Kids aren't kids anymore.

[† Ferocia Coutura]

When you are ten, you're suppose to be a kid, right. So, does anyone else feel that kids are growing up WAY to fast. I, personally, blame our countries infatuation with beauty and skinny woman. There were three girls at the local ELEMENTARY SCHOOL who now go to the phsychaitrist because they are belemic. There are four pregnant girls in the local middle school. And, there are several 10, 11, and 12 year olds who are now drug addicts. So, I guess I just want to know what ya'll think about it. What's to blame. Is it just a generation gap thing, is it tabloids and celebrities. Or does your area even have this problem. By the way, I'm 16 and most 12 year olds are nothing like what me and my friends were.

[† ballard]

In my personal opinion everyone is so focused on outer appearances, and fitting in with the cool kids. The media is constantly pushing beauty on people... what mostly everyone doesn't understand is that when you look at a magazine those aren't real women. They have been edited to hell and back in photoshop to make them look perfect when in all actuality they are just as imperfect as the rest of us. This is where parents need to step in and teach their children proper morals... I have more to say on this subject, but I think it's best for me to stop here ... I'll post more after I see what others have to say.

[† Talena Mae]

I have to say... with more exposure to drugs and skinny models and sex that the children want to grow up quicker. Having said that you do end up with problems with drugs and personal appearance >.>

My nephews though (10, 6 and nearly 5) are children. They play, ride bikes and fight each other. If they have questions about sex and drugs I answer them ( I will not let them be ignorant about such things) but I do not expose them to it over and over again.

They see age appropriate movies, cartoons and such and I will keep it that way. So while some children are going out having sex, taking drugs and make themselves puke, it is because they have too much exposure in my opinion.

[Renzourin]

For the most part, it is because of too much exposure to such things. Another part is because it is the parents that allow them to even have a start at such things. I know of several parents of children that my 12 year old brother is friends with, that allow them to play such games as doom or other M rated games, yes while I realize that games don't make a kid violent, your actually quite wrong about that the game itself don't make a kid violent.

Those kids that play a video game and go kill off a bunch of people acting out the game were never taught by their parents the difference between fantasy and reality. One day my mother caught me laughing as I was playing fallout and asked me outright "do you really find killing someone funny, do I have to worry about you?" I told her " No, I find killing people in a game or movie hilarious especially if they die in a weird or backward way, but do I find death and destruction in reality funny? Would I go out there and attempt such things? You taught me better then that I know the difference."

I know the difference the same thing applies to these kids about the drugs, bulimia and pregnancy parents might blame it on them being a hard to control child, but TRUST ME you can control them.

There's the time when you need to let go, but some parents are just well bad and those poor children are who suffer for it don't always blame the child, look at the parents they're supposed to teach these kids right from wrong not to do drugs and to keep them from making the stupid mistakes, they (the children) don't have the common sense to avoid and sometimes they just fail

[Koby]

My mother let me watch any movie I wanted, played any game I wanted, talked about all the dirty stuff (a little too early probably), and my mom experimented with some drugs before, her boyfriends I caught doing it as a kid, and even once she let me try cigarettes and marijuana. She even let me drink when I wanted to. You know what? I grew up disliking drugs, and I do not smoke or even drink. On top of that I'm still a virgin.

So I can't really say it's bad parenting or over exposure because I had both and I turned out fine (or well I think alright).

There was friends getting pregnant in as easy at 6th grade here, people selling drugs in as early as 5th grade. One friend got in a knife fight in 7th grade over drugs. Another kid stabbed someone with a screw driver in High School the year before I went to High School, etc. So I think the issue is across the world or at least across the States. Despite all that I didn't turn to any of those things. I would say it was my generation, but it wasn't, as I said my friends ended up in it (which is why I quit talking to most of them). Yet I was probably exposed just as much or maybe even more to it all.

So I guess it's really up to the kid themselves and how much they let peer pressure take over.

[seirachan]

It's all the trend, the pressure, people like Britney Spears, ect ect. I got into weed with my friends in high school for a month then i just didn't care anymore. I will never touch any higher drugs and alcohol tastes so bad no matter how much they sugar coat it. I'm just one of the smarter ones.

It's mostly the native family's here that do most of the drugs and booze, and their kids only grow up that way because of their parents. I was highly disappointed when I was in elementary school I ran into two girls younger then me from my class that where totally wasted, they were natives but not bad kids at all in school. I blame those girls parents probably doing drugs all the time.

But there's a lot of normal family's here with their kids doing drugs as well. Like my buddy Charlie I was smoking with, he was grounded for a year after his parents found out but he still did it. He told me anyone that does weed will do another drug, but look at me. Unless you count Advil lol.

Id say the only reason why in the past these things never happened is because way back when schools punishing was pretty harsh, most people didn't know about drugs, now they teach you everything about them and how to use every drug in school(hell I didn't know cutting yourself and killing yourself was a option till school told me), and i lost my train of thought

[Kasoivc]

My mother let me watch any movie I wanted, played any game I wanted, talked about all the dirty stuff (a little too early probably), and my mom experimented with some drugs before, her boyfriends I caught doing it as a kid, and even once she let me try cigarettes and marijuana. She even let me drink when I wanted to. You know what? I grew up disliking drugs, and I do not smoke or even drink. On top of that I'm still a virgin.

So I can't really say it's bad parenting or over exposure because I had both and I turned out fine (or well I think alright).

There was friends getting pregnant in as easy at 6th grade here, people selling drugs in as early as 5th grade. One friend got in a knife fight in 7th grade over drugs. Another kid stabbed someone with a screw driver in High School the year before I went to High School, etc. So I think the issue is across the world or at least across the States. Despite all that I didn't turn to any of those things. I would say it was my generation, but it wasn't, as I said my friends ended up in it (which is why I quit talking to most of them). Yet I was probably exposed just as much or maybe even more to it all.

So I guess it's really up to the kid themselves and how much they let peer pressure take over.

My mother is sort of the same way, and all I ended up so far is smoking here and there (To be honest, I'm still on my first pack - its been a three or four months now, and Yes I'm aware through statistics that it is more dangerous than Marijuana but if I'm going to be wrong, I might as well be legal about it); I went out to get my ear pierced against my mother's wishes too; But I honestly agree with your statement that its up to the kid themselves.

However much peer pressure is put on me, I won't be out drinking and getting wasted every weekend. It's quite comical too considering on how close to the inside of the school I am, I'm being invited to all these parties and whatnot without Adult Supervision and I keep turning them down because I have more important issues to take care of.

The lack of adult assistance may be one part of it, but the flip side is the child's ability to think for themselves. Isn't that what life's first phase is? To learn how to think for oneself?

Edit: I don't know if anyone else feels this way either, but I may be 17; but I feel much older than I'm supposed to be. Then again I will be 18 soon so maybe this is the transitioning from the child to adult phase, I'm supposed to have more responsibilities but I'm not quite there yet. But still "You're wiser beyond your years" is the quote I'm looking for.

[Shade_13]

When you are ten, you're suppose to be a kid, right. So, does anyone else feel that kids are growing up WAY to fast. I, personally, blame our countries infatuation with beauty and skinny woman. There were three girls at the local ELEMENTARY SCHOOL who now go to the phsychaitrist because they are belemic. There are four pregnant girls in the local middle school. And, there are several 10, 11, and 12 year olds who are now drug addicts. So, I guess I just want to know what ya'll think about it. What's to blame. Is it just a generation gap thing, is it tabloids and celebrities. Or does your area even have this problem. By the way, I'm 16 and most 12 year olds are nothing like what me and my friends were.

Well, if you call getting pregnant as a kid or becoming a junkie growing up, then yeah they grew up really fast... Speaking serious, kids are kids, at some point they try to fit in at all costs, to be respected and to be looked up to, and most likely do crap they will later regret doing, usually that all passes when they grow up and get a little more brains, and i'm alright with that, everyone has to have mistakes to learn on, but consequences like early pregnancy really cross the line. I cant draw parallels with my childhood because of really different environments here and there, would be wrong to compare. But kids are kids everywhere, and unless they learn 1) to respect another human being and 2) to respect themselves, they wont be acting reasonable.

[Manifesto]

In my personal opinion everyone is so focused on outer appearances, and fitting in with the cool kids. The media is constantly pushing beauty on people... what mostly everyone doesn't understand is that when you look at a magazine those aren't real women. They have been edited to hell and back in photoshop to make them look perfect when in all actuality they are just as imperfect as the rest of us. This is where parents need to step in and teach their children proper morals... I have more to say on this subject, but I think it's best for me to stop here ... I'll post more after I see what others have to say.

I agree for the most of it , except when you are 10-12 no matter what kind of 'morals' the Parents will teach it's still up to the children themselves who have to decide....and by the decide I don't mean they actually get to decide because most of the time kids that age and especially kids who are not confident in themselves or have weak 'character' are influenced by the media and their peer group very easily.

EDIT: Sorry didn't see Koby's post which I agree completely with.

My parents are similar to what Koby described his mother as, My mum knows that I'm quite sensible and that I'm pretty mature for my age so she doesn't worry that I'll get addicted to alcohol or drugs ...and I have tried them :L which I don't regret because it thought me a lesson that will probably keep me off drugs or alcohol for the rest of my life.

[uendldjrole83]

Everyone is completely right.

What I've noticed is that all the kids that are coming up in todays society:

Have no manners, No respect, Its all about them.

If they cant get something, they crack the shits. Im a swimming teacher and one of the kids told me, "I want to be skinny and beautiful, but i have horrible feet". This was from a 5 yr old girl.

DUDE! when I was 5, all I wanted to do was play guns out of sticks and play soccer

[† ballard]

I agree for the most of it , except when you are 10-12 no matter what kind of 'morals' the Parents will teach it's still up to the children themselves who have to decide....and by the decide I don't mean they actually get to decide because most of the time kids that age and especially kids who are not confident in themselves or have weak 'character' are influenced by the media and their peer group very easily.

EDIT: Sorry didn't see Koby's post which I agree completely with.

My parents are similar to what Koby described his mother as, My mum knows that I'm quite sensible and that I'm pretty mature for my age so she doesn't worry that I'll get addicted to alcohol or drugs ...and I have tried them :L which I don't regret because it thought me a lesson that will probably keep me off drugs or alcohol for the rest of my life.

I agree that it's up to the individuals to decide what they are going to do. I was personally taught at a young age not to do drugs and all that, so it stuck in my head all my life. I've never smoked or tried any kind of drug, nor do I feel the need to. The only thing I do is drink maybe 3 times a year on special occasions. From personal experience if the parents are teaching their kids proper morals then chances are they will turn out fine... not always, but most of the time. Now days I've noticed that parents are doing a very minimal job of raising their children. They allow them to run around town doing god knows what... then they wonder why they end up getting kidnapped and killed. I've seen this sort of thing happen so many countless times.

The exact opposite can be true as well though. The kid could have been exposed to drugs all their life from parents, and learned from their mistakes... or are simply tired of being around that sort of thing and want to change their life for the better. I've personally seen both scenarios. Over all, It's simply a matter of the persons own will power to over come such things and make the proper decisions.

I'll add more to this tomorrow XD. I'm extremely tired and can barely think lol... so I'm sorry if I worded anything weird.

I do agree with everyone who posted though. There are many different possibilities...

[† The Joker]

Things are just as bad in the UK as in the rest of the world it would seem, especially with the country now becoming one big lawsuit. Examples of this:

Parents are taking other parents to court over injuries their children pick up in play or at parties, any school trips have to have an 'education benefit', rather than being a reward for good work and behavior. There was even something in the paper a few years ago about a mother who tried to sue her childs school because he chocked on a packed lunch that SHE made!

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - the UK's become a joke >.>

[† L4ugh]

I think it's three main problems coming together that cause this. Religion has almost no place in the lives of kids today. In the USA almost every religious person I know is really nothing more then a weekend worshiper. They're dicks Monday thru Friday but come the weekend and suddenly they're saints. The two biggest problems though are the lack of child parent interaction and the unbelievable amount of spoiling that goes on with children today. Even a child who's parents subject them to negative things can turn out ok if the parent is there enough to still teach them the negative sides of such things. Problem is that to many people don't have the time for their children because they are to busy trying to keep food on the table, so the kids basically raise themselves with the help of their friends. Children also have way to much now, cellphones by six; tv, computer, and game consoles by seven. Then there is the endless amount of toys they play with for ten minutes then never pick up again. I think it's overloading our children's ability to put any real value on the toys they own. If anything breaks they just move to the next toy until the broken one is replaced. If our children don't even respect their toys how can we ever expect them to respect anything else.

[BushidoSkeleton]

Dude are you sure you dont live in Africa or something?

In my local area there isnt any problems like that. Different culture maybe.

[Kasoivc]

I agree that it's up to the individuals to decide what they are going to do. I was personally taught at a young age not to do drugs and all that, so it stuck in my head all my life. I've never smoked or tried any kind of drug, nor do I feel the need to. The only thing I do is drink maybe 3 times a year on special occasions. From personal experience if the parents are teaching their kids proper morals then chances are they will turn out fine... not always, but most of the time. Now days I've noticed that parents are doing a very minimal job of raising their children. They allow them to run around town doing god knows what... then they wonder why they end up getting kidnapped and killed. I've seen this sort of thing happen so many countless times.

The exact opposite can be true as well though. The kid could have been exposed to drugs all their life from parents, and learned from their mistakes... or are simply tired of being around that sort of thing and want to change their life for the better. I've personally seen both scenarios. Over all, It's simply a matter of the persons own will power to over come such things and make the proper decisions.

I'll add more to this tomorrow XD. I'm extremely tired and can barely think lol... so I'm sorry if I worded anything weird.

I do agree with everyone who posted though. There are many different possibilities...

True to that... I've experienced both of those and seen both scenarios play out time and time again. Regardless of such it honestly boils down to the individual and what they feel is necessary for themselves. I honestly believe in it simply because no one can really make you do or not do things, ultimately people are responsible for themselves and their actions in my opinion.

Dude are you sure you dont live in Africa or something?

In my local area there isnt any problems like that. Different culture maybe.

Lol, that is also a very good point to raise. I believe cultural differences may be a factor in this as well, not to mention L4ugh's note about religion.

There's just so many influencing factors in all of this that it's a little bit more than a simple algebraic formula.

[Nabitz92]

My mother let me watch any movie I wanted, played any game I wanted, talked about all the dirty stuff (a little too early probably), and my mom experimented with some drugs before, her boyfriends I caught doing it as a kid, and even once she let me try cigarettes and marijuana. She even let me drink when I wanted to. You know what? I grew up disliking drugs, and I do not smoke or even drink. On top of that I'm still a virgin.

So I can't really say it's bad parenting or over exposure because I had both and I turned out fine (or well I think alright).

There was friends getting pregnant in as easy at 6th grade here, people selling drugs in as early as 5th grade. One friend got in a knife fight in 7th grade over drugs. Another kid stabbed someone with a screw driver in High School the year before I went to High School, etc. So I think the issue is across the world or at least across the States. Despite all that I didn't turn to any of those things. I would say it was my generation, but it wasn't, as I said my friends ended up in it (which is why I quit talking to most of them). Yet I was probably exposed just as much or maybe even more to it all.

So I guess it's really up to the kid themselves and how much they let peer pressure take over.

You tell them koby.

My family is somewhat the same to where my mom lets me watch anything be it rated PG or R, and play any games i wanted. She had a few simple rules like "Dont let me hear you cursing" and simple things to kind of keep me in line. She said you can do what you want when you are 18 but the way i see it is i dont need to go out and do all the crazy stuff like get so drunk i cant see straight or stand, doing drugs, or just plain out acting retarded. At an early age i was instilled in the knowledge of responsibility, and that's what these children now need to become the adults their parents want them to be. My responsibility was to help raise my 3 younger brothers and to teach them to do right, but in order to teach someone from right and wrong you need to know the difference yourself. I dont worry on the things going on outside my door like most people do.

50% of Children go bad because their parents who are teaching them don't teach them properly on right from wrong because they don't know it themselves. I was in the store the other day and a man took a DVD off the rack at the store and shoved it into his bag when the cashier wasn't looking, and he did this all in front of his young children. If a parent is stealing and you look up to them being their child, you follow their examples and repeat them when you grow up.

The other 50% of children are casualties of the modern day peer pressure. They feel as if when they were acting on their own that others may look at them differently and in a bad way. I mean come on, look at the bullies in elementary picking on the one kid because he listens to a different type of music or dresses differently his instinct will be to try and be like everyone else so he doesn't get picked on. After following the crowd in elementary it becomes second nature to do what everyone else is doing and to pic on those who doesn't, that is what they call the Domino effect. Eventually you have everyone being drug addicts, alcoholics, and being in gangs because of the second nature that played a key role in making the person who they are all through high school and in turn their personality is too corrupted to return to that child of pure innocence that they once were.

For those who decide to be who they are end up taking so much abuse from bullies that they crack and go insane, this is where you get your insane shoot up the mall for no reason type of person. There is that small few who chooses to be who they want to be and not what others want them to be who ignores peer pressure and has parents teaching them right who tend to make it out relatively sane in this crazy world so there is a chance.

But we have to remember that a bad generation makes bad children if they don't change their ways and the generation of tomorrow will be worse than their predecessors. The world wont change in our time and maybe not even in our grandchildren time but if we all strive to be better people, there can be a day without this type of craziness but i see it as not being likely. My prediction is the world will just continue to get worse.

Well that being said i am continuing to be me and i am not a bad person.

[Dueler]

I place 99.9% of the blame on the parents, in Australia a recent study was done on underage drinking, something like 10% of the parents were willing to come get their drunken children, while the other % were quite content with letting their kids run around the streets at 3am in the morning terrorising the neighbourhood. They would rather let the police talk to their children rather then try and guide them into adulthood themselves.

[realmzmaster]

I have to agreed with Dueler. The ultimate responsibility lies with the parent and how well they raise their children. There is also the problem of one parent families. Not all children that come from one parent families have trouble, but the majority do. Another problem is inattentive parents. Parents that set no ground rules may be setting their children up for failure and trouble. If you do not start training your child from birth it is impossible to correct them when they get older.

If the parents are not setting a good example how can you expect the child to do any better. Children learn from example. You cannot use that old Do as I say and not as I do line. The song Cat's in the Cradle by Harry Chapin illustrates my point. The son became just like the dad.

If a parent does not take time to be with and interact with their children they are nothing more than strangers living in the same house. It is not a home.

[dizahab]

the world is degrading in my opinion but i think that i could be blamed on many things. i have noticed though that school children are worse off that in my day. but alas...

wow these are super long posts...

[Nabitz92]

the world is degrading in my opinion but i think that i could be blamed on many things. i have noticed though that school children are worse off that in my day. but alas...

wow these are super long posts...

Of course they are super long posts because they have to do with a very delicate subject that no one is willing to talk about until they see others doing it. I do it regardless whether people care of my opinion or not for i have seen others in the situation (people in distant family like cousins) doing the same things and messing up. I have one cousin age 13 white female caught for breaking and entering, vandalism, and theft. They took her to her mom and while the police was telling her "we will lock you up" the little girl sat and laughed in the cops face. The problem with the situation all started with the mom and dad running off to clubs and leaving the kids home to do whatever all during their childhood, then the divorce of the parents, and still the lack of parental grounds as to where who is the child and who is the adult. The child talks to the parents like trash now and does whatever she pleases while the parents basically cant handle her. She didnt get locked into a girls home because the lack of space available in their area. And that is just one story from the family of their 3 kids. I have multiple families who have different problems because kids are not acting like kids anymore.