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When did kids get so stupid that we could no longer allow them to be kids?

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posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 03:47 PM
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Dont blame the xbox
I went through my childhood with a sinclair spectrum. Sega master system, Then the megadrive, then the Ps1. During those days I had time for swimming, camping, three treehouses, 2 BB guns, two broken thumbs, one bike related head injury, fishing, visits to a nude beach, and all the other shenanigans that little terrors will get up to. It wasn't til the Ps2 and Xbox, which entertained me from years 20-30 years old that I became such a massive couch potato.

I think it's the culture of fear that's done it. Videogames have always been there, constant fear and the rapid moral decay of society is more recent. Dont get me wrong though, moral decay has always been present, I just feel it's accelerating at it's fastest pace in recent years.




[edit on 16-10-2009 by Lazyninja]



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:01 PM
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Originally posted by Lazyninja
Dont blame the xbox
I went through my childhood with a sinclair spectrum. Sega master system, Then the megadrive, then the Ps1. During those days I had time for swimming, camping, three treehouses, 2 BB guns, two broken thumbs, one bike related head injury, fishing, visits to a nude beach, and all the other shenanigans that little terrors will get up to. It wasn't til the Ps2 and Xbox, which entertained me from years 20-30 years old that I became such a massive couch potato.


That's the thing though, like me and others you still went outside to get dirty and experience the world instead of just sitting in front of a screen. I used to help out at the local scout hut, my father had run it for years but had to give it up. I remember taking some of the new kids out to see the woods and show them a few things. I remember digging up a pig nut (a small tuber, tastes like nutty potato) and eating it. Lots of the kids screwed up their faces and the odd "eewww" was uttered.

Kids are so sheltered and mollycoddled that they have no clue what the world is about. Their parents protect them from everything, including getting dirty in case they get ill. I sometimes think that children are no longer seen as children and instead some parents see them as pets.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:04 PM
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Don't blame the video games!

I'm a Nintendo generation kid, I remember Coleco vision and Atari but Nintendo was the real deal then Sega Genesis, anyways...

I've built tree forts, blown off firecrackers, jumped off roofs into pools, rode dirt bikes, skateboarded and BMX biked without helmets, shot BB guns, real guns....

I blame it on the government and parenting, hehe.

I remember staying home alone with me and my little brother when I was 8-9 and knew how to cook lunch and do laundry, clean a nasty cut, etc, etc...

I have a 10 year old boy (I started early) and I know I would get DCF/CPS called on me by my x and my custody tried to be taken away if I left him alone for 5 minutes!



[edit on 16-10-2009 by lucentenigma]



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:41 PM
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Originally posted by AccessDenied
enter video games, food additives, and laws preventing you from disciplining your children or it's abuse.
you get the next generation of slack wit parents, and their holy terror offspring.


Don't forget the hormones in dairy and meat. My co-workers and I were just discussing a teacher in the neighbor city who was caught in a "relationship" with a 13 year old boy. My co-worker knew her personally. We started discussing how 13 year old kids don't look like kids anymore and maybe that's part (albeit a minuscule part) of the reason adults seem to be having trouble keeping their hands off the little ones.

Anyway, I don't know what the hell is wrong with kids OR their parents! It's insane what is going on in America.

What the hell is wrong with America? That's my question. I got a list of things that could make up it's own thread that point out how different (in a negative way) America is from the rest of the world. It's frightening.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:47 PM
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I agree dont blame video games! Ive played games all my life and find them a much better source of entertainment than watching boring tv. Watching tv is passive whilst playing video games you have to think and strategize so it works your brain a lot more. I studied computer games design at university and so I know a lot of gamers and they are the most peaceful nerdy people you will meet.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:49 PM
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Originally posted by nunya13
Don't forget the hormones in dairy and meat. My co-workers and I were just discussing a teacher in the neighbor city who was caught in a "relationship" with a 13 year old boy. My co-worker knew her personally. We started discussing how 13 year old kids don't look like kids anymore and maybe that's part (albeit a minuscule part) of the reason adults seem to be having trouble keeping their hands off the little ones.



I know someone who nearly ended up on the sex offenders register. He went to a nightclub, over 18's only and hooked up with a really nice looking girl (his words). They went to his place, had fun and she got a taxi home the next morning. Well it turns out she was 15! Her parents asked her where she was, she told them and then she cried and called it rape. It took over 8 months to clear his name, she admitted it was consensual.

My friend no longer goes to nightclubs.

It really is scary how old some of the kids look and it's all because of the media telling them to grow up quickly, wear the makeup, dress like an adult and do adult things. It's targetted towards teenagers from 13 and encourages them to party and drink. It's sad that kids want to grow up so fast, i mean i'm sure w all had that in us when we were younger but now it seems far more intense.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:50 PM
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reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984
 


You know, I often wonder why my sister, who is a single mom and complains about how my almost 4 year old niece is ALWAYS in her hair but doesn't send her to play with the neighbors kids and instead sticks a movie or cartoons on to keep her busy.

Makes no sense to me. There weren't many kids in her old neighborhood, in her defense, but she just moved to a new place and there's kids running around like crazy in the courtyard. My niece still hangs out inside cuz my sis won't send her out there with them. The unspoken "rule" is that the parents take turns keeping an eye on the little ones while they play outside. My sis didn't want to be a part of that so I think that's why she keeps her inside still cuz otherwise she'd have to.

I think it's pretty selfish. I think that's a big problem. Selfish parents.

We're living longer and I think that a result is people not reaching maturity as soon as they used to. When you only lived to 60 you had to grow up quicker. We now live to 75 but still think we have to have kids at 20 or 25. I think people should wait longer and I bet that we'd see a difference in the way kids are raised and act.

I'm not having kids because I know I'm not ready and am too selfish (as in I don't want to give up my "me" time yet to take 100% care of another human being) to have a kid right now. I want to wait until I'm ready to devote my time to someone else in that manner. I think too many people aren't exercising that kind of restraint because they just think their supposed to get married, have kids, buy a house on some kind of schedule. The result is a rise in divorce, poor parenting, and people not being able to afford their houses.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:51 PM
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Originally posted by SpaceMonkeys
I agree dont blame video games! Ive played games all my life and find them a much better source of entertainment than watching boring tv. Watching tv is passive whilst playing video games you have to think and strategize so it works your brain a lot more. I studied computer games design at university and so I know a lot of gamers and they are the most peaceful nerdy people you will meet.



Once again the difference is that kids now do nothing but play games. They don't go out, they don't ride their bikes or play in the woods either because their parents are scared they'll get hurt, abducted, or the kids simply don't want to! This i truly believe has lead to a culture that is deeply fearful of geting dirty, they're weak and scared and the kids have ended up becoming obese.

I didn't know one obese kid when i was growing up because they were all using up their energy running around, playing games and chasing each other in the woods. We used to build massive shelters, tree houses and at one point attempted a rope slide thing. It took a lot of calories to make that stuff.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 04:57 PM
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reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984
 


Of course we all wanted to grow up fast, but you're right, it seems worse.

At 13 I was having trouble giving up playing with my Barbie dolls when my mom told me it was time! LOL Now girls are having trouble saying no to sex at 13.

It's insane.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 05:12 PM
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Originally posted by nunya13
reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984
 


Of course we all wanted to grow up fast, but you're right, it seems worse.

At 13 I was having trouble giving up playing with my Barbie dolls when my mom told me it was time! LOL Now girls are having trouble saying no to sex at 13.

It's insane.


Well that's the odd thing. At 13 me and my friends obviously were interested with girls but sex didn't enter our minds. We knew we wanted to do something with them but we weren't sure what lol!

We still spends our entire summer holidays messing around, mostly in the woods building "bases" as we called them and generally running around. Occasionally a girl would grace us with her presence and we would try our best to impress her
In all truth though we were after a kiss and some wandering hands, not sex!

I think it is a serious combination of factors that has resulted in some rather nasty teenagers. They think that they deserve everything without any kind of effort and yet in the past it was drilled into us that you got what you earnt. Teenagers now want instant respect and some of them if they don't get it are happy to beat the hell out of you. They're wimps of course, they never work solo, they have to have 4 friends behind them.

I see it often, kids shouting across the street at someone, sometimes at me. I would love nothing more than to walk over and teach them a lesson but often there are 6 of them and i know, despite my training i'd have my ass kicked. I think that is what they need though, a good ass kicking.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 05:15 PM
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reply to post by Sundancer
 


well it's not just kids though! People in general have lost that survival instinct. We nurture less intelligent actions, we ensure the survival of the weakest, and this is the backlash...IMO.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 05:34 PM
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Im just going to say that me being 21 I've just recently become "adult" lol. So I'll just say that its some parents being overly concerned, some parents just being overly controling and I guess some of it is ignorance if you ask me why kids seem to have less fun. Me personally, I learned more hanging out on the street then I ever did inside. On the polar end of the spectrum the internet has opened my mind up to whole seperate set of thinking and different perspectives I wasn't privy to before. So, its my opinion that things should be balanced more. Let kids go through some rough stuff its the only for them to learn what NOT to do, before they can learn what TO do and at the same time don't let them watch T.V. as much while spending more time with them at night when they are inside and on the internet and playing video games.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 05:40 PM
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reply to post by ImaginaryReality1984
 


I do agree with what you say. I just think video games is a better source of entertainment. But yeah its better to do it as a side activity in moderation. Its important that children should be able to go out and experience things and to learn lessons. All of a sudden its the government that thinks they know whats best for our kids and the economy makes sure that both parents have to work so that neither of them can spend time bringing up their children and the ones that dont have a job dont care where their child is.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 05:59 PM
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I'm feeling really old right now


I think there are too many generalities floating in this discussion. Each persons experiences are unique, as were the locations they grew up in.

I grew up in a world where Mom did not work. She was a full time Mom which is probably the most important job of all. Dad's income was more than adequate to pay for everything. Even low income workers could afford to buy a small home. Divorce was very rare. It just did not happen. Ironically most couples were very happy with the arrangement.

It is a myth and anyone my age knows this, that the advent of both Parents working was a good thing. Some Mom's worked but within the local community and if something came up with the kids they simply went to Mom or Dad's work place and got one of their Parents with the blessings of the employer. We were a true community.

There were no Day Care Centers where some minimum wage angry person raised your children for you. You stayed with a relative, a close neighbor and the neighborhood Mom's helped each other. Your neighborhood was an extended family. Every Mom and Dad in the neighborhood had Parental authority and if somebody's Parent told you to do something it was the same as a command from your Parents.

It was perfectly safe to let us play and run around the neighborhood. My Parents always knew where I was 24/7 and one of them was always available if I needed them. Every one knew each other, socialized together and talked often.

Our backyards were actually one giant backyard. No fences. If we wandered into a neighbors yard no problem. Often the Lady of the House would come out with a smile and some home baked cookies and lemonade. We had this huge playground where we were safe and under the watchful eye of somebody's Parent at all times.

No drugs. No drunks. No homeless because your family took care of one another. We just had that worthless cousin who never seemed to have a job but was lot's of fun to play catch with. He would earn his way by doing chores like painting fences or helping in our gardens and orchards. (When I say yard, most had a half or full acre because we all grew a lot of our own food)

We went to school in groups in the mornings. You had to live more than three miles from the school to ride a bus; otherwise you walked along with all the kids in your school in the morning.

Our teachers were on a first name basis with our Parents. We could not get away with anything. If you did not show up, your Parents got an immediate phone call. If you messed up your Parents got a call. If you got in trouble at night and Officer (who you also knew) drove you home, woke up your Parents and told them what you were up too.

We did not think our Parents were harsh or unfair. We loved them because we knew they cared enough to watch over us and were always there for us. We knew that we were their first priority.

We all knew at 5 pm we HAD to be home. We ate dinner all together and discussed the day. Then our Parents spent time with us. We knew we were loved and cared for. We knew our Dad would never leave and we would have the same Parents for our whole lives and they were happy!!! Imagine that.

Now I've lived on the same middle to upper middle class dead end street for about 6 years I think. Nice quiet neighborhood and there has never been anything bad happen. No drunks or drugs. Lots of children. There is never a child outside, ever unless they are going straight to the car to go somewhere. I've never seen a single one of the teenagers mow a lawn, rake a leaf or do anything outside. The house across the street has four children. They have playground stuff in their yard. In six years not once have I seen a child playing outside. Six years and I don't know a single persons name. I used to smile and wave all the time but they just glare at me.

Sometimes I look around and think WHAT IN THE HELL HAPPENED!

You young people are being ripped off. Parents who don't even attempt to stay together and raise you. Dumped off in Day Care Centers, nobody home after work and a game console to be your babysitter. Teachers in school who don't give a damn because they only teach because they are not good enough to get a real job. Teachers who are angry who brainwash you by teaching you their personal politics instead of the facts you need to earn a good living and be happy.

That house across the street from me? Dad is only home there after 7pm. Mom I see there after 6 but she always leaves alone again and comes back after their kids are in bed or should be. They see their Parents maybe a couple of hours a day in total. Weekends both Parents head out. They never leave together and they never have a kid with them. The kids sit there all day, inside with no Parent around. Sunday they go to church and pretend to be a family and then both Parents take off, each going there own way and leave the kids alone again until they come back late at night.

What exactly about that now average middle class home is better than my childhood? God I miss the sound of children playing in the morning when I wake up. All I hear now is the cars as their Parents take off to play while their children sit locked inside their homes on their game consoles.

What next? A community child dump where you leave your children in the morning and then pick them up to go to bed?



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 06:00 PM
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Too bad blame the video games and the tv and the movies.

I just talked to a 1st grade teacher who has taught for decades.
She said the children are no longer innocent coming into first grade.
And they are watching Family Guy and playing violent videos
before they enter school. She also said the parents care more
about their tatoos and fingernails than rather the kid has a pencil.
All of this she said leads to the loss of ability and childhood.

This culture is a train wreck.

And a 3rd grade teacher will tell you that her failing classes are more
into sex, drugs and violence than school. And in all urban areas and large cites
this is what you see > 90% of 9h graders with 3rd through 6th skills.

She said the children are no longer innocent coming into first grade.
And they are watching Family Guy and playing violent videos
before they enter school. She also said the parents care more
about their tatoos and fingernails than rather the kid has a pencil.

This culture is a train wreck, and we are in impact.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 06:11 PM
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reply to post by DChenO
 


video games have fairly strict age ratings yet parents ignore them. At the end of the day the problem lies with the parents inability to look after their children. I think the problem lies with the parents, and the government is aiding this by not allowing parents control of their children over the last few decades.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 06:26 PM
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This is not the same culture it was twenty-thirty years ago and everyone knows it. Many people are overmedicated on prescription or illegal drugs. It only takes one negative experience with a drug zombie to figure out this is not a safe country for kids. Yes , kids once rode their bikes; this was before it was common for kids on bikes to be hit by people in cars. See a kid screaming in agony after being hit by a car and you will not want your kid on a bike on our roads. Don't blame the parents; don't blame the kids; blame the bozos who thought America would be a better place if more people were drug zombies.



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 06:32 PM
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reply to post by SpaceMonkeys
 


The parenting in our country seems to get worse and worse. It seems like the parents would rather be buddies with their kids than teach discipline and actually be parents!



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 07:00 PM
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im starring and flagging becuse i think about this all the time. i may only be 21 but when i was little like you we were gone all day riding bikes, playing in the woods, building our own little ramps to ride on, playing in houses that werent fully built. if we ever got hurt we sucked it up and kept going.

i think i spent at least 10 hours a day outside. parents to have to make us come inside. sitting in the house was boring and videogames back then may not have ben up to date like today but i had a sega and i rarely played it. i dont ever remember a time when we had any problems.

like some others have stated i think its fear. somehow kids these days are subconsciously scared. that on top of the videogames. "someone" was very successful at turning this generation into sheltered, gaming, tv, lovers.

Dont even get stated on how sensitive they are either.


love the thread!!!



posted on Oct, 16 2009 @ 07:46 PM
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Originally posted by Enigma Publius
reply to post by Sundancer
 


well it's not just kids though! People in general have lost that survival instinct. We nurture less intelligent actions, we ensure the survival of the weakest, and this is the backlash...IMO.

thats a very odd take on this, you really think that its bad we overcame our baser instincts?
do you know how many people wouldn't be around if we do what you advocate?
what do you mean we nurture "less intelligent actions"? we have less crime, more rights, happier people, and more healthy people everyday, and we are always working on this.

what you are advocating is social darwinism, and it is a twisted ideology that goes against everything modern societies stand for.

do you really advocate things that we abandoned as barbarous? should we go back to owning slaves or throwing cripples off cliffs?
what you're claiming as "backlash" is the result of being better than the generation before us.
i don't ever want to go back to abandoning the so called "weak" because it impacts our survival, doing so would be one step from abandoning what we have worked for, for the last 500 years.




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