Where have all the good kids gone?
The majority of today's kids have no respect for their elders. Whatever
happened to "yes ma'am" and " no sir" etc. ? Nowadays it's "yeah" and "uh-uh". Not to mention those that are telling the parents what to do and cussing them out when they don't get their way. I never would have thought about saying and doing such things as the kids of today. What is our world coming to? Frankly, it scares me to death! |
Where have all the good kids gone?
On 2006-04-25, CA-TINA WHIDDON wrote:
The majority of today's kids have no respect for their elders. Whatever happened to "yes ma'am" and " no sir" etc. ? Nowadays it's "yeah" and "uh-uh". Not to mention those that are telling the parents what to do and cussing them out when they don't get their way. I never would have thought about saying and doing such things as the kids of today. What is our world coming to? Frankly, it scares me to death! The majority of kids throughout history have had little respect for their elders. This is not news. The use of "yes ma'am" and "no sir" is primarily a regional phenomenon in the US, though it is prevalent among military families. The use of these phrases does not indicate any more respect than "yeah" or "uh-uh", just a different dialect of English. I have not observed the problem of "telling the parents what to do and cussing them out when they don't get their way"---neither from my son nor from any of his friends or classmates. That sort of behavior problem would definitely be seen as a serious one requiring soem sort of intervention around here. (That's not to deny that such behavior exists, and may even be common in some communities, just that I don't hang around with people for whom such behavior is normal.) ------------------------------------------------------------ Kevin Karplus http://www.soe.ucsc.edu/~karplus |
Where have all the good kids gone?
Kevin Karplus wrote: The use of "yes ma'am" and "no sir" is primarily a regional phenomenon in the US, though it is prevalent among military families. The use of these phrases does not indicate any more respect than "yeah" or "uh-uh", just a different dialect of English. Very true. Three years ago we moved from the midwest to the Texas/Mexico border -- at first people were astounded at how polite they felt our son was. I found that sort of odd. Of course, I think he's a terrific kid but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. Here, in a predominantly Hispanic culture, there is lots of "ma'am" and "sir." Henry didn't say that at the time. Also, there's far less calling adults by their first name -- I regularly delight and amaze new friends of Henry's by inviting them to call me Dawn. Henry was used to calling adults he knew well (socially, anyway) by their first name. I finally figured out that they saw him as polite because he habitually uses "please" and "thank you," which are just expected in the Midwest, even though in other ways that culture is less formal. I have not observed the problem of "telling the parents what to do and cussing them out when they don't get their way"---neither from my son nor from any of his friends or classmates. That sort of behavior problem would definitely be seen as a serious one requiring soem sort of intervention around here. (That's not to deny that such behavior exists, and may even be common in some communities, just that I don't hang around with people for whom such behavior is normal.) Do you hang around middle schoolers yet? I can't remember your son's age in relation to Henry's. They definitely go through a phase of testing that could be seen by outsiders as "telling parents what to do" and even "cussing them out" although Henry has never sworn at me in public. Yes, it's serious and requires intervention, but I've also observed it's fairly normal and (thankfully) relatively short-lived. I think at this age and in our culture they see this behavior in popular culture (movies, etc) and feel obligated to try it out. They ALSO see, usually, parents responding negatively and with consequences in pop culture, so I don't necessarily see the pop culture influence as bad in this regard, as long as we do our jobs and go along with the script (i.e. not tolerating it). All of that said, I've also learned not to over-react as the reaction is often what he seems to be looking for. My husband mentioned last night that Henry, who had been punished earlier in the evening for trying to sneak out next door in the middle of the night to see a friend, seemed to be almost enjoying the "romance" (my husband's word) of the whole adventure, including our reaction -- in fact, so much so that we sat him down a second time to make sure he understood that he would NOT be feeling this way again if he dares to make the same mistake twice. -Dawn Mom to Henry, 13 |
Where have all the good kids gone?
In ,
CA-TINA WHIDDON wrote: *The majority of today's kids have no respect for their elders. Whatever *happened to "yes ma'am" and " no sir" etc. ? Nowadays it's "yeah" *and "uh-uh". *Not to mention those that are telling the parents what to do and cussing *them out when they don't get their way. *I never would have thought about saying and doing such things as the *kids of today. *What is our world coming to? Frankly, it scares me to death! Kids! I don't know what's wrong with these kids today. Kids! Who can understand anything they say? Kids! They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, dirty, lazy loafers! And while we're on the subject - Kids! You can talk and talk til your face is blue... Kids! But they still do just what they want to do! Why can't they be like we were - Perfect in every way? What's the matter with kids today?? I mean, come on. GET OVER IT! This is not a real problem. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. My kids are polite and so are the majority of their friends... -h. -- Hillary Israeli, VMD Lafayette Hill/PA/USA/Earth "Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it is too dark to read." --Groucho Marx |
Where have all the good kids gone?
Dawn wrote:
Do you hang around middle schoolers yet? I can't remember your son's age in relation to Henry's. They definitely go through a phase of testing that could be seen by outsiders as "telling parents what to do" and even "cussing them out" although Henry has never sworn at me in public. Yes, it's serious and requires intervention, but I've also observed it's fairly normal and (thankfully) relatively short-lived. Yes. DS/DD have never sworn at me or at Martha, however. I don't think DS has ever sworn period. I think at this age and in our culture they see this behavior in popular culture (movies, etc) and feel obligated to try it out. They ALSO see, usually, parents responding negatively and with consequences in pop culture, so I don't necessarily see the pop culture influence as bad in this regard, as long as we do our jobs and go along with the script (i.e. not tolerating it). All of that said, I've also learned not to over-react as the reaction is often what he seems to be looking for. My husband mentioned last night that Henry, who had been punished earlier in the evening for trying to sneak out next door in the middle of the night to see a friend, seemed to be almost enjoying the "romance" (my husband's word) of the whole adventure, including our reaction -- in fact, so much so that we sat him down a second time to make sure he understood that he would NOT be feeling this way again if he dares to make the same mistake twice. Excellent advice. I will add that my own nearly-teen will sometimes obviously act out just so we can correct her. It's like she knows what she's doing is wrong, but can't stop herself, and it's a relief when we step in. I don't expect this to happen, though, with DS, our own Mr. SuperCautious. The good kids are out there -- you just don't notice them :) Scott DD 12 and DS 10 |
Where have all the good kids gone?
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