What is wrong with the youth of today?- Page 2

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:11pm

well said DGrant

Todays younger generation is NO different than mine, or my parents except they have nicer "toys". The war may be different, the tragedy may be different, but that's it.

Orpheum......sweeping generalizations usually only cause trouble.....and people who truly believe them generally are troubled

Updated On: 9/12/05 at 03:11 PM

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:12pm

As I was saying these are such longstanding generalities it takes an active push against them. It is not harder for young people to be outspoken today, and many of them are. (I'm really unsure if I classify myself as "young" anymore, maybe younger.)

The real problem (and this includes the ridiculous article you are reading Plum) is that people need to be taught to think for themselves and not limitied and pigeonholed into a particular "right place."

I don't actually think that was your intent Orphem, but the more people hear they are "disinterested" and the like, the more some come to believe it.
I reiterate, it has always been the practice of the old to brand the young as "stupid,lazy and misguided"
You might remember the adults in the 50's 60's and 70's were not exactly keen on the "youth movements."

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:13pm

Plum, I'm still waiting for Orph to argue any of my answers to his/her questions. I answered because I believed my points were valid.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:14pm

CostumeMistress, you're already fighting generalizations in the most substantive way possible- by not adhering to them. Like you said, let 'em think what they want. Actually addressing their points already gives them too much credit.

Orpheum, if you were just venting, that's cool. When we get pissed the whole world can look like a truly evil place.

Updated On: 9/12/05 at 03:14 PM

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:18pm

I see as many younger people who don't live according to those stereotypes as I do older people. Unfortuantely, I don't get the pleasure of interacting with many of them. That is to say, I think the problems stated by Orpheum DO exist within our 'society' (and that term becomes harder to use with a straight face every day) - but I don't break it down into age groups. I think these problems exist across the board.

[Mamie]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:20pm

Plum-

Do you believe that saying "It's a waste of time" is doing anything at all to change things? What in the world are you doing to make it better? Not for me or for anybody else on this board, but for YOU? For you and your children? You and CM are (to use a phrase from my day) copping out. You blame others because others don't understand you.

Enough already. Just shut up AND DO SOMETHING TO MAKE IT BETTER!

[Elphaba]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:20pm

right again DGrant.......

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:22pm

People sure are sounding OLD on this thread.

Isn't being a teenager/young 20-something all about being self-involved? Like...isn't that part of the road to self-discovery. I was COMPLETELY self-involved at 18, 19, 20. Iwas into clothes and movies and music and theatre and gossip. And somehow I was still a pretty good person.

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:23pm

I'm copping out? I merely called it like I saw it, which may or may not be how you see it.

I said that I fight political apathy, not that I give in to it, if that's what you're referring to.

[smartpenguin78]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:23pm

Mamie, what Plum was suggesting was not that they do nothing but that they lead by example, not to disect every petty post by someone who is older and "wiser" who puts down people because of their youth. The idea is to break the stereotype by being different.

DGrant, exactly!

Updated On: 9/12/05 at 03:23 PM

[Plum]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:30pm

Thank you, smartpenguin. That's pretty much what I was going to repeat. :)

Like I said, I live my life the way I see fit. I am not a can of soup, so don't label me. Thanks.
Updated On: 9/12/05 at 03:30 PM

[CostumeMistress]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:32pm

If I were a can of soup, I'd be chicken noodle. The good kind, with thick noodles and big chunks of chicken and lots of celery.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:40pm

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....soup.............

[Mamie]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:44pm

And you have to understand that I'm coming from a recent argument with members of my own family. People who I love and who say to me that they didn't bother to vote in this last election because 'there's nothing they can do anyway'. (Nothing personal, but I neither know nor do I love you). This in itself wouldn't have been so awful if it weren't for the fact that it was proved to be true in the last election. Now if that's an example of leading by example then somebody better wake up the followers and let them know you're out there!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 3:57pm

I blame that Madonna woman .....

[Unknown User]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:01pm

"I blame that Madonna woman ....."

I blame the followers of her son.

Unless, of course, we're talking about two different people

[Logainne]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:12pm

I've been thinking the same thing....and I'm 15.
That's why I make the best efforts not to be stereotyped. I get involved. I know the issues. I want adults to know that I'm not like every other teenager out there. While my other peers are making out in the back of the bus, my friend and I engage in political discussions. I'm sick of my generation and I try my best to defy the norm. I think I'm different from other teenagers in the fact that a lot of them thing "you don't understand me." When in fact, I think all adults understand us. We just make it impossible for them. I hope I do a good job in proving that there is a little bit of hope for our generation.
But of course, my friends and I are the ones who play hide and go seek at a party when everyone else is drinking themselves into a coma.

[iflitifloat]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:14pm

In fairness, my generation had a more immediate stake in becoming politically active. The draft made the Vietnam War a very real and one's participation wasn't generally voluntary. If/when the draft is reinstituted, things will be very different.

I also believe that the scope of everything...wealth, poverty, tragedies, scandals...has gotten so unimaginably broad, that no one knows where the boundaries are anymore. Anything goes, and it's difficult to impliment change when there are no identifiable margins.

And I can't not mention the deification of the Paris Hilton of the world. They are marketable celebrities merely because they are spoiled, obnoxious, and entitled. They even get their own show. And the subtext of the message is that it's cool to be them.

[redhotinnyc2]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:18pm

Another comment to make me sound old as Methusala - but I blame technological advancements. It's just too easy for people to be rude nowadays - with cell phones and ipods planted in their ears all day long. They ignore the people around them (the exact same people that help them to further their living experience) and generally seem to simply not care about anyone other than the person on the other end of the phone, or the person singing into their ipod infested ears. It is disgraceful.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:20pm

And in the past, mobsters and thieves were considered romantic figures. What's your point?

Rude, inconsiderate, and apathetic people abound in every age group. To adults, it just stands out more in the young because they see it as a form of disrespect. The science high school graduate in me says anecdotal evidence is barely legitimate. So sorry, none of this has any validity in my eyes. It all sounds like cranks clucking to me.

[ilovedrsandNLB]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:26pm

hey i think that theres only something wrong with SOME of the younger generations. and i think its because of parents. but hey, i'm only 17 and i'm not like that...i mean, everyone is to some degree, but not to the extent ya'll are saying.

i mean, here at school we've raised tons and tons of money and clothes for the hurricane victims, and we're having 2 blood drives this week...and we DO care. unlike people think. just cuz we don't have money to donate and we don't have time to give to volunteer, that doesn't mean we don't care.

[BroadwayGirl107]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:37pm

I go to a high school of around 1500 people. I'm in a class of over 600, I've been going to school with most of them for 6 years, some of them 12. So many more of them than I'd ever want to believe are just as Orpheum was saying. They care about clothes more than important issues. They care about money and cars and cry when they can't get what they want not barely realizing that things like hurricaine Katrina happen. They think they're entitled to whatever they want. I've spoken to kids who are in SHOCK that I paid for any of my own clothing. They're disgustingly disrepsectful to teachers and peers, and will do almost anything to degrade themselves.

And you know what? Even those kids who are in AP classes are in it JUST so they can get into college and make a lot of money when they're out. They don't value education, they don't look to grow as human beings. But I guess we can give them a little more credit for caring about their future and not trying anything in their power to get kicked out of school.

I'd say that describes at least 95% of my fellow classmates. I'm not going to judge the rest of America, but this is how my town is. Most of these kids are sons and daughters of filthy rich parents who never gave anything to them but money and material things. So how are they supposed to know about the rest?

Are there people like these kids in every age group? Of course, but it's just plain and simple that the numbers are larger in younger age groups because that's the nature of life. you grow with experience, and many kids don't have that. And despite all I just said, it doesn't mean all these kids are bad people. People grow and learn with time, and I'm sure most of them will.

On the other hand, there are plenty of teenagers and young kids out there that are more compassionate, mature, open-minded, considerate people than so SO many people in older age groups.

So, I think the question shouldn't be "What is wrong with the youth of today?" it should be more like "What has happened to some people today?" The youth is just being the youth as the youth of every generation has been, just in this time. But of course Orpheum, from other posts I've read, likes to blame the youth or "these days." I recall a thread about "What has happened to performers with star-quality like in the old times?"
Updated On: 9/12/05 at 04:37 PM

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:42pm

I'm actually confused about the iPod hate (not cellphone hate...I get it...though I love mine).

I mean...it's absolutely no different from the Walkman of days gone by. Ever since I moved to the city, I've had a Discman to help drown out sounds I deem unpleasant. An iPod just keeps me from having to lug my cd's around. And I LOVE it.

[Plum]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:45pm

I wasn't actually around for this (since I'm such a young'un), but I've read that some people considered Walkmen rude when they first came out.

But anyway, robbie, what's with this habit of inserting common sense into every discussion? Thinking about the fact that iPods just play music in a better-compressed format interferes with the illogical arguments peopke are trying to make.
Updated On: 9/12/05 at 04:45 PM

[robbiej]

Posted: 9/12/05 at 4:47pm

Uh-oh...are you gonna call me a dumbf*ck?