Times Have Changed - What Values will our Kids Miss Out On?

Hi all,

ive been thinking of doing a wee post around this subject for a while now. I have been talking with my partner a lot recently about how many things change in life from generation to generation and how some very important things get lost along the way.

questions like,

"do we live in a better society now than 10yrs ago or 25 yrs ago?"

"does it annoy you to see how kids are being brought up now?"

"do you wish something would happen to throw us back a few years so people can learn the awesome things our fathers and grandfathers learned?"

Many more questions, but these are kind of what its about.

Im currently in a huge transition in life where I feel like im becoming more like my father all the time.

A longing for being out in nature, away from city life, city noise, ignorant youngsters.

a longing to hear the birds, grow my own crops and give my daughter a different upbringing from most other kids.

A sudden dislike for parents who give Playstations, Cellphones, Ipods and Laptops to their kids who are as young as 6yrs old!!



To me, the world has changed so much in the last 10yrs, its really crazy.

i am not old myself, but i have had a good upbringing in small town scotland where we would amuse ourselfs with harmless things like -

going for long country bike rides.

sneaking some fishing in a top spot on a private river

playing football until it was too dark to see

playing pretend armymen or hide and seek in corn fields

These days it seems there are fewer and fewer kids out just playing in nature. people dont seem to even care about nature. Seeing amazing things like inspiring sunrises or sunsets. Seeing a peregrine falcon diving at tremendous speed. watching a monarch butterfly in the local park. Looking at the stars.

To me , most people now are amazed by Blu Ray, LCD TV's, Expensive Car Stereos, Phones that do everything and who won Pop Idol on Saturday night.

Its a real shame that we are going like this. I am determined to teach my daughter the important things in life. To respect the outdoors, to be amazed at seeing nature in the raw, and to spend time out there, not just couped up indoors 24/7.

I am in new zealand these days and was talking to someone back home in Scotland by telephone the other day and they said the same thing. They barely see kids outside anymore doing simple things like playing football or on their bikes.

the only young kids out there are kids who are causing trouble or underage drinking.

times truly have changed in a very very short period of time.

How do we get our values back? Can we get them back as well as becoming more and more technologically advanced?

Are important things like survival, wonder at nature,hard work, growing our own food and having innocence lost in time forever?

The biggest thing I feel their missing out on is.

Eye Contact.

Just walk around and talk to the youth, you'll see it.

I think an ill wind is blowing and today's kids are in for a rude awakening.

But, there may be a silver lining to this cloud.

Perhaps rather than "missing out on values," the youth starting out today will re-discover the values their parents tossed out in an orgy of navel-gazing and crass materialism. Perhaps they will learn to work hard, pick themselves up when knocked down, form communities to help one another (virtual or real), grow vegitable gardens, repair stuff rather than throwing it away, save rather than borrow, put their noses to the grindstone, and so on.

Don't forget...the so-called "Greatest Generation" who suppodedly embodied all the yearned-for values of yore was forged in fires of the Great Depression, war, and misery.

Many will doubtless fall by the wayside, but survivors there will be. And I have a hunch that the survivors will emerge better human beings than their relatively-pampered parents. They will leave twitter and iPods behind and pick up shovels and garden-rakes. Perhaps not willingly or happily, but out of necessity.

Nothing kills decadence and restores values like times of need...if you can survive them that is.

reply to post by Republican08


yes, i agree. eye contact and the fact that the need to talk is less with texting etc.

reply to post by silent thunder

Nothing kills decadence and restores values like times of need...if you can survive them that is

very well said. maybe this time will not be too far away. Can you imagine if 3 or 4 generations grow up like kids now. the world will end up being a complete mess (even more than now ) unless a change happens

I don't like the idea of schools with teachers indoctrinating children with messages like "get an education or you will be *something involving minimum wage*". It teaches a lot of people to be condescending. Even the people in the lower paid jobs are humans, and should be treated with equal levels of respect.

The poster that pointed out eye contact is right, too. You can't even look at people friendly these days.

reply to post by Whine Flu

America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters...

...Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.

-Kurt Vonnegut

[edit on 10/14/09 by silent thunder]

The biggest thing that annoys me about most kids today is that they will interrupt adults over whatever stupid whim they are on about at that moment. Its even worse that their parents will actually allow the interruption, make the other adult wait while they answer the child. I have actually walked right out of folks house or hung up on phone calls when they have pulled that crap on me. I’ve straight out told the parents, “well he obviously must be hurt badly, because if I had interrupted my father like that, if I was not in need of a hospital, I shortly would have been. Call me after you get back from the ER”, then hung up or walked right out.

Children today have no self-discipline, no impulse control, and require constant instant gratification and attention from their parents. That is why 90% of them have to be medicated in order to behave.

I think one of the most important and tragic facts that my children will have to deal with is that none of them will marry a virgin. Young women today seem to be so... what's the word? Let's say they oversell themselves, and aren't worth any sort of commitment or effort. And the boys don't have to do much to get them, so why bother making oneself into a man?

I think society will suffer if the family unit isn't strengthened.

Well, for start, it is great that you bring this up.

Originally posted by grantbeed
"do we live in a better society now than 10yrs ago or 25 yrs ago?"

Yes and No. We live in a more technically advanced (ever-changing) society, that to me, has lost responsibillty and therefor our kids will become less competant in basic things. It will come to a point where they will rely on machines to do basic jobs.

This coinsides with Republican08 argument, because kids are becoming less competant in basic skills. Communication could be one for example.

"does it annoy you to see how kids are being brought up now?"

To me, parents have lost (or are losing) their rights to discipline their children the way they feel is right.

reply to post by 30_seconds


Were you looking for the word "promiscuous"?

I hate it when words slip my mind too.

We used to live in the country, nice little mountain home, raised four well adjusted kids there too... then my wife came down with a heart condition we moved to the city bought a town home here... Let me say city life is very much different and I might add, detrimental to kids!

We have three little neighbour girls the oldest is 18 the youngest is ten (I think) we see them out in the parking lot all the time...tapping away on their cell phones... I asked my daughter once what they were doing out there... "Oh that, their Sexting daddy" "Sexting? what the hell is that"? "you know typing dirty messages to boys, they even send naughty pictures of themselves"! Yes even that little one...

The real shock to me wasn't that the neighbours kids were doing something naughty... rather it was in living here less than one year my own sweet innocent daughter had learned all about Sexting! Something totally alien to her at our old place...

[edit on 14-10-2009 by DaddyBare]

Seriously, if there is a problem with the youth how much further do you have to look than the parents?

I hear this all the time from older heads, but this generation was their children so how do you blame society for your downfalls as parents? (speaking generally not directed at anyone)

That's one of the things i love of living in a small country. You can still see child on their bikes or playing football in the street at some places.
The higher levels of the society are turning into that anyway, you can see some child in the top schools going classes with laptops and using trendy cellphones... It's still a minority.
I still think that laws against child "abuse" aren't helping. When i was a child, a few spanks when needed never harmed anyone's psyche, but corrected our behavior. I don't hate my mom, myself or the society, but i learnt what was correct and what's not. Now, if you spank a kid, and you have the misfortune of a neighbor listening the kid crying, he/she can report you to the police and you can even go to jail. Even the kid can report you.

What scares me is when you talk to a child that spends a lot of time texting, and they talk that way, too!

Ask them a question and they give you a text reply, verbally!

English teachers must be having a rough time right now!

There are very few kids out there today that are taught Manners. Politeness. Hold the door for the person behind you and be grateful when someone does it for you.

Respect for parents (and self) is THE most important thing to teach a baby.

When you say NO for f***s sake follow it up. Nothing s***s me more than parents than sit there and say 'dont do that darling' 20 times.

All children have to have limits and have to be well aware of them.

Sit at the table and leave when your plate is clean.

Supermarkets are NOT the place for screaming children. Take them out and bring them back when they know how to behave.

I could go on and write a book, but I am busy writing a presentation for dept of education on bullying. (suggestions /thoughts good U2U please)

Anyway it is all about respect. It starts in the home and then it needs to continue on through play and school (and it doesn't).

I'm not into criticizing anyones parenting, because all kids are different, but for petes sake give them respect.

Times Have Changed - What Values will our Kids Miss Out On?

Honesty.
Dignity.
Loyalty.
Honor.
The value of the family.
Real moral values.
Telling the truth.
Freedom.

That's what they're not going to learn in the delusional liberal world. Many child don't even know the real meaning of these phrases, just the pale shade of these ones. But it's up to us to present them, to teach them.

[edit on 14-10-2009 by Sharrow]

The older generation has always complained about the younger generation. But sometimes, there really are "paradigm shifts." Sometimes, "it really is different this time."

I think this is one of those times. It can be explained in various ways, but I think the chart below explains it pretty well. Spikes like this are mathematically and statistically highly unstable, whatever phenomena they deal with. And unstable, unnatural conditions make for unstable, unnatual people.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/90a46b2e9fcf.gif[/atsimg]

Originally posted by silent thunder
reply to post by Whine Flu

 

America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves. To quote the American humorist Kin Hubbard, 'It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but might as well be.' It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by the American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters...

...Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue. Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.

-Kurt Vonnegut

[edit on 10/14/09 by silent thunder]

But this is no longer true. The US as a whole has generated a hatred for the rich and a disgust for the poor. Why? If at one time the poor did blame themselves, it's long gone now.

*********Now understand what I say from this point on does NOT refer to those who have lost their job due to the economy and are actively looking for a job!!!

Now back to the poor....Today they blame the rich. Therefore they no longer have to blame themselves for being in the situation they are in. And for the vast majority, people are where they areText White because they put themselves there. If someone is making $2 million, they more than likely worked hard for it or had a good idea and did a good job marketing it. That's what this country is all about. Working for what you want.

Granted, again, there are those who have had a horrible time, especially in today's US . But the blame doesn't belong to the rich, it belongs elsewhere. The rich are the ones who give the most to the government. The top 20% of income earners pay 86% of all income taxes.
www.cbo.gov...

So those who have fallen on nonself-generated back luck should blame the government, not the rich since they've given to the government for that purpose.

The rich are also the ones who give the most donations. In 2005, 3.2 million itemizing taxpayers who made over $200,000 gave $76.4 billion for charitable contributions. The 271,000 who made over $1 million gave a total $45.4 billion in charitable donations. This gives those 8% ($1mil +) gave 59% of all donations for all itemizers but since there were 134 million taxfilers total, this means that those who made $1million plus are less than 1% of all taxpayers but gave 59% of charitable donations.

www.irs.gov...

So given that the rich give so much in taxes and charities, maybe we shouldn't be dissing them.

Let's see just how poor we really are. Using the same source above, of the 134 million taxfilers who reported a salary, 37 million make less than $20,000, which is abt 28%. So that means that 72% of Americans are above the poverty line. And let's not compare what the US poor have compared to what the world poor has.

And just so you don't think I'm of the rich class, my husband and I have an income of less than $50,000 combined.

Okay, my head hurts! I gotta give it a rest!!

Kids can learn certain values and traits from just about anything. The parents job is to be there to try to get the right ones through.

Given this I am not too concerned with what kids arent learning.

What kids are learning, however, freaks me out to no end.

Take the example of the Eagle Scout who got suspended for having left his pocket knife in his car in the school parking lot. He learned that bureaucracy is a crock and the system would much sooner punish him than assist him. Same for that little kid with the pocket utensil tool.

Kids today are learning that independence is punishable by force, standing out is a crime, and that the authority will "help you out" as it sees fit, when it sees fit and punish any attempt you make to help yourself.

This is going to get us a split between amazingly dependent and mindless children who cant do anything for themselves and frighteningly angry and frustrated children who have had every attempt to do something for themselves squashed.