Why are Kids So Rude?
I can’t decide if this earnest article on msnbc.com is comical or tragic. A number of experts weigh in on why “kids these days” are seemingly so rude. The story offers very little actual evidence of the alleged increase in rudeness as compared with other generations of preschoolers, but the alarm must be sounded, none the less.
Here’s my favorite quote, which drags in the reportedly poor work habits of Generation Y to spell out exactly how dire things will be for their younger, ruder kin:
What does this mean for their future as adults? We may be starting to see some of the effects in Generation Y, those born between 1980 and 1996, whose self-centered — if not downright arrogant — workplace behavior has been well-documented in the popular press since the mid-2000s.
“They’ve grown up questioning their parents, and now they’re questioning their employers. They don’t know how to shut up, which is great, but that’s aggravating to the 50-year-old manager who says, ‘Do it and do it now,’ ” says Jordan Kaplan, an associate managerial science professor at Long Island University-Brooklyn in New York, in a USA Today article.
As for today’s little kids? “No one will want to hire them,” says Brody. That’s not an encouraging thought, especially in these economic times.
There you go. Today’s toddlers are so rude that they will eventually be unemployable! What is wrong with you parents? You are ruining the economic future of our country by not adequately disciplining/ignoring your children. Fix them now before it’s too late!
This is exactly the kind of fear-mongering discussed in the Real World Parenting seminars currently being led around the country. I’m not saying rude kids don’t need loving discipline—or even that there might be more evidence of rudeness in our playlands and preschools—but fear-based parenting fails to build kids that understand life from God’s perspective. Let’s keep reminding each other to be slow to pull our parenting tips from news outlets with ads to sell and to keep showing our kids the part we and they play in God’s story.
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Comments
Christopher Lyon on Jul 08, 2009 said...
How rude of you to disagree with me! Just kidding. Thanks for the comment, Cindy.
Cindy on Jul 06, 2009 said...
I think your favorite quote and the message you seem to derive from it: “Today’s toddlers are so rude that they will eventually be unemployable!” is a not at all the major point of the article. And a bit of a stretch, IMHO. It is not how I personally interpreted that line.
You must admit that there is just not the same attention spent on teaching children manners and general respect that there was in previous generations. The article takes one view of ‘why’ that might be. Not necessarily true or even realistic, but thought provoking.
I did not feel that rush of defensiveness that it seem to provoke in you.