Today's Children...

Well twoey i watch these Tv shows like ID TV and True Tv and it shows crimes that people commit...I cannot for the life of me understand the criminal mind...Sometimes it is the lack of teaching and sometimes its just pure evil in people...I could never hurt another person or animal,but billions of people the world over is cruel ,killers,and just down right evil....All these mass murders,they are evil and no concsience i supposs....I just see it as evil in the world,there are good and evil and some people are just down right evil,full of hate and creed...I just figure these folks are reprobate as the bible says....You hear stories where a man starts having an affair and wants out of the marriage,instead of getting a divorce they choose to kill their wife,come to find out they have a large insurance policy out on their wife...This evil is for the love of money....There are people that has no respect for human life...Then ther are people who are pushed over the edge ....Its sad but i do not have this type of spirit in me...I would be so scared to do a bad thing because first off its not in me to do this,second of all i know that there is a God above ,and its just not right...Its wrong,just plain wrong that kind of evil....I believe in God and i know right from wrong..Some do and some don't and some just do not care,and some are just sick.....

Disgusting... I do fear for what's yet to come. Not only that, I do hold the children accountable, possibly to more extents than most, not sure. By age 4, 5 or 6 a child is supposed have some general concept of human decency and of right & wrong... it can vary a bit, but its innate and its there in normal human beings. There are abhorations though, in this and in taught morality. Some people have mental illnesses, others may learn or disregard morality (either innately or by choice). There is also "good" and "evil" in all people, though both concepts themselves can be argued till the end of time. Of course I could start another philosophical discussion on all of this, but it will have to wait. The problem is, there could be an external influence that can negate this easily (especially at young ages). The best part of this is seeing the masses blame everything else: video games, television, music, "culture"... but not so much blame for the parents (or absence thereof). Parents do make the ultimate difference in a child's life. The parents are to help affirm the base nature to care for the self and species. And of course, they are supposed to teach the children right and wrong in society. Religion can help, but its not the final solution. People can learn right and wrong from parents, positive influence, and laws. The latter plays a double role in this subject though. While they don't spell out ethics, they are based on ethical thought and on principals to protect people in a society. One reason to kill, to prove strength. Another reason, to prove your better... through some mental dysfunction or by choice this happens too (and it can also be seen when abusing or killing animals and killing those weaker than yourself). Its imperative to teach children ethics, compassion, kindness... there is no guarantee they'll not turn out wrong, but generally teaching ethics reduces the chances of children becoming violent criminals and killers.

My mother's brother and his wife had a surprise baby 7 years ago. They both worked so they hired my mom to be her full-time nanny. Though my mom was too controlling and verbally/physically abusive to me, she still taught me how to be honest, loving and nurturing. She also learned from her mistakes and has taught little Erica how to be a sweet, honest and caring person. This is a great thing because my uncle and his wife don't have the best parenting skills. They still argue and yell at eachother and say mean things in front of her. Her mother is going through menopause and can be quite cold and moody too. My uncle has a tendency to buy too many things for his daughter to make up for his faults. Her mother even fired my mother when she quit her job, mostly because Erica is closer to my mom. My uncle saw the pain it caused his sister to be away from his daughter and hired her to do chores a few days a week. Erica's behavior changes are then adjusted by my mom. Thank god she has my mom and me around. This is just one situation that could have gone bad. In general, children don't behave badly without a bad influence around them. They have to be taught the right behaviors at a young age so that when they start school, they are less likely to be lured to the dark side that other children display.

That's what the problem is, parents are not teaching their kids about God, because they themselves don't believe in God, there are a lot of people that are not religious anymore! Another problem is the law is not enforced enough to deter crime! You can just about commit any crime you want nowadays, and just get away with it, it's ridiculous!

Hi twoey68, I know that there are a lot of terrible stories out there, but that's what makes the news. There are plenty of good kids too, but no one wants to hear about them. Parent's need to teach their kids to be compassionate and caring from day one. I doubt that we will ever completely rid society of all these things, but hopefully more parents will see the importance of instilling good qualities in their children. By the way, I really liked the idea of you suggesting to your nephew that he practice on tin cans. Good job. Blessings.

Think about where else they get much of their teachings, especially when both parents have to work now to make ends meet. Television...and I don't mean "R" rated movies or soap operas, but the news! There has been so many horror stories about the war in Iraq on the news for the past four years that kids are becoming desensitized to violence as a solution. When we were kids, times were much more innocent and we spent more time outside with other kids or with our non-working parent. Now TV has become the average babysitter. It's a sad world when this is the primary focus in so many homes.

I doubt that they have been taught any morals. The main problem now seems to be that so many parents can't be bothered with their children and think it's up to others to teach them right from wrong. There are still many good people in the world but these don't make the news. As you say we learned to care for others and that we weren't the only ones who could be hurt.

that is exactly the point, many of the people you refer to have never been taught, they did not have the same upbringing their value system is totally different and as you mentioned you were brought up with your value system, they were brought up with their, and in that world it is completely the opposite, for example we grow up to believe that police are there to help us, they grow up to be afraid of the police, it is like our world in complete reverse. Do they know killing is wrong, it depends, some do and some don't. Some will stand by the believe that "kill them before they kill us" and that conviction is every bit as strong as ours. Yes I taught my son all my values, and now he has is own, some from me and some I decided were right for him and do not agree with mine. (he is an adult now)

I taught my boys about God and Jesus Christ, thou shalt not kill, or steal, and be greedy. We taught them to be nice and polite. That you should not get into fights, but get along. I did not go into details about loving animals and birds, and protecting those smaller than you, because all those things that do with not killing, stealing, and not being greedy as well as not getting into fights will keep someone from committing horrible crimes like murder.

Having to teach a child anything is a main reason I never wanted to be a parent.I don't know if parents are teaching children anything. I don't know if it is that they are too busy working or what.

I have seen so many times kids who should know better do unspeakable things. Surely they did not learn this from their parents. But I guess if the parents dont pay attention to them someone else will. Peer pressure to get into the right crowds or even gangs is great and hard for young people to resist. I wonder often what goes through the minds of people like this. All I can say is that something is seriously wrong with them.

I agree with you totally that today's children are very out of control. They do things without even thinking of the consequence of their actions. They are just into the satisfaction of the moment. I think a lot of the way children act are due to the movies they watch and the games they play that are so violent. And they tend to escape into that type of non - reality that leads them to act the way they do. I have taught my children all of the above. Though both my daughters tend to learn things the hard way and make poor choices. Knowing that I've instilled these values into them they will be able to draw on them as they grow older. I guess it's like I've planted the seed and waiting for it to blossom.

I don't necessarily believe religion has anything to do with people's behaviors. While I do have faith, I am not overly religious, nor have I raised my children to be. My younger children have yet to be taught anything about religion, yet they are well behaved and have good morals. I believe the problem always comes down to the parents. Many parents aren't even interested in being parents. They accidentally got pregnant, thought it would be fun to raise the child, but don't take the roll seriously. They may neglect or abuse this unwanted child, and rarely do the parents act as good roll models. Or there are parents who are too busy to be involved in their child's life. They have put their careers before their children, and the children find other ways to fill that void, sometimes in negative ways. Of course there are many other reasons for things like this to happen, such as mental diseases and peer pressure, but I still feel it always comes back on the parents lack of presence in the child's life.

yea i have teached my girls about god and how life is and from right and wrong my girls have a big heart and are very compassionate

I think about society a lot.. and how much it has changed since, say, the fifties.. Unfortunately I watch way too much news.. but actually most shows are of the darker theme too! Some movies, I just cannot take! I've been thinking a lot lately about the old nursery ryhmes, we used to read as young children.. most of them were written pre-america, I believe in Europe.. They say many of these were written as political satire, but even more were written as warnings to their children. They read scary stories like "hansel and gretal" and "little red riding hood" to tell their kids to "stay away from strangers"! Yet it seems like, to me, that in America we escaped a bit of that for a while (not entirely of course, but we didn't have pedaphyles on every street corner and on every neighborhood block like we do today.. and so I've been thinking the christians came to america to be more truly christian, though they were followed by others of course, for other reasons, but even so, the culture seemed to be a step above when we were a christian nation. Now that we have thrown God off.. kicked him out of the schools (repeatedly and in many ways) and teach the children as fact, a theory which basicly says there is no God, yet is in no way anywhere near to being "proven" yet most seem to think it is.. Anyway.. we've come full circle, and though I have nothing against today's pagan's, it was paganism of the past which had to employ such things as the story of "little red riding hood" (which isn't to excuse christianity's errors, greivous mistakes either) but now throwing God off.. we have come full circle and have these dangers again much more prevalent.. plus it will get worse as I believe we are headed toward group marriages.. where a village really will raise the child.. but in reality it doesn't work that well.. and society built of, and upon the nuclear family really does make for a more solid societal foundation and structure, and children were/are safer (usually) with this design.. (which the thought of, or stating of this thought can make some people very very angry! but so far, I still have freedom of thought!)

Unfortunately there are always going to be people who feel they can do whatever they want and get away with it. That's why there's a need for prisons.

I don't have children myself but I have friends with kids of varying ages who I am close to. I make a point of not smoking in front of children as I think this sends out the wrong message - I would hate to think a kid started smoking as a teenager because they saw me doing it and thought it was a good habit which I know it isn't. At a family function some months ago some of my friends' kids were being mean to 2 other kids about their strong Indian accents. I told them very nicely that how would they feel if they had gone to India to live for a couple of years and came back here to the UK and people teased them in this way because their accent would definitely change and they should go out of their way to make their new friends welcome. They all felt really bad about teasing the other kids and now they all get along really well. This is just one example of how I try to get youngsters to respect each other and treat others as they would expect to be treated themselves :)

Yes, to me God is the foundation of my life ,so I try to teach my boys to spread love and not hate because doing evil things can destroy us. I teach them to protect smaller kids and to have compassion for animals and so far I think that is working because they are both very good kids.

Yes, I do teach my kids morals and about G♥d and try to encourage my son to be kind to animals, but he is struggling because the dog is not aggressive, but big and clumsy and makes my son mad when she hurts him..I try to explain that she don't know she is hurting him, and to be kinder to her, I hope it sinks in..

I don't have children but I am extremely close to my niece and nephew and they often stay the night with my husband and I. I always try to teach them to be fair and teach them matters. I also try to teach them to love their neighbors. Also, we are christians and we go to meetings and study the bible and so, they know the bible and their creator and what is right and wrong. I think many kids are lacking this today and far too often their parents are more concerned with having fun and their own lives and thus don't take the time out to be an actual parent. Mind you, this doesn't mean that their are no good parents out there because I have come across many who are great parents. However, for how ever many there are of them, there are double of the others, if not triple. It's really sad. Too often today young people are having kiods before the hit the age of twenty and they don't have time to live and have fun and enjoy life. So, then after having their kids, they realize what it means for them and they want to then have fun. So, they become the kids friend instead of their parent because that makes it easier for them to have fun. That's where they go wrong I think. Parents need to be parents first and formost because if they're anything but they will regret it in the future....