Do you think kids today are spoiled?

[.Andy]

I don't quit think jealous is the right word. In my case, it's down right irritation. I think the common theme here is entitlement. Kids who are growing up feel they are entitle to everything whether they work for it or not. And it's mostly parents fault and a sociatal issue as well. Everyone is getting afraid to say no to there kids because of either the kid will cause harm or the govt. may step in. Parents are so busy with jobs and such there is no more personl responsibility to their kids they brought into this world.

I guess my beef is largely with people labelling and stereotyping generations. It's over-simplistic and completely silly. The generation of kids growing up now will turn out just fine - just like every other generation of kids (including our own generation). We didn't do it any harder for what we got, nor did we earn our possession any more than they do. I put it to you that there is no huge problem of a generation of kids growing with a sense of entitlement and a lack of personal responsibility. This is a perception cultivated to serve our own needs.

It's the result of increasing wealth and relativity.

This puts it succinctly. Relative to those that grew up in the great depression or in third world countries we all had easy, spoilt childhoods with an overinflated sense of entitlement and little personal responsibility. Times change.

We're not competing with kids, rather we should be happy that we live in societies that are wealthy and progressing and allow kids these fantastic opportunities. Who's to say that a kid with a "fancy laptop" isn't going to do fantastic things with it. If they never had access we'll never know.

 

[jonbravo77]

I guess my beef is largely with people labelling and stereotyping generations. It's over-simplistic and completely silly. The generation of kids growing up now will turn out just fine - just like every other generation of kids (including our own generation). We didn't do it any harder for what we got, nor did we earn our possession any more than they do. I put it to you that there is no huge problem of a generation of kids growing with a sense of entitlement and a lack of personal responsibility. This is a perception cultivated to serve our own needs.

Wow, sorry not to be a complete jerk here but are you serious there is no huge problem with a generation of kids growing up with a sense of entitlement and no sense of personal responsibility. What kind of adults do you think those kids will make? You think that this world will just be a great place with a generation of ppl who tale no personal responsibility in anything they do?

I'm not understanding how you can honestly believe that kids who grow up not understanding that they need to contribute to be able to afford the things they want and not just expect that everything will be given to them is a good thing. I agree, it is a generational thing but in technology only. A sense of being productive and having personal responsibility is not a generational thing.


Listen, I am not saying that all kids are growing up this way but it does make a huge difference in what these kids will be doing when they become adults. If entitlement and personal responsibility are not a huge problem then we are in big trouble.

I am also not saying that we should not afford our kids more than we had but they need to be tought not to take it for granted and that they should not just expect.

 

[CalBoy]

If entitlement and personal responsibility are not a huge problem then we are in big trouble.

.Andy's point is that every generation of elders has felt that way about their generation of children.

It is one of those things which humans shall continue to say in perpetuity.

Put another way, like your parents before you, you too will come to say, "Kids these days..."

 

[Schtumple]

I'd bet that what you don't like in the children you see is the result of bad parenting.

I know many good children, and it's quite clear that they have good parents behind them.

50% bad parenting 50% bad attitudes.

 

[rhsgolfer33]

Must...refrain...from....ranting....


(I really dislike children)

Yay, someone who feels just like me. I dislike children as well, especially poorly behaved ones who's parents don't find it necessary to supervise them while they roam free around the restaurant I'm in proceeding to cut me off in line for the soda machine, bump into me, and just generally be overly loud and obnoxious.

I do agree that kids are spoiled now days. I was in the AT&T store the other day and some mom (fake blonde, huge rack, juicey couture clothes; not that it matters, it just stands out) was telling the store worker how she'd already bought her 14 year old daughter a new laptop for Christmas but the daughter still wanted an iPhone so she was going to buy it for her. Do parents just have no backbone these days? Do they think? Why does a 14 year old need a $200, $70 a month phone? So she can listen to music and check her facebook during class? Give me a freaking break. It consoles me to think that she put it on her credit card and that she probably has as much credit card debt as a nice Mercedes costs.

Any teenager that pays for their phone and the monthly service fee is exempt from this rant. While I still don't particularly see the point of spending $70 a month for it, if you earn the money to pay for it you have every right in the world to buy it and not be generalized.

Don't get me wrong, I get a lot, and I'm lucky, but I've also learned the value of money and pay for the majority of my own things. I could have gotten an iPhone, but I'd of had to pay the $70 a month service on my own and would have paid for the phone myself, but I don't really have a real need or reason to buy one (you can't do research for school on it, the screen is too small).

 

[jonbravo77]

.Andy's point is that every generation of elders has felt that way about their generation of children.

It is one of those things which humans shall continue to say in perpetuity.

Put another way, like your parents before you, you too will come to say, "Kids these days..."

Oh believe me, I have a 14 year old step son that I am teaching personal responsibility and I do say "kids these days". But I do not agree that kids who think they are just entitled and not tought personl responsibility will grow up to be just fine and this world will go on just great. Leads to bad leaders, bad employees, and a host of other things.

 

[anjinha]

Of course each generation life is easier, but there's more to it than that. It's not just the generation gap that we're talking here.

I'm only 21 and already I'm stunned at how some of my friends will talk to their parents if they don't get what they want and how they don't value what they have. And I think it's getting worse in the younger kids.

I have cousins (11 and 12 years old) who pretty much get what they want. But they are really good kids, they help around the house, they're respectful to their parents and they really appreciate what they have, so I have no problem with that, even though they have things pretty easy.

 

[CalBoy]

50% bad parenting 50% bad attitudes.

In my experience (and I do have a fair amount when it comes to kids), bad parenting has a very profound effect on attitude.

I'm not say that's going to be the case all the time, but definitely most of the time.

But I do not agree that kids who think they are just entitled and not tought personl responsibility will grow up to be just fine and this world will go on just great. Leads to bad leaders, bad employees, and a host of other things.

Sure, but the question is, are there more of these kids in proportion to the whole today than there were 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago? I'd bet not. This is very much a case of perception. As we get older, we think those who are younger are spoiled because they have access to more at a younger age than we did.

 

[jonbravo77]

In my experience (and I do have a fair amount when it comes to kids), bad parenting has a very profound effect on attitude.

I'm not say that's going to be the case all the time, but definitely most of the time.


Sure, but the question is, are there more of these kids in proportion to the whole today than there were 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago? I'd bet not. This is very much a case of perception. As we get older, we think those who are younger are spoiled because they have access to more at a younger age than we did.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure that the world is not going to go to hell in a hand basket. But from what I do see with customer service going in the crapper and even amongst adults personal responsibility is going the way of the dodo comments like "it's not a huge problem" concern me. If we just have the attitude that everything is perception and there should be nothing done about it then we are not doing justice to our kids to make sure they have the proper tools to be a decent member of society.

If you have noticed I did not say kids are spoiled, but there are a good lot that are. And if we just want to talk in perception than it seems that the days of good decent parenting are dwindling to the notion of "oh, someone else will take of it". Which is sad....

 

[CalBoy]

If we just have the attitude that everything is perception and there should be nothing done about it then we are not doing justice to our kids to make sure they have the proper tools to be a decent member of society.

Of course, and every parent, teacher, older sibling, or any other symbol of authority should do their best to help turn the children in their lives into responsible members of society.

In the meantime, I don't think children today are any more spoiled than they have been in the past, which is the topic of this thread.

 

[anjinha]

In my experience (and I do have a fair amount when it comes to kids), bad parenting has a very profound effect on attitude.

I'm not say that's going to be the case all the time, but definitely most of the time.


Sure, but the question is, are there more of these kids in proportion to the whole today than there were 10, 20, 30, or 40 years ago? I'd bet not. This is very much a case of perception. As we get older, we think those who are younger are spoiled because they have access to more at a younger age than we did.

I'm 21 and already I think kids are spoiled. And not just kids, people my age too. The issue is not that they get more stuff than kids 10 years ago did. The issue is that they keep getting more demanding and feeling entitled to material things and not doing anything for it.

Saying that this is just perception is like saying that there are more obese people today because there's more food available. That might be part of the reason but it's not the whole story and it doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about it.

 

[CalBoy]

I'm 21 and already I think kids are spoiled.

Hmmm...Mark Twain has something to say on the subject:

When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to be twenty-one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.

It's very hard to self reflect, but I'm sure if you do, you'll find that you too went through a phase of wanting everything for nothing. It's a part of the teenage experience, always has been.

And not just kids, people my age too. The issue is not that they get more stuff than kids 10 years ago did. The issue is that they keep getting more demanding and feeling entitled to material things and not doing anything for it.

21 year olds who haven't matured have always been around. You might notice them more now because you've outgrown their behavior.

Saying that this is just perception is like saying that there are more obese people today because there's more food available. That might be part of the reason but it's not the whole story and it doesn't mean we shouldn't do something about it.

That's a pretty poor analogy. Diets, advertising, and food itself have changed drastically over the past 30 years.

Perhaps a better analogy is to compare the perpetually low rate of 18-25 year old voter turnout. As this group as a whole is generally more self-absorbed, they don't really think about voting as crucial.

I'd bet that this selfish tendency spills over into material desires too.

 

[Aea]

It's not like these kids will be living off their parent's wealth for the rest of their lives, sooner or later they're introduced to real life. I'm with the people believing it's simply a matter of perception. Every generation will have it "easier" because of the rapid social and economic advances of human civilization. From a historical perspective the whole "spoiled children" phenomenon starts to begin post renaissance.

Also, I don't believe we should be equating material possessions with spoiled children. Now granted I am only 19 myself (although I do hold what would be considered a respectable job to people decades my elder) but I don't think it has to do with material possessions at all.

There are very many young people I know that come from wealthy background that are much more respectful of the world around them that have very many material possessions then those who have fewer material possessions and come from a less privileged background. And vise-versa. If we simply start equating material possessions with "spoiled" then every single generation will be more spoiled then the next; economic power will continue growing unfettered in the long term and has barring major catastrophes (Mass Deaths, Great Depression Events).

I don't subscribe fully to the idea that bad parenting means spoiled children either. Although I'll agree that having an authoritative parenting style probably would contribute to having "good" children, there are just individuals that have a completely different personality type then the rest of the world and will be different, and this has always been the case.

 

[dukebound85]

"kids today"

funny how that applies at every generation lol

 

[toolbox]

I believe they are, i have seen kids walking around with mobiles that i know for a fact that would have cost over 300+, they get away with a lot of stuff these days. You can't hit your chidren because that will see you in jail for abuse.

When i was growing up, The rage back then was gaming consoles, every one had one except my family. All the houses i would go to would have a SNES, or a Sega of some sort. We never go a Snes until we were about 11, my first computer was a 286 that was when i was 12!. So if we wanted something we had to find ways of earning the money.

When i got a job, i can by what ever i want. I am 21, i pay board and pay for all medial bills etc. Parents don't pay for anything.

 

[.Andy]

Wow, sorry not to be a complete jerk here but are you serious there is no huge problem with a generation of kids growing up with a sense of entitlement and no sense of personal responsibility.

Sorry the sentence was apparently ambiguous and you've read it the wrong way. My point is that your characterisation of the current generation of kids having a sense of entitlement and no personal responsibility is a fallacy. It doesn't exist in anything but an unfair, ungrounded stereotype. You're constructing it for your own perceptions. Just as every generation has done before you of teenagers.

In the grand scheme of things, I'm sure that the world is not going to go to hell in a hand basket. But from what I do see with customer service going in the crapper and even amongst adults personal responsibility is going the way of the dodo comments like "it's not a huge problem" concern me. If we just have the attitude that everything is perception and there should be nothing done about it then we are not doing justice to our kids to make sure they have the proper tools to be a decent member of society.

This is just 500 sanctimonious words. What you're really saying here is you're better than society because......

 

[anjinha]

Off topic, I just want to thank everyone that has been participating in this thread. I started this because I'm home with a really bad cold, and getting really bored, and it has been really nice discussing this with everyone.

 

[.Andy]

Off topic, I just want to thank everyone that has been participating in this thread. I started this because I'm home with a really bad cold, and getting really bored, and it has been really nice discussing this with everyone.

You probably caught it from a kid that didn't wash their hands !

 

[dukebound85]

I believe they are, i have seen kids walking around with mobiles that i know for a fact that would have cost over 300+, they get away with a lot of stuff these days. You can't hit your chidren because that will see you in jail for abuse.

When i was growing up, The rage back then was gaming consoles, every one had one except my family. All the houses i would go to would have a SNES, or a Sega of some sort. We never go a Snes until we were about 11, my first computer was a 286 that was when i was 12!. So if we wanted something we had to find ways of earning the money.

When i got a job, i can by what ever i want. I am 21, i pay board and pay for all medial bills etc. Parents don't pay for anything.

does anyone else see the irony here?

you stereotype that all kids today have 300 dollar phones or whatever than point to your generation about how all the kids had game systems and then say you had your own computer at 12! why you put yourself and your generation on a higher pedestal than today's baffles me to say the least

there are many kids today that dont have expensive phones and must earn their belongings too you know

by the way, your parents shouldnt pay for anything now as youre 21. i dont know what point you are trying to make really there either

 

[anjinha]

You probably caught it from a kid that didn't wash their hands !

Those darn kids.

 

[jonbravo77]

Sorry the sentence was apparently ambiguous and you've read it the wrong way. My point is that your characterisation of the current generation of kids having a sense of entitlement and no personal responsibility is a fallacy. It doesn't exist in anything but an unfair, ungrounded stereotype.

Well, I guess we have to agree to dis-agree on this one. I am glad that you believe somehow I have read your quite blunt statement wrong and in some way I should have know what you were thinking.

You should understand that what is said on topics such as this that what ppl say is out of opinion. I apologise if I failed to express that what I say is opinion. And I do realize that what you say is opinion as well.

I am 31 years old, have seen my fair share of bad parenting in my own life. I do not believe that I am owed anything and that I can go around thinking I don't have to have personal responsibility. My sister who is 4 years older than I am seems to think the opposite. But you are right, I guess she is just being stereotyped. I mean, I have known her my entire life and have seen nothing less than what I am talking about, but I guess I just don't know like you do.

I am curious on one thing. How old are you .Andy?

 

[.Andy]

Well, I guess we have to agree to dis-agree on this one. I am glad that you believe somehow I have read your quite blunt statement wrong and in some way I should have know what you were thinking.

I apologized that it was ambiguous. You just managed to read it the way I didn't intend, which was my fault for not being clear. To clarify: I think personal responsibility and not having an overinflated sense of entitlement are admirable attributes. I however do not think there is a crisis of the next generation lacking personal responsibility and having a huge sense of entitlement.

I do not believe that I am owed anything and that I can go around thinking I don't have to have personal responsibility.

Congratulations on you personal responsibility. I commend you for having the candor to post about it on the internet.

My sister who is 4 years older than I am seems to think the opposite. But you are right, I guess she is just being stereotyped. I mean, I have known her my entire life and have seen nothing less than what I am talking about, but I guess I just don't know like you do.

Now you're being disingenuous. The attributes of your sister has nothing to do with you stereotyping an entire generation as growing up with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement or lack of personal responsibility. Or is your point merely that you're better than your sister?

I am curious on one thing. How old are you .Andy?

Although this has nothing to do with the discussion I happen to be exactly the same age as you.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I'm not saying that they are spoiled because they have fancy things. I think they are spoiled because they have everything too easily, and always seem to demand more and more and think they are entitled to everything they want.

As I said before the issue is not what they have, it's how they get it.

Ya, I get that. What I'm saying is that "kids today" as well as "kids yesterday" and "kids of tomorrow" are, have been, and will be spoiled. I don't buy that "kids today" are significantly of the more spoiled brat variety than kids of days gone by.


Lethal

 

[jonbravo77]

Now you're being disingenuous. The attributes of your sister has nothing to do with you stereotyping an entire generation as growing up with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement or lack of personal responsibility. Or is your point merely that you're better than your sister?


Although this has nothing to do with the discussion I happen to be exactly the same age as you.

As to my sister, I was just sighting example of the way you think that it is a fallacy and an unfair, underground stereotype. If I had led anyone to believe that I am lumping all kids into what I say than I am wrong. But I do see a good portion that strike me to what my opinion is.

I don't appreciate the way you are trying to basically demonize me for my opinions by saying I'm better than anyone else or somehow above society.

I think your age is relevant in that different ages will see this subject in different ways.

Just so you know, I am done with our little back and forth. Again, I will agree to dis-agree..

 

[Schtumple]

"kids today"

funny how that applies at every generation lol

I've found myself saying that, I'm only 20, but I feel as though I'm pretty much 100% "out of the loop" of youth, well, children youth

Some of the stuff they say/do just makes no sense to me, what happened to the days of climbing trees and playing football in the park?

Why do kids have to hang around dingy areas shouting abuse at people walking past, it's pathetic...