"Kids These Days" Statements

[the_std]

People have been saying that since the dawn of time! Every generation seems to think that the generation underneath them is going to the dogs and no one ever does anything properly and we shall all be murdered in our beds!

I don't know what it is that makes every generation think that their successors cannot fill their shoes, but it happens all the time. People need to get over this "kids these days are so damn lazy" thing and realize that the generation under them are just going to do things differently. Doesn't necessarily mean that they're bad ways, but, because the previous generation as a whole doesn't quite understand what's going on, they think that the world is falling apart.

This applies to "music these days" statements too. Don't even get me started on that. Argh.

I think I just hate ageists. People should be based on their merits, not on how long they've been alive. Plus, I wish people could understand that things change. That society evolves. Sigh.

[Greenday]

Eh, I've been using the statement "kids these days" for years now, and I'm only 20. My generation for the most part sucks. I definitely grew up in the wrong time period.

[Giggle Goose]

I actually think I'm a saint compared to what my parents were like in the '70s.

"Wow, Mom, the guy in this picture is smoking a really-funny looking cigarette."

[AFPheonix]

I totally agree. If someone starts in IRL I usually go into my cranky grandpa voice and start making fun of them.
Get off my lawn!

[Boozy]

I make fun of people with that "get off my lawn" thing, too.

One thing I've noticed, though: People who complain about "kids these days" never seem to be that old. I've heard it more often from people in their 30's than anyone else.

I really like teenagers. I miss having a job where we could employ them (you have to be at least 19 to work at my wine store). At the cafe, teenagers were the best buy for my payroll buck. High-energy and smart as whips, but because they were inexperienced, they hadn't left my crummy workplace for something better yet. Their loss was my gain.

[DesignFox]

I must be a cranky bitch then. As a general rule, teenagers drive me nuts.

I joke around a lot with the "get off my lawn" comment.

I love kids, though. Most of the teens I had come to know, or I had known before they became teens I like- although, I liked them before they were teens, too...it's kinda different when you watch them grow up, you know? But if I see a stray pack doing stupid shit in the mall... I want to shake a cane at them.

I'm so old.

[AFPheonix]

Depends on the teenager, although I will say that being stuck in a pickup with one for 3 weeks having to listen to the same retarded songs over and over again about drove me to homicide. I was soooooo happy when I could get home and listen to NPR again without having someone change it back to a top 40 station.

[the_std]

A lot of the things people say are annoying about teenagers/kids/young people are applicable to the person themselves, not to their age. Like an obsession with top 40 radio, or the latest fashion trend, or laziness, lack of work ethic, blah blah blah. Or their complaints about kids these days are things that most kids will grow out of, because of immaturity and isn't really a "generation epidemic", it's a growing up thing that most people experience, regardless of the generation they belong to.

[crazylegs]

I work with young people day in day out, its a huge part of my job. Here are some simple opinions that I have formed over the last year talking to young people and interacting with them on a professional level.

The majority of young people are good the majority of the time. When this majority acts up they get a bit rowdy but don't do an awful lot wrong.

The minority part is split into two factions.

1) Slightly off the rails, when in the company of the next group are easily led into commiting criminal acts but this group can normally work it out for themselves that criminality is a BAD thing.

2) Off the rails. These commit vastly disproportionate amounts of criminal and anti social acts compared to how many of them there are. This group will require a significant amount of work by Youth Offending Services, the Criminal Justice Sytem and various other agencies to attempt to get them to change their ways.

The reason why people think that ALL kids are a pain in the arse?

Reasons

1) The media, sensationalism sells papers, what makes a better headline 'Children throw scaffolding at fire engines while they attend a fire' or 'Young males on scooters escort lost water supplies during a state of emergency'? (both real examples, example two never made it to press)

2) If you see a group of kids hanging around on a street corner and have been programmed by the media to expect all kids to be knife wielding, cat killing monsters then you will notice them. As will all your neighbours. When you talk to said neighbours about youths on the streets both you and your neighbours will have seen youths but even if they are the same group you will assume that two different groups have been seen, you chat to a third neighbour and you now have three groups, neighbour three talks to neighbour one, you now have four groups, it all snowballs. If said group of kids were playing music too loudly on their mobile phones or taking up the entire pavement or any of the one hundred and one things that irritate people then it just gets worse because one person will notice one thing, your first neghbour will notice another, the third will notice something else, so you have four groups, all doing various different anti social acts, from one group of young people.

The real issue is not to crack down on youngsters being young but to manage peoples perception of what is actually happening. In my county crime has fallen overall for the fourth year running, burglaries are down over 20% robbery down 17%, car crime down over 10%, on 'my' patch crime is at its lowest level for ten years, yet people belive that crime is rampaging unhindered. The only reason for this is because their perception is skewed.

When young people do act in a manner that is unacceptable it is down to all of us to challenge them, not to scream at them or berate them but to show them that what they have done is wrong.

If they are committing criminal acts then by all means call the police, but noise, swearing and the odd bit of litter, try talking to them, if you're polite they normally will be too.