UPI: 'Young people tune out older standards'
According to a recent UPI report, an increasing number of teens and young adults, termed "Generation Me" by one psychologist, is unconcerned with social acceptance.
I believe the bottom line is the apathy of parents towards parenting. Certainly, it gets harder and harder to monitor and prevent children from experiencing inappropriate things, but too many times, parents fail to try. Perhaps a deeper problem lies in the fact that many parents have no real discernment between what is and is not appropriate; the difference in right and wrong.
If parents do not take an active role in relating to their kids as parents rather than just buddies when they are little, earning respect when possible and demanding it when necessary, then kids will find themselves in a world all alone with no one to lay down the borders for them and rebelling against those who try later. Children need these types of boundaries in order to feel safe and to have a safe place to learn and to succeed. Whether we (or they) realize it or not, that's exactly what they want.
A California psychologist says young people have become increasingly indifferent to the impression they make on others.The article goes on to explain that in 1999, the number of children between the ages of 8-12 who showed an indifference to social approval had risen to 76%, up some 19% since 1970. What are the reasons for the increase? Some say it is technological.
Jean Twenge, the author of 'Generation Me,' teaches at San Diego State University. She gathered data from surveys taken between 1958 and 2001 by more than 40,000 youngsters. They featured questions aimed at whether the respondents always said 'please' and 'thank you' or were careful to dress appropriately.
Sherry Turkle, a psychologist and sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, blamed the increased use of cell phones and similar devices.I think that is an overly simplistic answer. Certainly, there is something to be said in regard to the "virtual" generation that is largely removed from society. The question is how did they get there? As the parent of a five-year-old who can handle a computer almost as well as I can, he only experiences as much of it as I allow.
"They're tuned out in some ways to the social graces around them and the people in their lives, in their physical realm, and tuned in to the people they're with virtually," she said.
I believe the bottom line is the apathy of parents towards parenting. Certainly, it gets harder and harder to monitor and prevent children from experiencing inappropriate things, but too many times, parents fail to try. Perhaps a deeper problem lies in the fact that many parents have no real discernment between what is and is not appropriate; the difference in right and wrong.
If parents do not take an active role in relating to their kids as parents rather than just buddies when they are little, earning respect when possible and demanding it when necessary, then kids will find themselves in a world all alone with no one to lay down the borders for them and rebelling against those who try later. Children need these types of boundaries in order to feel safe and to have a safe place to learn and to succeed. Whether we (or they) realize it or not, that's exactly what they want.
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posted by DAVID C. PRICE at 6/21/2006 11:00:00 AM
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1 Comments:
Baby boomers - the "me generation" - raising a generation of children who are self-centered: shocking!
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