# A more violent generation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 16, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953 "2003-09-16T15:39:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MPangloss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@MPangloss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPangloss)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/1 "2003-09-16T15:39:24Z")
During a recent (police-sanctioned) block party 3 kids in a car ignored the barriers blocking our street and drove right up to where everyone was standing and expected to be let through…“Please go back the other way, there are little kids running around” they were very politely told at least 5 times. After each ‘please’ the driver inched forward with a look that said “…you’re kidding right”. He seemed like a spoiled rich kid used to getting his own way, but finally gave up and drove back to where the barriers were. Ah, but from the end of the street they screamed out all kinds of challenges “I’ll eff you up” this, “I’ll eff you up” that…blah blah blah. All this b/c he couldn’t drive around the block. WTF!! (B) SO…are today’s youth more prone to violence and aggression than their parents were? Or was this story an exception and kids today are generally more enlightened and tolerant?(/B) And I’m not talking about the obvious…'boyz-in-the-hood- gangsta-rap-shoot-yo-momma-for-a-dime-bag crap. I mean in the suburbs where Ward and June Clever lived. It could be my age catching up with me, but it seems that even here there is an evil lurking. ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/2 "2003-09-16T17:05:34Z")
This is the result of our youth misunderstanding some basic definitions. Thanks to the direction of our American culture, kids now ave some very wrong understandings. Like this: “fairness” = “getting even” & “freedom” = “the right to do whatever the hell I want” & “tolerance” = “nobody can tell me what to do” ---
**Author:** ![erislover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/71e660/32.png) [@erislover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erislover)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/3 "2003-09-16T17:13:49Z")
The evil was always there, IMO, only now it has an expression. This is a much more satisfactory state of affairs as it can now be addressed. ---
**Author:** ![Dogface](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@Dogface](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogface)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/4 "2003-09-16T18:32:17Z")
Why didn’t you call the cops and have this guy arrested for disturbing the peace and making public threats? ---
**Author:** ![theR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@theR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theR)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/5 "2003-09-16T19:01:44Z")
Did I miss the part where violence took place? Yelling a bunch of threats is nothing new, and really one little anecdote like this is sort of thin grounds for starting a thread about whether the youth of today is more violent than previous generations, don’t you think? Especially when no violence actually took place. You might convince me that the young are more aggressive because they have a stronger sense of entitlement whether or not they work for what they get, but I’m not even sure of that. ---
**Author:** ![UrbanChic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/9dc877/32.png) [@UrbanChic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UrbanChic)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/6 "2003-09-16T19:49:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MPangloss \* > **And I’m not talking about the obvious…'boyz-in-the-hood- gangsta-rap-shoot-yo-momma-for-a-dime-bag crap. I mean in the suburbs where Ward and June Clever lived.** Could I get some clarification on this sentiment, please? ---
**Author:** ![paranormal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3be4f8/32.png) [@paranormal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paranormal)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/7 "2003-09-16T19:50:20Z")
PLEASE don’t say its video games… that is too old. I think nowadays there is more tolerence in the youth then today- a lot less is taboo. Something happened in my school class today that would support your theory. We were talking about the Holocaust (for some reason the WWII unit was cut to one day), when the kid to the left of me said “Hitler was cool- he killed people.” Yesterday the teacher was saying how Mount St. Helens erupted, killing forty-some people. Another boy in my class said “Wow, that’s awesome!” I found my classmates very disturbing. ---
**Author:** ![MPangloss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@MPangloss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MPangloss)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/8 "2003-09-16T21:05:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Could I get some clarification on this sentiment, please? My premise was …is the average high school/20 something of today more violent, aggressive, confrontational than in prior generations. My reference to the boyz-in-the-hood was to exclude the obvious answer of someone pointing to the rampant gang and drug related inner-city violence we see all the time and ‘yes, of course kids are more violence’. > [@](#): > > and really one little anecdote like this is sort of thin grounds for starting a thread about whether the youth of today is more violent than previous generations, don’t you think? Just testing the waters, R. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/9 "2003-09-16T21:34:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MPangloss \* > **is the average high school/20 something of today more violent, aggressive, confrontational than in prior generations** Actually, the current young generation is more compassionate than most older generations before it. Voluntarism in this age group has massively increased, and should far out-strip other generations in this category in the next 10 years\*. I think that the OP is overgeneralizing, both his generation and the accused generation. All generations suffer from their bad apples and their bullies. But the memories of bullies of yesteryear fade with time. \*I currently do not have a cite for this, but will happily search for it tonight. A fellow in my grad class attended an ARNOVA seminar last year that covered this very topic. Very interesting stuff. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/10 "2003-09-16T21:42:40Z")
This thread has been done before. In 1957. I blame that Bill Haley chap… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/11 "2003-09-16T21:43:40Z")
Please ignore the above post. I need to retract it until I find some evidence. Was just doing some searching, and came across [this article](http://www.nationalservice.org/news/lenkowsky/ll060702.html) which completely contradicts my post. Oddly enough, it’s a speech by Les Lenkowsky, former head of AmeriCorps. Why is that odd? Because he was my professor in the class that I heard my above claim. Now I’m just confused. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/12 "2003-09-16T22:20:40Z")
“Children today are tyrants.” — Socrates, more than two thousand years ago ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/13 "2003-09-16T22:28:00Z")
“Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. Bribery and corruption are common, And children no longer obey their parents. The end of the world is evidently approaching.” — Assyrian tablet from almost four thousand years ago; quoted and translated variously; one version can be found in [_Isaac Asimov’s Book of Facts_](http://www.abhota.info/end1.htm) ---
**Author:** ![kelly5078](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6f9a4e/32.png) [@kelly5078](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kelly5078)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/14 "2003-09-16T22:43:39Z")
American society today has less regard for its kids than when I was growing up, and the kids reciprocate, at least in terms of attitude. My children’s high school was like an armed camp, with police all over the place. They did full body searches (mercifully, not cavities) of kids found in the parking lot. The teachers were miserable, the classes far too large, and the facilities depressing. Inner city? Yep, but one of the most affluent schools in town (Lamar, in Houston, for those who know the area). I can only imagine how kids in the poorer areas are treated. Meanwhile, the media spend ungodly amounts of moneys to train kids to be consumers, and not much else. Certainly not much effort is given to critical thinking and social responsibility. I don’t have cites, and I don’t need them. I’ve been a parent for 19 years. I finally got my daughter into college, where she’s happy as a clam not being treated like crap for a change. I had to move my son to a private school so he could get a little self-esteem. For all that, I don’t see kids being any more violent than they ever were. Given the easy access to weaponry, if kids were as violent as they were painted, every school would be a Columbine. ---
**Author:** ![mascaroni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/dc4da7/32.png) [@mascaroni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mascaroni)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/15 "2003-09-16T22:44:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Cervaise \* > \*\*“Children today are tyrants.” > > — Socrates, more than two thousand years ago \*\* You’ve obviously been on SD longer than me… Kind of what I was getting at though… Does Socrates still post on here? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Muldoon\_s\_Squishiness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muldoon_s_Squishiness)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2003, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/16 "2003-09-16T22:44:51Z")
Gen Y have a huge sense of entitlement, which they have done nothing to deserve, except bitch and moan about how put-upon they are, and how they refuse to work at any job that pays less then $12/hr and that working in a fast food restaurant “_is gay._”\* \*Actual quote. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/17 "2003-09-17T10:12:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mascaroni \* > \*\*You’ve obviously been on SD longer than me… > Kind of what I was getting at though… > > Does Socrates still post on here? 😉 \*\* No, [here](http://www.pantheus.com/forum)😃 But as to the current generation, why worry? Eight decades ago there was this freaky obsession with beam weapons intended to cause abrupt cessation of life, but we’re still here. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/18 "2003-09-17T13:59:11Z")
Well, your amusing annecdotes aside, according to these sites: [http://abcnews.go.com/onair/CloserLook/wnt000425\_CL\_gangs\_feature.html](http://abcnews.go.com/onair/CloserLook/wnt000425_CL_gangs_feature.html) [http://www.cnn.com/US/9908/04/school.violence/](http://www.cnn.com/US/9908/04/school.violence/) [http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/teens.htm](http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/homicide/teens.htm) Actual teen violence has actually been declining since the 80’s. MPangloss - Maybe if you weren’t such a pussy, these kids would have shown you a little more respect. My boss - generally a pretty easy going guy - had the same thing happen. He didn’t stammer “err…please sir…uh…could you…um…if it’s not too much trouble…turn the car around”. He fuckin’ laid into the kids until all they wanted to do was get the hell away from his block party. You are a freakin GROWN-UP for Christs sake! You should be the most terrifying thing in the world to a teenager. You should represent authority and their parents and the cops and be a volatile force of nature that will take their car, their pot and their beer away from them if they don’t straighten up and fly right! The problem is that parents are afraid to treat kids like kids. You do not need to be “cool” with them. They are not little adults and you are not required to treat them as such. In my day, the big fear was that our parents were the last generation to have a higher standard of living than the previous generation. Now kids grow up with cell phones, $60 Abercrombie shirts and brand new SUVs and BMWs. They spend all day unsupervised, surfing the Net and watching MTV and they think that’s how the world is. Apparently, most would rather play Playstation than get any exercise. Are kids more violent these days? No, of course not. They’re too fat, soft, lazy and apathetic to hurt anyone but themselves. Muldoon’s Squishiness - Dude…sooo gay! ---
**Author:** ![SanibelMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@SanibelMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanibelMan)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/19 "2003-09-17T14:31:26Z")
\*\*mnsmith547 & Muldoon’s Squishiness - \*\* Very good. You’ve both managed to stereotype a whole generation based on a few lazy and rich ones that you’ve seen. I’m 19, and no, I don’t know anyone who drives a brand-new BMW. My parents were not my “best friends,” and they did not let me do whatever I wanted. I’m a university student now, and I can tell you I see very few new cars in the parking lot, and most of those belong to the faculty and staff. We’re not all spoiled little brats who think we have the world handed to us on a plate, no more than any previous generation did. But hey, I’m glad you can reach such sweeping conclusions based on so little evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Gaudere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e495f1/32.png) [@Gaudere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaudere)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953/20 "2003-09-17T15:33:02Z")
\*\*msmith537 \*\* > [@](#): > > MPangloss - Maybe if you weren’t such a pussy [Moderator Hat ON] Maybe if you follow the rules of GD you will be able to keep your posting privileges. You’ve been here long enough to know what not to do. [Moderator Hat OFF] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-more-violent-generation/201953.md?page=2)