no one around to teach them what you're saying.
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I think that's a common oversimplification used as an excuse for bad behavior.
Both of my parents worked full time for essentially my entire life. Up to the age of 13 I would go to after school daycare. Once I started Junior High I went to school on my own (walking or bus), got home on my own and then was home alone for almost 3 hours until my working parents arrived.
Yes, I got into some "bad stuff" because there was no supervision but that "bad stuff" never including hurting anyone else either physically or emotionally. The reason that it didn't was because of the morals that my hard-working parents instilled in me starting at a very young age. Yes, my mother told me that I was special (and I even believed her for a long time) and no, my parents never physically disciplined me. Yet, all of the discipline was, in my opinion, just as effective.
I know that this may come off as a "in my day we walked uphill in the snow both ways" rant. That's not my intention. Rather, my point is that most of us didn't do this sort of thing when I was a kid. Yes, we did respect our elders even if that respect wasn't a real respect but a fear of the consequences.
There have been many studies about generational differences. There are significant differences between the Baby Boomers, Generation X and the Y Generation. Most of these differences are a result of the cultural influences that they grew up with. The current young generation has a lot of good things going for it. However, their sense of entitlement isn't one of them.
I have no idea about the actual character of the kids involved in this incident but I do know that after many years of riding a school bus I never saw or heard anything close to this taking place. I couldn't even imagine something like this happening when I was their age.
I think that the foundation of respect for your fellow man starts at home. I have 3 teenagers and they are very respectful/fearful of adults. My kids spend a tonne of time online and are exposed to the same stuff as the kids in this video. My wife and I are constantly reminding them directly and indirectly of the type of behavior that's expected. There have been some hicups along the way but nothing too serious.
In my opinion, this is clearly a combination of the parents failure and mob mentality run amock. Fortunately, most kids both in my day and today are better than this. Hopefully, the parents of these hellions step up and dish out the appropriate discipline and make it a lesson they will never forget (doesn't necessarily mean physical discipline).