Are kids/teens worse today

katherineconlan

I was listening to an old podcast on Classic Hits about the DART rape chants as well as the kids who kicked the woman down into the rail tracks. A few middle aged friends I've talked to say you'd never have heard of anything like that in the 60-80s when they were growing up.

Some say it's just the piss-poor Gardai but bad teen behavior doesn't seem confined to Ireland. It seems to be mainly a thing in the West. Perhaps we just have access to social media and are seeing more stuff.

endacl

Kids are the same. Parents are worse.

ILikeBoats

It's because you can't bate your child with a wooden spoon anymore

Gregor Samsa

Back in the day, 13 year olds would be in the pub drinking after a hard day in the mines, so they didn't have time to be being neer-do-wells on the locomotive to Kingstown. Nowadays, they're all raised by their Sega Megadrives and taking the hash.

It's funny. If you read the stories from ancient Roman writers, they say the same thing "children just don't have the respect they had in my day"

Strazdas

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118262466#Comment_118262466

Was being said in the 1950s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s etc.

It seems to happen with every single generation....the older crowd thinking the younger one are much more unruly and lacking respect etc.

osarusan

Are threads about kids getting worse getting worse?

The Mighty Quinn

“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers"

Socrates, some 2500 years ago!

Dublinandy3

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118262508#Comment_118262508

That's where the rot set in, crossing of legs, downhill since then.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058220998/are-kids-teens-worse-today

What's it to do with Gardai?

By the time Gardai are involved in a kids behaviour, the damage has long been done by lack of parenting.

katherineconlan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118261988#Comment_118261988

I thought many studies showed that spanking was detrimental to the mental health of kids when they turn into adults. It's supposed to make them more aggressive and have self-esteem problems.

But then again, you always hear anecdotes of "Well I was beaten and turned out fine".

For Forks Sake

thefallingman

In my experience the majority of kids/teens today (bar the scum around oconnell st) are great compared to the 90's when everyone was on acid and ecstasy from the age of 13 up. Alot less smoke and they are all alot fitter and will probably live longer.

I'm reading this, literally looking at some 17 year old falling about, yelling at the top of his lungs, "I am stoned off me head".

I'd imagine there's been scum about since the dawn of time.

At this point we simply expect better, but fail to receive.

Suggest kids behaviour is not worse. Objectively kids rates of drinking, drugging, sexual activity have all gone down over the last 20 years. Its probably a reflection of how little trouble you can get into hanging with friends online, compared to hanging out on street corners

However the latest generation have very little resilience. They cannot cope with adversity or even other opinions. They are anxious and depressed over nothing.

Hopefully the generation following will reject all this and be absolute legends and look after us middle age people well in our old age

Perseverance The Second

If the Kids are worse today it says a hell of a lot about their parents.

Then of course there as those that adopt the viewpoint,

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118262754#Comment_118262754

I got beatings as a child, turned out fi... not too bad. But any of my negative aspects, I land squarely on the rest of my life experiences except the beatings. My dad beat me because I did crappy things. He beat me because that's how he was raised (there's 4 boys, 1 girl who is the oldest, she never got hit save for being a victim of just being there after he bate one of the brothers, collateral damage I suppose, he regrets it to this day). They got bate for everything, by everyone. So I'm not blaming him, society made him that way. But I will hand on heart say his beatings kept me out of major trouble.

One thing I will say about kids/teens back then (80s/90s) vs now, is there is a lot less respect in general. I remember as a teen, you would always look around to make sure no one was watching if you were getting up to, ah, unsavory acts. You feared being caught. Now, it's nearly a badge of honor and actively get aggressive with authority. Not saying that wasn't happening in my day, but it was less common. So yeah, I think they're worse today, but that's based on my own experiences. Even listening to the siblings stories of their kids, granted the parenting does leave a lot to be desired, but I can't imagine how hard it is to "fix" any issues your child has, when back in the day a belt or slap would have set you straight (personally).

But yeah, overall lack of respect and contempt for authority seems to be the trend for kids/teens these days imo.

Markus Antonius

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118261923#Comment_118261923

This and everything is captured on camera now so it's publicised. We kicked women onto railway tracks all the time we just didn't do it on camera

katherineconlan

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118270382#Comment_118270382

I don't know whether you're being serious.

While kids have gotten badly behaved over the past few decades, there's something to be said for Irish teenagers. Don't get me wrong, the vast majority are well behaved and law abiding. But our bad bunch of teenagers are far worse than anything.

I have a friends from continental Europe and the U.S. visit me. They are surprised by not just the state of the capital but how some teens can get rowdy in public. In their countries, the police would quickly deal with our teens with serious (but justified) force.

Potential-Monke

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118270481#Comment_118270481

I'd imagine the police in those countries are better funded, better equipped, and have a lot more respect. Plus, I'm also sure they're not as soft as people want our Gardai to be these days.