Re: Swined by the Swine!

["L. Bird" <pkeets@hotmail.com>]

Longish social rant, continued:

>I condemn them for being out of control, irresponsible, lazy, 
>disrespectful, deceptive, non social, apathetic, hedonistic, moronic, and 
>unaccountable.

Lots of adults are that way, too, which explains why their kids have 
problems.  Kids eventually turn into their parents.


>However, I truly believe that it's a whole mass of factors that contribute 
>to the decay of the youth.  Permissive parenting - while being very 
>representative of the problem, isn't the only thing.

One very serious problem is the limited time that parents now have to spend 
with their children.  Back in the days before the Industrial Revolution, 
both parents worked in or near the home and could take an active role in 
teaching their children.  First the fathers went to work outside the home, 
and then the mothers, and now they're both too busy to pass along skills and 
wisdom that kids need.  When time is short, it's easier to just change the 
tire than to teach Jimmy how to do it.

We're already at the second or third generation of such parents, and even 
when they're home, they have no idea how to teach their children--because 
they're weren't taught well themselves.  Among these other things, they 
haven't any child-rearing skills.  Teaching children is a professional job 
now, expected to be handled by the schools.

In some ways, today's teens are an improvement, though.  As a whole, today's 
kids have a social consciousness that was absent from earlier generations, 
regarding environmental and racial concerns, for example.   They have better 
technical skills and much more knowledge of the world then earlier 
generations at the same age.  We'll have to see where these things lead.


> >As I said above, I don't think politics really enters into it
>
>Unfortunately, it does.  It's a societal problem, so you must examine
>society.  Politicians make the laws that govern the society, so we must 
>include them - as much as I wish we didn't have to.  I think I trust 
>teenagers more than I do politicians.  Not matter which party.  Maybe 
>growing up in corrupt Chicago has a little to do with my distaste for them.

It is alarming how much the government interferes with families these days.  
Foreign tourists are often arrested for "neglect" because they have no idea 
US laws are so demanding of parents.


> >I take it you'd like to whack them?
>
>In all seriousness, did you notice that kids seem more out of control now 
>that spanking them is a crime?  A good smack taught valuable lessons - 
>consequences, obedience, and the ability to duck.  Not to mention, that if 
>I got whacked by my dad in a case of mistaken identity (my brother did it, 
>but ratted me out for it), by being punished for nothing, I also learned 
>that life isn't fair!

Many adults could do with a good whacking, as well.  Are they maybe kids who 
got away with too much?  Interestingly, you're much more likely to get 
whacked as an adult these days.  ;)


>Sometimes a smack on the butt makes things crystal
>clear.  If you club your kid sister in the head with a hammer, you're gonna 
>get a spanking!

Of course, there are folks who would say that if you'd handled your child 
correctly, then he'd never have hit her.  This is much more difficult than 
the whacking, and chancy, too.  A combination of techniques is likely to 
work best.  Who was that with the "speak softly and carry a big stick" 
quote?


> >Um, didn't we hear about this in Quadrophenia?
>
>You lost me there.  Where does Quad fit in with today's teenage girls
>dressing like $2.00 whores?  C'mon, am I the only one who's not disturbed 
>by the sexual permissiveness of kids today among other things?  What's 
>wrong with you people????  Yeah, I tried getting laid when I was 13 but 
>didn't get there - the girls wouldn't go for it.

The kids are trying to fit in.  If you don't dress like Britney Spears, then 
you're not one of the in crowd.  The standards are so rigid that girls who 
can't look like that are totally traumatized by the time they get out of 
high school.

The sexual permissiveness isn't all-pervasive, either.  There's been quite a 
push for abstention in the last few years.  Also, the restructuring of the 
welfare system has removed the government support for irresponsible sex.


> >What keeps me on topic is that Pete and Roger care about kids, especially 
>teenage kids. So far, they didn't get old.