Is it just me, or are some teenagers getting more stupid as the years roll on?  What prompted me to ask this question is the lovely story I read today about a 17 year old who thought it was a MARVELOUS idea to use the biology class snake as a jump rope.  So f*cking brilliant!

Then we've got all the, "OMG, U R SO GHEY!!!1111ELEVENTYDOUCHEBAG" speak.  Really, is it that hard to type out a proper sentence nowadays?

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Incoherent ranting directed at me?

Well..................................

Part of it might be because they never learned common sense from the people who should teach them such things, either because the parents and older family members were too busy or just didn't care.

Part of it might be because they watch too much stupid TV...

I don't recall being AS stupid though :D

when I heard about that story..it made me sick. I think teens have always been careless and a bit stupid (not all, of course)...but I think as of lately, more seem to have much disregard and a lot less respect than earlier on.

Thank you to both of you for excellent answers.  I'm not saying all teenagers are dumb (we have some very good examples of intelligent teenagers on this board!), but it just seems like the dumb ones are multiplying at a faster rate than the smart ones.

I think once the human population hit 6 billion and the economy burst open for a while more and more people got a hold of money that they didn't know what to do with so they spent it on mindless entertainment and got stupider.  Plus, if you have more people, that means more stupidity is going to be accentuated and reported on the 10 o'clock news :P

Is it just me, or are some teenagers getting more stupid as the years roll on?  What prompted me to ask this question is the lovely story I read today about a 17 year old who thought it was a MARVELOUS idea to use the biology class snake as a jump rope.  So f*cking brilliant!

Then we've got all the, "OMG, U R SO GHEY!!!1111ELEVENTYDOUCHEBAG" speak.  Really, is it that hard to type out a proper sentence nowadays?

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Incoherent ranting directed at me?


Somebody should use them for a jump rope  >:(....poor snake.


To me they don't necessarily seem more dumb, just a bigger sense of entitlement.  Going from my friends kids, the only teens I know, they think the world is owed to them and are so incredibly disrespectful.  I would have never dared to be that way with my mom for fear of a boot up my butt. 

I agree that one kid is a total d*ck, but in fairness I think more gets reported or discussed now (especially online), so their actions are more visible. Basically I think the bad ones unfairly make the rest look bad by comparison, since bad stuff makes the news more often.

Just from my personal memory...

I was a little too young to pay attention to that aspect at the time, but judging by movies and stuff, alot of '80s teens seemed like the type to beat up nerds or just be kinda obnoxious bullies (think like the older brother Chet from Weird Science). Then again that was probably just a small percentage, alot seemed pretty clean cut. My babysitters at the time were all nice too.

90s teens had alot of edgy things common today (especially from the perspective of older people) - i.e. gangs, listening to rap music, smoking weed. I think they were more rebellious then, but more bratty now. ;D

In like 1992 there were some high schoolers who shared the bus line with my Elementary school, and on the one hand I thought they were pretty cool, but also kinda intimidating. They were only a few years older but at the time it seemed to make a huge difference. Also, one time I was in a video store when I was like 10 and my parents were in another section, when this group of teens were looking at something close to where I was. One of the chicks was like "Move, boy!" and I'm thinking dang sorry.

Born in '88 and 20 years old here.

Oh God, does this make my generation look bad.  :-[

Blame it on Britney and Paris.

To me they don't necessarily seem more dumb, just a bigger sense of entitlement.  Going from my friends kids, the only teens I know, they think the world is owed to them and are so incredibly disrespectful.  I would have never dared to be that way with my mom for fear of a boot up my butt. 


I agree with this.  I also believe part of it has to do with parenting/disciplining.  As a kid if I were to ever do anything disrespectful or deliberately out of line I would fear the wrath of my parents.  I see a lot of parents today that don't control/discipline their precious children.  And heaven forbid if someone other than the parent(s) says or tries to do something to correct the kid's behaviour.  How dare I?  I dare because it's obvious that you can't control your brat!  >:( :D

I never thought I'd understand my Mom when she says "sometimes I don't understand kids."  I noticed some kids really can't spell and it's acceptable.  Not only that they seem more vicious than the kids I grew up with.

Just look at television to see (partly) why. Where are all decent kids shows and cartoons with their morals at the end. Now it's just a competition to see which shows can be the most whacky, sarcastic and random. Kids need to be shown limits and given guidance (in the case of 2 working parents). I've been watching Facts of Life lately and was amazed at how big serious issues were tackled in each episode. Yes you can be cynical and call it preachy, but young people need this sometimes. Even stuff like He-Man always had their moral at the very end of each episode - and none of us complained that it was lame. Anyway like I said, this is just part of the bigger picture.

Just look at television to see (partly) why. Where are all decent kids shows and cartoons with their morals at the end. Now it's just a competition to see which shows can be the most whacky, sarcastic and random. Kids need to be shown limits and given guidance (in the case of 2 working parents). I've been watching Facts of Life lately and was amazed at how big serious issues were tackled in each episode. Yes you can be cynical and call it preachy, but young people need this sometimes. Even stuff like He-Man always had their moral at the very end of each episode - and none of us complained that it was lame. Anyway like I said, this is just part of the bigger picture.




And people wonder why I don't have a TV.

Just look at television to see (partly) why. Where are all decent kids shows and cartoons with their morals at the end. Now it's just a competition to see which shows can be the most whacky, sarcastic and random. Kids need to be shown limits and given guidance (in the case of 2 working parents). I've been watching Facts of Life lately and was amazed at how big serious issues were tackled in each episode. Yes you can be cynical and call it preachy, but young people need this sometimes. Even stuff like He-Man always had their moral at the very end of each episode - and none of us complained that it was lame. Anyway like I said, this is just part of the bigger picture.

I actually kinda agree with this. I do like how 80s and 90s shows (and earlier) tended to have moral or serious messages people could relate to or learn from. Like the heartfelt situations in Full House. Stuff like that wouldn't even make it on the air now, it would be "too cheesy".

I think it's a fair point though (in any time period) that the kids who get the most attention are the ones who either do bad or disrespectful or criminal stuff. News shows aren't gonna report on the ones who volunteer at the old folks' home on the weekends or basically just stay out of trouble and are more intelligent.

Yeah Jess I've noticed this decline in common sense happening too.... I live and work in a college town. The fires broke out on a Tuesday afternoon...by Thursday things were really bad...every fire dept in the county- and most of them from the state were fighting the fires...

the stupid ass college students were having bon fires in their yards... and pulling fire alarms for no reason....which required the fire depts to break from the fire and respond to all these stupid false alarms and also to put out the bon fires...  ::)

Is it just me, or are some teenagers getting more stupid as the years roll on?  What prompted me to ask this question is the lovely story I read today about a 17 year old who thought it was a MARVELOUS idea to use the biology class snake as a jump rope.  So f*cking brilliant!

Then we've got all the, "OMG, U R SO GHEY!!!1111ELEVENTYDOUCHEBAG" speak.  Really, is it that hard to type out a proper sentence nowadays?

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Incoherent ranting directed at me?


I never understood the "GHEY" textspeak.  Isn't the purpose of textspeak to use FUER ltrz whn spling a wrd?

Yeah Jess I've noticed this decline in common sense happening too.... I live and work in a college town. The fires broke out on a Tuesday afternoon...by Thursday things were really bad...every fire dept in the county- and most of them from the state were fighting the fires...

the stupid ass college students were having bon fires in their yards... and pulling fire alarms for no reason....which required the fire depts to break from the fire and respond to all these stupid false alarms and also to put out the bon fires...  ::)


WHAT?!

Teens these days are definitely much more irresponsible and really have much more of the WIIFM mentality than I did when I was a teen!  It's all about FUN these days for them.  While kids and teens should definitely have some fun in their lives, they should not think it's ok to hurt other people (and animals) at will just for their own amusement. And that they don't need to do some work once in awhile. Parents and teachers these days do not take the time to teach the Golden Rule to kids early on, many kids have never cracked open the Bible to know about treating others with respect and "Do unto Others..." etc. They also do not know what the word consequences means.  I read of kids in schools here doing the most awful things and all they get is a slap on the wrist! It's looked down on to punish a child because parents are afraid Child services will come after them.  I could never have gotten away with half the stuff some of these kids do!

I realize this behavior comes from lots of kids being from one parent homes and the domestic violence that can go with divorce, etc,....I never planned to be a parent, or a divorced parent, but because I am, I am NOT letting my child act like other kids do today.  It may sound pretentious, but I am working hard to make sure that Matthew doesn't turn out to be like so many of these I see now.  So far, he knows a good bit of the Bible, is concious of others' feelings and helpful, and would lay his life down for another human or animal if need be. I just hope he doesn't change.  And I know there will be peers that will try and change him, but I am trying to teach him to think with his own mind and heart and do what's right-don't do things to please other kids.  Kids need acceptance desperately, because they are missing a parent or the parents just tune them out, and it's a shame to see kids act in such ways and become spoiled attention addicts. I read that male teachers are in need all across the country because boys these days have no fathers at home and no male role models to look up to. I'm lucky that Matthew does have a Principal and a couple of male teachers as well as his Grandfather to look up to.

I could go on, but I won't too much longer.  There is just such a lack of humanity in all the generations now going back to when my Mom was a teenager. And to think these kids are going to rule the world someday?  I hope it ends before someone that is 10 now can become President.

WHAT?!


I told you they were stupid...

I actually blame the parents... they coddle the kids nowadays... the kids have no idea what to do if they are the victim of a crime... they call mom and mom calls the police... the police cannot take a report from a parent if the victim is over the age of 18.... but so often its someone broke in to my daughters car or someone hit my sons car and they don't know what to do...

I had a girl's father call me at two o'clock in the afternoon because some guy walked into his daughter's apt the night before. I told her him to have her call. she called and said that she didn't call the police because the guy said he walked into the wrong apartment. I asked her if she was scared... she said yeah I said when you are scared you call 911 not daddy...
In our area we have a lot of burgs. the kids essentially leave their doors unlocked. and the burglars go from apt to apt looking for unlocked and empty apts... when they find an occupied apt they pretend to be looking for a friend... in unoccupied apts they steal laptops and stuff...

We had a serial rapist in the area. the street he was hitting was just under a mile long. the news interviewed the residents (all female) of one house.. they showed the house... it was next to a park. there exactly three parks on that street so it was one of three houses... very easy to identify... the girls told the reporter... yeah we never lock the sliding glass door. Its scary to think someone could just walk in and rape us...  ::)

Oh and we had a girl who falsified a parking permit... sounds trivial but the parking permits have the seal of Ca on them... forging the state seal is a felony... the girl was arrested.
her mom called and said her daughter had a bad week. she was having trouble with classes and then she had her bike stolen and had to drive to school because her bike was gone and then she was "embarassed" by the cops arresting her for forging a permit... I explained to the mom that her daughter commited a felony... the mom said she's a good kid and would never do this under usual circumstances and we should be compassionate to a straight A student not handling independence very welll.  I said maam forging a state seal is a felony... she said... oh I know I'm a corrections officer but she's a good kid...  ::)  give me a freakin break!!!!

What kind of snake was that.  Any snake long enough to play jump rope with is a snake not to be trifled with anyway.

I remember the Darwin Awards sometime in the '90s told of a case in which two guys in Alabama were playing catch with a rattlesnake.  One of them died of the venom at the hospital.  Another snake story I like, which was in News of the Weird, can't remember where it happened, but I guy was playing with his friend's pet cobra, got bitten up pretty bad, and did not seek medical attention.  Instead, the snake bite "victim" went to a bar for beers and boasted of how he got bitten by a cobra and was such a big man he could take it.  The guy pitched over and died on the tavern floor!  So, that guy deserved a Darwin Award too, and an honorable mention for his friend, who was dumb enough to keep a cobra as a pet!
http://www.inthe00s.com/smile/09/snake.gif

Anyway, I think the phenomenon Jessica observes is not greater innate stupidity, but greater general ignorance of environmental dangers as kids lead more and more sheltered lives.  I tramped the woods and swamps of New Hampshire in my boyhood and I was warned from a very early age not to chase, play with, or harass wild animals, not even little ones.  However, if your world is confined to TV, video game, and perhaps a spot of lawn in a sterile suburb, you're less likely to clash with the environment.  Also, getting hurt was part of growing up.  Since I fell out of a tree when I was 11, so I knew the dangers of defying gravity.  I fell 15 feet onto grass and walked away from it.  Thus, I was less likely at 19 to scale the edge of a college dorm, not even if I was raging drunk.  I read about kids doing these crazy stunts on campus every years.  Some of them get paralyzed, a few even die!
::)

Oh, please. People have been saying this since the dawn of civilization. And I mean that quite literally. You really think swallowing live goldfish or seeing how many people you can cram into a phone booth was saner, more reasonable behavior? That's the kind of stuff our grandparents did when they were teens and young adults. There will always be some stupid teens who do idiotic things to get attention - and they will get attention, because older people love hearing stories about how stupid young people are. Because ultimately, every generation thinks the next generation is a bunch of useless no-goodnicks who should get off their lawns.

And you certainly can't say that teenagers are stupider, wilder, or more irresponsible than the most recent generations. For two decades now, teen drug use has been going down, teen smoking and drinking has been going down, teen crime has been going down, and until very recently, teen pregnancies had been steadily going down too. Generation Y is more likely than the past generations of young people to volunteer in their communities and get involved in politics. If anything, you could make the argument that this generation of teenagers is actually smarter and better-behaved than most.

They should still get off my lawn, though.

Teenagers have been rebellious and a little nuts since the 50's. It's just more open to society now, because they can't get away with anything and what they do get away with they log on the internet and blog about it.

Only differences I noticed is an increase in laziness. They spend all their time on their technological devices instead of at social events. They come home from school and log onto myspace to talk to their friends instead of in person. As well as texting.

Another thing is all the talk about sex. It seems like it's something so cool and mysterious and something they just can't get enough of. Back in 1994 - 1998 when I was in highschool we did have sex and all of it, but it wasn't all we talked about and it wasn't something we would share openly with the world, because we understood it was personal.

Teen guys that are best friends talk to each other as if they hate each other. Competing against girls and stuff. And teen girls that are best friends talk to each other like they're in love. Prancing around telling each other they love them and stuff. We never talked to each other like that.

However, the things we did were worse than what the kids do now because of the laziness.

i think as a lot of people grow up they start to forget what it was like to be young and assume it just gets worse.

^Well said dude, I agree. I also think Samwise's post is pretty accurate.

Something else I just thought of too - I wonder if maybe it's because no one knows the outcome of things until later, so anything kids are doing in the moment seems worse by comparison. Like nobody would be threatened by the headbangers and jock bullies of the '80s, or the rebellious grunge slackers of the 90s NOW since it's passed. People tend to think "ah, I guess it wasn't so bad" when it's over.

Yeah, I noticed that too about sex. Even when I was in Middle school in 1994-'96 kids talked about it (both guys and girls) and moreso in high school, but you're right that's a difference. They just talked about it more in general, like not so much personal stuff (other than like mentioning someone they thought was hot). I started seeing that change towards the end of high school.