Todays Youth.

[Lily Adams]

Those dern whippersnappers!



But really, it does sort of make me throw up a bit in my mouth when I see "fashionable" ten year olds wearing stuff like that. So you're not alone. I also think that it's great that you're "voicing your opinion" about your own generation. There's nothing wrong with it! People need to speak up!

As the geek that I am, I am looking to history to see if this has happened before. It obviously couldn't have been that long ago. I think. So should we not worry about this because this is just a cultural "phase"?

[Scheherazade]

I was expecting to get flamed. :$

Sorry to disappoint!

Even,If we (u and i) differ in a point (not meaning that we do) but it's very good to see a 15 year old.Saying what he or she wants.And not being a puppet like a lot(most ) of the ones i see and know.

Said another 15 year old???

[SleepyWitch]

As the geek that I am, I am looking to history to see if this has happened before. It obviously couldn't have been that long ago. I think. So should we not worry about this because this is just a cultural "phase"?

I'm not sure it's just a phase...
what do you mean by "couldn't have been that long ago"?
in case you're talking about the 60s/hippies etc, i think that was different. despite all the dope they smoked and wild music, they were interested in making life for humans on earth better.
whereas the kind of kids I had in mind (don't know about Shadow) are 100% materialistic (and i agree with drama it's not their fault).

the problem is that 25% of youth (for my country, don't know the stats for other places) aged 12-25 do not care a single bit about what's going on around them politically, socially, economically etc.
so what????? it means they have now way of influencing their own fate (as it happens those 25% are among the poorest youths, so it would be especially important for them to make a difference!!!!)
another 25% don't have any clear opinions of their own and can't be bothered to get involved in anything larger than their own daily life, although they have the means to do it.
the 3rd 25% are very active, but aim mostly for their own economical benefit and don't care about social issues that much.

which leaves 25% to 'save the world'. (but these 25% are from the middle/upper middle class. i.e. if the middle classes continue to be eroded, there will be less people left who have the means to think about problems larger than their own little life - this last argument was my conjecture; all other data: Shell Youth Study 2002)

the point is, that those kids Shadow complains about will probably never grow up to be the kind of adults we expect them to be --> their behaviour is not just a 'mistake' but it will affect all of society in the countries where this is happening.

hehe, sorry to be so pedantic

[.:Shadow:.]

Back on topic: Just curious... You mentioned starting a similar thread in another forum: Did you get similar reactions there?

Yeah, kind of. It turned into a debate actually, about who was to blame.

Shadow, I can see where you are coming from but it is very difficult to generalize on such a huge scale. One cant just blame the kids and parents either, have you seen what goes on in the media? Do you think its the KIDS who produce those "dolls" that give girls a bad image to follow? Kids dont purposely say from a young age "I want to dress and act merely as an object of sexual desire and behave innapropriately" they follow what is handed to them and shown to them.
I get frustrated with my peers all the time but I know they just mimic what they are told to mimic by society and the media, and many parents ought to realize this as well. Kids cant help being easily influenced, its a very hard age to be at and everyone is insecure to some level.You just have to put the right stuff out there to educate and help youth instead of attacking them.

Yep, thats true. And I know exactly what you mean. But again this is where the parents come in. They have the control over what thier child can and cannot do. What shows thier child can and cannot watch. The type of people thier child can and cannot hang out with (this could sometimes be a little much, but it could be necessary). The things they buy for thier children.. And the list can go on.

But, its true that they cannot always control the things thier kids get up to, and thier actions and choices. But they definitely can teach thier children right from wrong. Ofcoarse then there are the rebellious ones, who do something just because thier parents said they shouldnt. But that can be fixed.. If you just talk to them about it, instead of just going "Dont do that!" Kind of hard to explain, I guess.. If you dont get my point.

And then there is peer pressure. If they kids havent seen it going on in TV, or the toys, or where ever else they get thies ideas, then they try to fit in with the kids at school.

So yeah.

[Adudaewen]

I agree whole heartedly. I weep for the future. I am increasingly frustrated with our era. It is true that since the beginning of time, there have been rebels and what the kids today are doing is relative to those done in past centuries, but I do see it as getting worse. Now, its not just enough to have sex, but now its risky sex and multiple partners and sex parties and dangerous sex games (like Erotic asphyxiation and the like) and huffing and meth and drive-bys and gangs and the like. Let's face it, its dangerous out there! Add to that a healthy dose of parents who are too young and too busy and unconcerned, and what you're left with is just havok! Granted not everyone falls neatly into these catagories, but its prevelance is undeniable. I am terrified for my younger friends and relatives and also very thankful to have grown up in a house where my mother was there when I got home from school and I had a dad under the same roof who loved me and parents who cared enough to be strict and who knew where I was regardless of whether I was honest with them or not. The thing I really worry about is so many kids today are so "tech"ed out that they cannot even carry on a good conversation face to face with anyone anymore. Nor can they be bothered to pick up a newspaper or read anything other than magazine articles and myspace blogs. I will admit it has me very worried because ignorant people are easily swayed.

[Bysshe]

I used to worry about it, but I've sort of given up caring. I find the whole binge-drinking culture incredibly depressing, and I can't help but feel slightly disturbed when I see eleven year old girls in make-up, but apart from that it doesn't bother me too much. I don't know. I've just come to accept that "my generation" is not a particularly happy one. I don't know what we'll be like as adults. Are we any worse than the previous generation? It's hard to judge. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see...

[papayahed]

I used to worry about it, but I've sort of given up caring. I find the whole binge-drinking culture incredibly depressing, and I can't help but feel slightly disturbed when I see eleven year old girls in make-up, but apart from that it doesn't bother me too much. I don't know. I've just come to accept that "my generation" is not a particularly happy one. I don't know what we'll be like as adults. Are we any worse than the previous generation? It's hard to judge. I suppose I'll just have to wait and see...

I read somewhere that the WWII generation was considered to be shiftless and uncaring before they had to prove otherwise.

[optimisticnad]

As some of you know, my daughter recently joined the LitNet.

Awesome!

Howd u manage that? I wish I could get my siblings to join....no freebies so they want nothing to do with it!

[sam96]

Yeah,Scher,We 15 year olds gotta stand by each other.
But,I do agree with her.My friends go to school with mascara on and looking too sexy for school.i look like a baby beside them.

[Virgil]

Yeah,Scher,We 15 year olds gotta stand by each other.
But,I do agree with her.My friends go to school with mascara on and looking too sexy for school.i look like a baby beside them.

I hate to tell you, but this was going on when I was 15. thirty years ago. Girls and guys did the same then too.

[stephofthenight]

honestly i agree. i am 14. i have an older sister who wears shorts that show everything and tanktops to church. were i have never worn a pair of shorts in the last 3 years. i dont do drugs. im all for abstinece, i make good grades and i respect my parents. i see other kids with razor phones and crap, i have a cheap pre-paid phone for when i go on debate trips so i can call when we get there and call when were back. thats it and i still pay the bill. my vehichle is a 1964 truck and i paid for it i pay insurance and i pay for the gas. when i got out of line as a kid my parents took a belt to my butt and i staritendd up. if more parents would bother to dicipline there kids, ameica would be better. my parents never realy hurt me it was mostly a it hurt my feelings thing, but i dont misbehave. i dont get to go to the movies with a bunch of guys by myself most kids laugh and say my parents are stupid. i just turn around and say "i dont have the rep of a slut, and im not pregnet." they seem to be doing a good job. it makes me mad to see snobby 9 & 10 y.o. running around in slutty outfits with lots of make up. and then i just want to cry for them. think about it, its happening younger and younger kids are losing there verginity in 6th grade now. parents need to stop being lazy and take responosbilty for there kids. if u wernt going to be resposible you shouldnt have spred your legs in the first place. thats my stand on it. no wonder most guys think im a loser. well i know what i have and i hide it under big clothes but the guys/girls that i date, date me for who i am. not becuase they think that they can get some.

[stephofthenight]

[b]I dont live on a farm...
I live in the city.



But, its true that they cannot always control the things thier kids get up to, and thier actions and choices. But they definitely can teach thier children right from wrong. Ofcoarse then there are the rebellious ones, who do something just because thier parents said they shouldnt. But that can be fixed.. If you just talk to them about it, instead of just going "Dont do that!" Kind of hard to explain, I guess.. If you dont get my point.

And then there is peer pressure. If they kids havent seen it going on in TV, or the toys, or where ever else they get thies ideas, then they try to fit in with the kids at school.

So yeah.

my parents never let me have barbie or anything like that. and iw as taught right from wrong. i was also a child who was happy in a 4 acre feild for hours playing games i made up in my head. i never thought about the things i was missing out on. all i knew was that i had animals who were my best friends. im kinda a loner because i dont get into that stuff. but honestly i would rather have 1 friend who was clean and excepted me and my morals then 100 who were sluts and gave me there reputation.

[Schokokeks]

my vehichle is a 1964 truck and i paid for it i pay insurance and i pay for the gas.

Excuse me, you are fourteen and have your own car ?

[B-Mental]

and more bills than me. How do you pay those bills? I had a job when I was 12, but never enough money to do that much: movie, maybe clothes on occasion. This is a disturbing topic, and imo it has little to do with literature.

I have a 15 year old daughter. She doesn't have a job. She went on one date, homecoming and won't be driving until she is legal to drive. Oh yeah, neither her or her friends dress slutty. Maybe its where she lives, but I don't know. Some of these posts make it sound like its a huge portion of the population which does this. Its funny, but its the youths posting here are the ones posting these things.

[Koa]

Excuse me, you are fourteen and have your own car ?

Maybe 16... Americans...

Well, it's something that kind of makes me concerned as well. It possibly is just a phase, I think half of those people will grow up and become more 'serious'. But I do think young people are 'older' than they used to. No matter what Virgil says here above, it was different when I was 15, and that was 10 years ago.
When I entered high school I was shocked because ONE of my schoolmates used to wear mascara, and another ONE had dyed hair. Now it's normal for anyone above the age of 10 (or less...) to have dyed hair, make-up, high heels... I see it even more here in the UK than in Italy, I mean at an even younger age. 15-year-olds that look older than me. When I was 21 I was mistaken for a 15-year-old because I wasn't wearing make-up


We all had Barbies in my 'generation', but none of us used to dress like a slut at the age of 12. Now it is definitely faster, and it's everywhere, it is the media, and nothing else... the only value is to be hot and have sex as young as you can and drink as much as you can (and I'm not against sex and drinking, mind you, I just think the emphasis on both is INSANE, especially in the UK and, I believe, the USA - in Italy, where I'm from if someone happens not to know, it's still only starting but we'll be the same soon, that's why I said that 10 years ago it was WAY different, we're catching up).

Although I liked the point that someone mentioned, that it used to happen in the past in a different way, by early marriage etc... I had never thought about it. Although marrying at 18 as a choice (were there really many 14-year-olds marrying men of 30 in the 60s or so???) to me is different than giving too much importance to yourself at the age of 14...