The Dumbest Generation

[watch me fall]

Emily got an iPod for Christmas from her Nana (my mom) and took horrible care of it - ended up dropping it in the toilet. It's destroyed. Now, she is angry with us (and heaps loads of abuse on us, thinks we're REALLY unfair) because we won't run out and buy her a new one ASAP.......how's that for entitlement? It is the right of all kids to have an iPod apparently.

 

Or how about this one.....when Emily is grounded she says, "it's YOUR FAULT that I am grounded!" I say, "no, it's because you did ______ that you are grounded. A consequence to your actions." She says, "nope, it's YOUR fault because you're the one who grounded me."

 

*sigh*

I just had to fire a 23 year old kid because of his sense of entitlement. He thought he was entitled to sit around all day and text on his phone and I thought otherwise. When he got two bad performance evaluations in a row, he blamed his supervisor and never took responsibility for anything. Unfortunately, teens with this type of attitude grow up and enter the work force with the same attitude.

 

I will say that this kid was the exception in our office, but still. It didn't sit well with me.

[Reni]

we even offer Emily matching funds for her savings - have tried to help her set up a savings account - come up with ideas how to save, work for extra money, etc so she can get an iPod, laptop, or whatever gadget is top of her list that day......and she just plum won't do it. She says, "why bother? no way can I save that kind of money."

 

I could tell unpleasant stories all day long about my kid - so, I will stop - in all fairness, she does have significant behavioral/emotional issues. However, I don't chalk everything up to that and am quite discouraged about her development, no matter how hard we try and steer her in the right direction.

[bobbob1313]

I realize I'm fighting a losing battle here, because there is one "dumb" representative of my generation arguing against the best and brightest our world has ever had to offer (until my generation is in your shoes, and then we get to do that as well), but I'm just going to say a few more things:

 

1. Most of the arguments against teenagers are based on extremely broad generalizations. I don't think I fall into any of the reasons he says, and I don't think I'm falling into your generalizations, yet I'm sure you would consider me the exception and Emily the rule, despite both of us representing one part of a diverse whole.

 

2. I'd be willing to bet all kinds of money (I've got about 12 dollars in my bank account) that this conversation is a carbon copy of ones from 10, 20, 50 years ago. It happens with every generation.

[austrya]

Heck, trying to get kids to do chores is like pulling teeth.

[Good Old Neon]

Dumb. I read the first one and decided it was dumb. I probably decided it was dumb before I read the first one, but that definitely cemented it.

 

It's easy to look back now and say "Man, my generation was so smart when were young." You weren't. If you remember being smart as a teenager, then you are just projecting your accumulated experiences and knowledge on your teenage self. But I'm sure most teenagers throughout time have been idiots.

 

With all due respect, your response strikes me as somewhat, well, dumb.

 

All kidding aside, it

[OOO]

The highschool kids I work with are pretty amazing, and much more motivated than I ever was, but then again, thats not saying much...

 

More importantly, who's the dumbest REgeneration?

 

 

(The answer is Paul McGann)

[Griddles]

After reading all 8 things why my generation is dumb I feel like this guy does not know what he is talking about. Reasons 6. Don't retain information (who needs to?),3. Can't spell, 1. "Jaywalking'' gaps in knowledge are all about the same thing. Rather than needing to store information, my generation stores the information about where to find more information. Why know who the king of England was in 1492 (Henry VII), when one can just go online and find his whole biography? The other points are kind of cop outs. Blame video games, parents, and peer pressure. These things get blamed for all the ills in the world, but do not, in my opinion have that great of effect on a person unless that person allows them to. Also, when typing on the internet people do get blasted all the time for poor grammar, I do not know what internet this guy is using.

 

 

 

(For some reason I only got to see the first six or seven replys , and the conversation has changed, but oh well.)

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

It happens with every generation.

Don't mean it's wrong! The gradual decline of western civilization...

 

It's hard to make a macro-sort of judgment, we all rely on our strongest personal experiences. However, there are some studies that you can look at.

 

For instance:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6504107.html

 

I believe you said on your own facebook profile that you don't understand why people don't read more.

[Analogman]

The highschool kids I work with are pretty amazing, and much more motivated than I ever was, but then again, thats not saying much...

 

More importantly, who's the dumbest REgeneration?

 

 

(The answer is Paul McGann)

 

I think one of those guys will be at that thing I asked you about.

[aricandover]

The highschool kids I work with are pretty amazing, and much more motivated than I ever was, but then again, thats not saying much...

 

More importantly, who's the dumbest REgeneration?

 

 

(The answer is Paul McGann)

 

in all fairness, he never got a chance to run with it. sorry, this belongs in another thread.

[jenbobblehead]

I have a niece who is 14 who is a delight. She rarely writes in goofy L33T speak, she is mindful of her elders, a straight A student in a very competitive high school, a good friend and sweet kid to her friends, and her pets and her family, etc, and a healthy sense of outrage at bad politics and bad behavior by others.

 

But I'll tell you this: the child has no common sense whatsoever, and I suspect it will be after graduate school that she'll actually hold a real job. I am not sure she even knows how to use the stove and I am not sure that my sister leaves her home alone unless my dad is around next door. She doesn't buy birthday or christmas gifts herself, instead opting to not even send a card rather than use her own money which she squirrels away for issues of InStyle mag and new clothes.

 

I know that there are a lot of years between when i was 14 and now, but honestly, when i was 14 I already had been babysitting for cash for two years, and was responsible for birthday, anniversary, holiday cards and gifts for my sister and parents and friends as well as my own music, and walkman and cassette tapes.

 

I don't know if it is entitlement, or self-absorbtion or what...Is it their fault, or their parents?

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I have a niece who is 14 who is a delight. She rarely writes in goofy L33T speak, she is mindful of her elders, a straight A student in a very competitive high school, a good friend and sweet kid to her friends, and her pets and her family, etc, and a healthy sense of outrage at bad politics and bad behavior by others.

 

But I'll tell you this: the child has no common sense whatsoever, and I suspect it will be after graduate school that she'll actually hold a real job. I am not sure she even knows how to use the stove and I am not sure that my sister leaves her home alone unless my dad is around next door. She doesn't buy birthday or christmas gifts herself, instead opting to not even send a card rather than use her own money which she squirrels away for issues of InStyle mag and new clothes.

 

I know that there are a lot of years between when i was 14 and now, but honestly, when i was 14 I already had been babysitting for cash for two years, and was responsible for birthday, anniversary, holiday cards and gifts for my sister and parents and friends as well as my own music, and walkman and cassette tapes.

 

I don't know if it is entitlement, or self-absorbtion or what...Is it their fault, or their parents?

That sounds like parents not letting kids grow up (home alone, etc) which is EXTREMELY common now.

 

http://www.nysun.com/editorials/why-i-let-...de-subway-alone

[bobbob1313]

Don't mean it's wrong! The gradual decline of western civilization...

 

It's hard to make a macro-sort of judgment, we all rely on our strongest personal experiences. However, there are some studies that you can look at.

 

For instance:

http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/article/CA6504107.html

 

I believe you said on your own facebook profile that you don't understand why people don't read more.

 

I agree that people read less. This probably goes for everyone, not just teenagers, though I don't have anything more than anecdotal evidence to back this up.

 

But they only read less because there is an abundance of other things to do. Literature is hit the hardest because it is the least immediately gratifying. This makes perfect sense. I think it has less to do with a decline in intelligence and more to do with an over abundance of mediums of entertainment, which is another discussion altogether.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I agree that people read less. This probably goes for everyone, not just teenagers, though I don't have anything more than anecdotal evidence to back this up.

 

But they only read less because there is an abundance of other things to do. Literature is hit the hardest because it is the least immediately gratifying. This makes perfect sense. I think it has less to do with a decline in intelligence and more to do with an over abundance of mediums of entertainment, which is another discussion altogether.

But doesn't that result in a decline in intelligence?

[jenbobblehead]

I agree that people read less. This probably goes for everyone, not just teenagers, though I don't have anything more than anecdotal evidence to back this up.

 

But they only read less because there is an abundance of other things to do. Literature is hit the hardest because it is the least immediately gratifying. This makes perfect sense. I think it has less to do with a decline in intelligence and more to do with an over abundance of mediums of entertainment, which is another discussion altogether.

as an aside, my niece reads a lot more than I ever did and I READ A LOT as a teenager because i was a nerd and didn't have a social life. Two years ago, the two of us were reading some of the same books (not just Harry Potter) but I do not know how she stacks up (get it? library stacks?? hahahahah) against her cohort at high school.

[bjorn_skurj]

Adolescence is a social construction that emerged with industrialization.

 

Child educator and theorist Maria Montessori said that the best thing for children, at the age of 13, is to send them to work in the fields. I am down with this.

Werd. Sure beats the hell out of junior high school.

[austrya]

There is a boy in my son's grade (4th) who lives directly across the street from the school. It's a side street, not a major road. His mom walks him to school in the morning and then walks over there to pick him up after school. The kid is almost 11 years old and can't walk 100 yards to school by himself.

[Reni]

But doesn't that result in a decline in intelligence?

 

yes.

 

in addition, countless studies show that prolonged exposure to television, video games and other passive forms of entertainment is detrimental to healthy brain development.

 

(that said, I am going to finish watching this episode of Eight is Enough )

[jenbobblehead]

yes.

 

in addition, countless studies show that prolonged exposure to television, video games and other passive forms of entertainment is detrimental to healthy brain development.

wha??????

 

wait.

 

 

where's my iPod?

 

Supersize me!

 

 

wait. What was I doing?

[Reni]

[bobbob1313]

I believe it may result in an overall decline in intelligence, but since almost everything in this thread has been anectdotal, I'm pretty sure the ratio of intelligent to dumb amongst the adults and teenagers I know is about the same.

 

Dumb people are dumb people regardless of age.

[Analogman]

There is a boy in my son's grade (4th) who lives directly across the street from the school. It's a side street, not a major road. His mom walks him to school in the morning and then walks over there to pick him up after school. The kid is almost 11 years old and can't walk 100 yards to school by himself.

 

I was telling someone the other day I used to walk several blocks to school when I was 6 years old - they did not believe me.

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

I believe it may result in an overall decline in intelligence, but since almost everything in this thread has been anectdotal, I'm pretty sure the ratio of intelligent to dumb amongst the adults and teenagers I know is about the same.

 

Dumb people are dumb people regardless of age.

If there's a shift downward in social practices, though, it's going to hit kids the hardest because they won't know anything else.

[austrya]

I used to walk about 3 blocks to school when I was in 5. I had other kids to walk with, but I still had to walk.

 

When we were 6, we moved from Detroit, to a small town (Clinton, MI) and I had to walk about 1/2 mile to school. I had 2 other kids that I walked with.

 

We live about 3/4 of a mile from the school now (in the same town) and my son refuses to walk or ride his bike because he doesn't have anyone to go with. Next year his brother will be in 1st grade and will be going to school all day so I told them that as long as the weather is nice, they're walking.

[OOO]

I think one of those guys will be at that thing I asked you about.

 

Yeah, I think you are right. I had fun at the Dr. Who convention i went to.

 

in all fairness, he never got a chance to run with it. sorry, this belongs in another thread.

 

No, you're right, but I also don't like the liberties they took with the history of the doctor, etc, so I sort of have a negative impression of him. I used to say Colin Baker, but I got to meet him in person and he's awesome.

 

Its funny that I'm posting in this thread, since I'm proctoring (right now!) someone who is taking the reading portion of a practice ACT. I suppose this speaks to my lack of work ethic