Do you think kids today are spoiled?

[.Andy]

My point is that there are a lot of idiots out there

Which speaks volumes about yourself. It's easy to demonise and criticise others isn't it? It makes us feel good about ourselves. Especially the amorphous and unquantifiable made up "a lot" of "idiots".

and when they think, "I just want my kid to be happy," a lot of bad things can happen.

"A lot" (there's that term again) of bad things can happen when you do anything. It's laughable that you think parents wanting to give their children happy lives is somehow a pervasive evil in society. So far you haven't been able to demonstrate anything at all that suggests that kids these days are any worse than they've ever been. Besides ice cream anecdotes. Frankly as far as I'm concerned kids have far more pressures on them these days that we ever did when we were growing up and the vast majority are dealing with them with aplomb. I'd probably would have trouble growing up now.

I have personally seen people use that excuse for buying their kid something expensive or unhealthy. I don't know how indicative that is of society, but it does seem like a pervading idea and problem.

hint: it says nothing about society.

I never spoke back to my parents, ever.

I'd wager you did. All kids do. It's part of normal development. And if you didn't when you grew up you need to get a backbone. My parents have said all sorts of ridiculous things that I've pulled them up on (and vice versa). Mutual respect is a far better goal than complete subservience.

 

[jonbravo77]

Which speaks volumes about yourself. It's easy to demonise and criticise others isn't it? It makes us feel good about ourselves. Especially the amorphous and unquantifiable made up "a lot" of "idiots".

Ok, you know what. I let this go but you keep at it. Why is it you are right and everyone is wrong. And don't say that is not the case because if you read pretty much all of the responses you have made on this post that is the exact position you take...

You tear apart ppl who insult you on what you think yet you turn around and do it to others. By now I have figured you are either a nobel prize winning phyciatrist who knows all that is needed to know about humans, and have PhD's coming out the rear in child physcology, adult physcology and whatever else ology is needed to spawn your opinions.

But in reality, you just think you know everything about everything and seem to not rest until everyone agrees with you..

Well fine, here ya go. I agree whole heartedly with you. Your right, everything in this world is perception. That's all it is, there are no facts about anything just all perception. Kids aren't spoiled it must be all ppl are jealous which you love to point out.

You are either the smartest person on the face of this earth or someone who lives under a rock and has never encountered anything but the mirror of perfection you look into.

Sad truth time. The world is not perfect, there are spoiled kids who get whatever the hell they want. There is a good chance that they will grow up expecting whatever the hell they want and there is also (all be it a minor chance) that they will turn to violence because they have never felt that rejection in there life. The reason for that is because the parents are either un-caring boobs or just don't want to deal with the whinning and give them everything they want.

Yes there are kids that can and do grow up being just fine and live a very productive life but there are still kids who will kill, yes kill for something they want and think they are owed.

Sorry for the rant but you are just unbelievable in your stance on this. IMHO....

 

[.Andy]

Ok, you know what. I let this go but you keep at it. Why is it you are right and everyone is wrong. And don't say that is not the case because if you read pretty much all of the responses you have made on this post that is the exact position you take...

Welcome back ! This has stepped up a level!

You tear apart ppl who insult you on what you think yet you turn around and do it to others. By now I have figured you are either a nobel prize winning phyciatrist who knows all that is needed to know about humans, and have PhD's coming out the rear in child physcology, adult physcology and whatever else ology is needed to spawn your opinions.

No one has insulted me at all . I'm motivated by people having a go at others for their own sanctimony. Be it how they're better parents, why kids these days suck etc etc. So far no one has able to back up their arguments as to why they are asserting kids these days or parent these days are so terrible compared to us. And in this case it's not about opinions (in bold). You tried that on before. Either kids are more terrible than previously because they're spoilt more or they're not. Opinion shouldn't come into it any further than editorialising conclusions from the data.

But in reality, you just think you know everything about everything and seem to not rest until everyone agrees with you..

Quite the contrary. I know little about anything. I enjoy debating people's views and the aetiology of them though. I will never dismiss people as idiots because that would be hypocritical of me.

Well fine, here ya go. I agree whole heartedly with you. Your right, everything in this world is perception. That's all it is, there are no facts about anything just all perception. Kids aren't spoiled it must be all ppl are jealous which you love to point out.

Now you're being facetious. I can tell .

You are either the smartest person on the face of this earth or someone who lives under a rock and has never encountered anything but the mirror of perfection you look into.

If I get to choose most definitely the latter!

Sad truth time. The world is not perfect, there are spoiled kids who get whatever the hell they want. There is a good chance that they will grow up expecting whatever the hell they want and there is also (all be it a minor chance) that they will turn to violence because they have never felt that rejection in there life. The reason for that is because the parents are either un-caring boobs or just don't want to deal with the whinning and give them everything they want.

I don't disagree with this. This is not what the thread is about. Read the title of the thread. I disagree that kids these days are growing up especially spoilt and are turning into a generation of hoodlums. As I've said before I've not seen any convincing data or arguments that they're any different from any other generation, and stereotyping them as such is intellectually lazy and cliched. If anything with what they have to go through these days kids are far more mature than we ever were (or are now).

Yes there are kids that can and do grow up being just fine and live a very productive life but there are still kids who will kill, yes kill for something they want and think they are owed.

I don't doubt this, however again it's not what this thread is about or what I'm arguing. My point is that I'm not convinced that this generation is significantly different from any other insofar as being spoilt and turning out terribly. If you think otherwise or are going to assert otherwise you should be able to show this. Otherwise you're just making things up.

Sorry for the rant but you are just unbelievable in your stance on this. IMHO....

No need for an apology .

 

[GfPQqmcRKUvP]

Seeing a kid in a fancy car and then positing you know that the child has a sense of entitlement or is "spoiled" is the same thing as seeing a black guy walking down the street and assuming he's an unemployed criminal. I see no difference. You're making extremely important judgements on someone's moral character just because of some stupid stereotype.

 

[Iscariot]

Which speaks volumes about yourself. It's easy to demonise and criticise others isn't it? It makes us feel good about ourselves. Especially the amorphous and unquantifiable made up "a lot" of "idiots".

What if you have a legitimate and quantifiable claim to non-idiocy? Would it be then permitted to demonize and criticize others? Hypothetically speaking, of course.

P.S. please don't use "amorphous". Use "nebulous" or "apocryphal", or anything else that isn't going to jam the theme song for the Mighty Morphing Power Rangers in my head.

edit: although I suppose "teenagers with attitude" is fitting…

 

[iBlue]

Seeing a kid in a fancy car and then positing you know that the child has a sense of entitlement or is "spoiled" is the same thing as seeing a black guy walking down the street and assuming he's an unemployed criminal. I see no difference. You're making extremely important judgements on someone's moral character just because of some stupid stereotype.

That's not really the same thing. Moral character judgements have nothing to do with the fact that MOST teenagers cannot afford to buy a fancy car of their own if it were not for their parents/family's money. To assume a black guy walking down the street is an unemployed criminal is WAY too far a jump from the assumption about a kid and their fancy car.

I had a fancy car at 16, it was bought for me. It was exactly a matter of me being spoiled. And like a spoiled brat I had no appreciation for it and I drove it like a fool and I crashed it. Some stereotypes are more appropriate than others.

 

[Iscariot]

That's not really the same thing. Moral character judgements have nothing to do with the fact that MOST teenagers cannot afford to buy a fancy car of their own if it were not for their parents/family's money. To assume a black guy walking down the street is an unemployed criminal is WAY too far a jump from the assumption about a kid and their fancy car.

I had a fancy car at 16, it was bought for me. It was exactly a matter of me being spoiled. And like a spoiled brat I had no appreciation for it and I drove it like a fool and I crashed it. Some stereotypes are more appropriate than others.

You can be the Pink Ranger to my Green Ranger any day.

 

[thebassoonist]

No.

 

[dukebound85]

This thread isn't about "are some kids spoiled?", it is about "are kids today spoiled as compared to past generations?"

The answer is a simple no as every generation is the same. It's just the objects change. In the past it was vinyl records, ponies, cars, roller blades, etc.

Today it's computers, cell phones, cars, whatever.




With that said, I think I can sum this thread up as follows

1) There are people who are jealous when they see people younger or at same age they are that have nicer things they have and assume that it was given to them.

2) These same people immediately make stereotypes about these individuals stating that they must have everything handed to them while they have paid and earned every dollar while going to school uphill in 3 feet of snow because their parents wouldn't say buy them a car.

3) These same individuals most likely conveniently neglect any "benefits" that they may have encountered in life and say that they have had no help of any form while growing up. A good post was comparing us to citizens in 3rd world countries. it's all relative. I can guarantee you that everyone on this board has had some assistance in some aspect or another, only the degree of assistance varies.

I have major issues with those who stereotype kids who happen to have nice things and then try to paint themselves into an example of higher character. What makes these individuals feel that sense of superiority? Seriously?

Now I come from a family that's in lower middle class (so relatively poorer than my peers for most part) but I still have had things given to me, such as a cell phone when I was 16, or a emac when I first entered college, etc (there are many things my parents have given me ehile growing up). This doesn't mean I had everything given to me as I have had to buy the majority of my things which is cool by me. However, I believe once you hit adult age, you need to ween off your parents. I can say now that I no longer need any financial help from anyone regarding any of my bills/loans/etc. But guess what, I'm also 23 and that's what should be the case anyways.

Now I understand how people can be jealous. I have friends whose families can afford to travel to other countries, have nice cars, have their parents pay their school. Am I somewhat jealous of that? Sure, but at the same time, there are people worse off than me that are most likely jealous of what I have had the ability to do as well.

However, if I have a child and am able to buy him nice things, who is to say that I can't? No one beside the missus will be able to tell me what to and what not do when concerning my kid whether it be private school, a newer car, a cell phone, whatever. That's a judgment call that the parents themselves make and frankly, it is nobody else s' business

It is all relative people. Try to understand that concept

 

[.Andy]

What if you have a legitimate and quantifiable claim to non-idiocy?

I don't

You can be the Pink Ranger to my Green Ranger any day.

iBlue could be a Blue Ranger. In later episodes there were blue females.

Nice summary

 

[rhsgolfer33]

I read this a few days ago. There are two problems with the survey that I can see. Firstly it doesn't give you any historical data (except 2004 and it doesn't give you any idea of the error of their calculations). It by no means answers any question of kids behaviours in the current day compared with the past. You've no data to back up your assertion of an "undeniable increase". It also was carried out by an institute that supplies ethical services to schools. i.e. Not to be too flippant about it but institute does survey that finds out that it's services are required in schools. I wouldn't give that any weight at all unless it is verified by an impartial third party. Just as I wouldn't statistical research in any field.

The study is conduct by the Joesphson Institute and it has been conducted since 1992. The margin of error of their calculations, in many cases, is less than 1%. They randomly selected 100 high schools private and public, nationwide, and surveyed 29760 students; so its a pretty significant study. Its also a nonprofit organization, so its pretty unlikely that there is going to be a whole lot of bias in their survey; if there were no need for ethical training in schools the organization probably wouldn't be adverse to shutting down. However, I did find a flaw in some of their questions; an even number of choices to a question, for instance, agree/disagree, isn't usually considered good study design. They should have a third neutral variable on many of those questions.

The data has also fluctuated considerably for some of the questions in the past six years. Whether it means anything or not, who knows; it would be a lot better if they had data for the last forty or fifty years. It isn't a very helpful study if you are trying to look for generational differences.

It is kind of ironic that more than a quarter of the students admit not being honest on the survey. I'm also pretty sure that I took this survey when I was a junior in high school.

 

[Iscariot]

I don't

Universal you. As you us. You and me. Or just me. Me.

 

[.Andy]

Universal you. As you us. You and me. Or just me. Me.

Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it has to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
so happy together

I can't see me loving nobody but you
for all my life
When youre with me, baby the skies will be blue
for all my life

*everybody*

 

[dukebound85]

Me and you, and you and me
No matter how they toss the dice, it had to be
The only one for me is you, and you for me
so happy together

I can't see me loving nobody but you
for all my life
When youre with me, baby the skies will be blue
for all my life

*everybody*

ah the turtles...good times

had to fix the lyric lol

 

[.Andy]

ah the turtles...good times

had to fix the lyric lol

Thanks DB ! I'm off to buy it now. It's stuck in my head. Good memories singing along to this as a kid .

 

[cheyennewilson]

bore

 

[samiwas]

It's not the material possessions of today's youth that bothers me as much (depends on what it is, and what the kid seems to be like), it's the growing lack of personal responsibility and lack of expectations placed on them.

Things like:
- Not keeping score in youth sports so that there are no losers (yay! all the kids had fun, and no one had to lose and feel bad!)
- Not letting a kid score less than a certain amount on a test, no matter how bad he did (yay! he doesn't have to feel like he failed, and doesn't have to feel bad!)
- Not having a kid who has done poorly throughout an entire class year fail a grade and have to do it over (yay! he won't feel dumber than his friends, and won't feel bad!)
- Not permitting schools to punish troublemakers (yay! my kid can do no wrong, and he won't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Not punishing their own children for doing bad stuff, especially in public (yay! he won't be mad at me, and won't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Reaming employers when kids are fired from a job for lackluster performance or just poor attitude (yay! he shouldn't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Not allowing children to learn from their mistakes, but rather blaming their mistakes on others...like the woman who sued a car maker after her teenage daughter was injured in an auto accident (while she was driving way above the speed limit) by claiming that there weren't instructions on how to use the seatbelt in the car, and that the automaker should be responsible for her daughter's idiocy. (dammit I can't find the link!) This is crap.

This is the crap that bugs me about "kids" today. they grow up feeling that nothing is their fault, and no one should ever bring them down. That's much worse than having an extra iPod or a nice phone.

 

[anjinha]

- I don't think it's right to say that because someone thinks that kids today are spoiled that person is jealous.

- Just because someone thinks kids are spoiled it doesn't mean that person thinks ALL kids are spoiled and when sees a kid with a fancy cell phone automatically thinks the kid is spoiled.

As I said several times, I don't think that a kid is spoiled just because he has nice things. Of course kids in this generation have nicer things than previous generations, it's just how things go.

I do think a kid is spoiled if he is misbehaved, has bad grades, doesn't help around the house, doesn't respect his parents and still has everything he wants, even things his parents can barely afford. I do think that kids need to value things and learn that what they want doesn't just fall from the sky. I do also think that is not good for kids to get everything they want when they are young because most likely that's not going to happen later in life and that's something they need to learn.

Also the issue is not just the parents giving them things, it's also not being able to say "no" to them and just letting them do everything they want. That really can't be good.

 

[bobfitz14]

replace kids/child with dog, and i just described the family dog

some kids at a young age may get what they want which could label them as being a "spoiled" child, and therefore it leads to a higher chance of that child having greater expectations in life. i dare some one to prove me wrong.

for the record, i voted "maybe they are a bit spoiled"

 

[jonbravo77]

It's not the material possessions of today's youth that bothers me as much (depends on what it is, and what the kid seems to be like), it's the growing lack of personal responsibility and lack of expectations placed on them.

Things like:
- Not keeping score in youth sports so that there are no losers (yay! all the kids had fun, and no one had to lose and feel bad!)
- Not letting a kid score less than a certain amount on a test, no matter how bad he did (yay! he doesn't have to feel like he failed, and doesn't have to feel bad!)
- Not having a kid who has done poorly throughout an entire class year fail a grade and have to do it over (yay! he won't feel dumber than his friends, and won't feel bad!)
- Not permitting schools to punish troublemakers (yay! my kid can do no wrong, and he won't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Not punishing their own children for doing bad stuff, especially in public (yay! he won't be mad at me, and won't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Reaming employers when kids are fired from a job for lackluster performance or just poor attitude (yay! he shouldn't have to feel bad about what he did!)
- Not allowing children to learn from their mistakes, but rather blaming their mistakes on others...like the woman who sued a car maker after her teenage daughter was injured in an auto accident (while she was driving way above the speed limit) by claiming that there weren't instructions on how to use the seatbelt in the car, and that the automaker should be responsible for her daughter's idiocy. (dammit I can't find the link!) This is crap.

This is the crap that bugs me about "kids" today. they grow up feeling that nothing is their fault, and no one should ever bring them down. That's much worse than having an extra iPod or a nice phone.

Thank you for this. This is the same things that bug me. And this is not a generational thing. This kind of stuff is pretty recent to my knowledge. And this goes to being spoiled and having high expectations and low personal responsibility.

Edit** But I am pretty sure our resident physcologist .Andy will have something grand to say using his big expensive words for all of us to be in Aww over..