do you find that many teens and young adults lack initiative these days?

I think many young people are like that. It is tough these days. Still, I have 4 daughters and I'm a single mom..talk about hard. it always has been. I have taught them to strive for independence. They do struggle and I do help them best I can...free ride?...can't do it. They don't even expect it. Right now, i have one adult daughter with me...she pays me rent and her goal is to get back out there on her own. I am still raising a daughter that is only 14 and I don't get child support and I work full time. If i can do this then she can support herself as well. being self sufficient is what i raised her to do. i'll of course help her when I can but she can;t be counting on me to and she doesn't. she counts on herself and is appreciative of any help I give her.

o.0 i don't know maybe it's a case to case basis in your friend's situation maybe they showed being too considerate when they accepted them in their homes regardless of what happened. It's like if you lend them your hand the next thing they want is your whole arm already. But i think it's ok for them with their parents but must make sure that they work hard too for the basic needs of the baby and not depend in the alms from parents.

I don't think it is so much of lacking initiative as not knowing how to make the right choices. My husband is 27 and honestly without me he would be lost. Probably living in some homeless shelter somewhere. He has drive, he like to work, he will do any job, but how to get the job (or enroll in college, etc) he is clueless on. Since he went into the military right out of high school no one ever bothered to teach him basic life skills.

There are quite a few lazy butt youngsters out there, along with highly motivated ones. Parents also tend to give into the pester power, and that is not doing the kids any favors. The stigma of staying with the parents forever is no longer as powerful as it once was, so kids are doing so. * There are, however, legitimate problems kids face today that are difficult to climb over. Housing and other inflationary costs are rising faster than wages. Good jobs are also leaving the US in droves. *

We share the same opinion.I often nag my teens about it because I just want them to learn and be responsible in all aspects of their lives. It's just for their own good, right? I would presume that the cause of youth these days lacking initiative is not really laziness but it might be that they are born into a generation of easiness--I can expand this in our own experience at home. Since my kids were small, they have been experiencing that we have a house-help (or two) at home to help us out since both me and my husband work full time. They have been used to the fact that whatever they need early in the morning; foods, clothes, etc., has been already prepared for them that all they need to do is to wake up, take a bath, get dressed, eat and then go to school. I don't really know if I can put some blame on us parents because sometimes we just care or even pamper so much our kids to foster the attitude of lacking initiative in them. In our case, my hubby & I just want them to feel the comfort we missed before because during our times, we lacked the privilege to enjoy such. Happy posting to all!

When i had my eldest i thought i could brought her up the way i want her to be. A good, loving and responsible child.Things have changed.My husband took me to his place of job and left her under my mother's care,she was in grade one then.The grandma spoiled her by doing everything for my child except the studying part.She came up to be a good student and have honors.Then she joined us on her 5th grade.Since then i was having so much problem with her regarding her attitude.It's hard to curb her now as she's teenager now...even my husband gave up on talking to her.Right she's more on facing the computer playing games,chatting.I have to keep on telling her what to do.So technology is partly to be blamed for todays kids laziness,lacking initiative,unconcerning attitude,name it....

I think it comes from many things, depending on the situation, parenting, just plain laziness, having it easy most of their growing up years, and not having to earn whatever they want. I raised two daughters, and one of the things I always tried to impress upon them was to be self-sufficient, and they were taught that they did not get everything they wanted, not with out earning it in some way. My s/o has a 14 year old daughter, and when it comes time for her to strike out on her own, she is going to have a rude awaken! Although she has learned that she doesn't not just ask and receive here in our home, however, she does get her way at her mom's house. When we first got together she seemed to think I was supposed to clean up after her, wait on her, etc. Until, I told her different and her dad backed me on it.

I think it comes from so many things. Laziness seems to be a huge part of it, but then so does a lack of hope for the future. I know that my initiative comes from the hope for a better future and the belief that hard work can get you on to a better place. It is true that I got married young and we had our baby ten months after we got married. We have had hard times and neither of us has a "career" job. However, we have a huge dream for the future and we are working very hard to make those dreams come true. On the other hand, if you don't have dreams or hope then you have nothing to work toward. It is sad that someone would rather live off of others or in a homeless shelter then go out and get a job and make a living. It is also sad for their baby. I can only imagine that with this attitude things will only be worse for the next generation. Thankfully not all of us young people are like this (I am only 24). The real question comes down to how can we make a difference to those who don't have initiative. After all, if your daughter is 15, how can you and those around her make a difference in her life so that when she is out of school she is moving forward in a positive way. Sadly, I don't know the answer to that question and really hope to figure it out before my son is of that age.

i think it is due to the world being so easy nowadays 50 years ago there would have been no options they would have had to get up and go out to work to provide, its just too easy to sit around and do nothing now, i think the government should toughen up some more show the young ones you dont get anything for free

I am NOT speaking on the behalf of my generation. (I'm 24.) I feel lost in a sea of choices, so I choose nothing. I can't affort to attend college~too expensive~if I choose wrong in my education then I'm stuck with it. I feel overwhelmed by the problems of the day-to-day that I sink into a sea of despair because there is nothing that I can do to change them. I feel lost, I feel small, I feel too much and not enough. Although I do have a job, between my boyfriend and I we bring home 1,600 a month, trust me, it's not enough, he's in thousands of dollars in debt, and I have a car that's head casket blew, we don't have the money to take risks on our education and we defently don't have the time to either.

I think it's true...many teens and young adults do lack initiatives nowadays. I think it's due to the flow of culture- that is thoughts ! Many people have been thinking that nothing can be done...and this thought has followed..people keep taking other people's thoughts as examples..and never try to make the real difference !

Maybe tht problem lies in the habit of resorting on someone ,like their parents,economically .My classmates around me ,above to go to work,are working hard,especially those who come from countryside,having no one to count on,except itsself.i am one of them,although i can feel the scial pressure,i have geougous expectation and beautiful dream to my future and keen intiative to fight for it,^_^

I don't think most teens are like this, but a lot are. Their lack of seeing what is in store for them in the future is pathetic. I'm 16 right now and already have a lot of my life planned out. I get good grades, going to go to college, and plan on staying active and healthy the rest of my life. When I talk to people like your talking about they usually get jealous or think I'm stupid, and I've come to learn that it's not worth trying to change them. By the way, I started my new lifestyle at the beginning of the 2007 school year. Before then I wasn't very concerned about my future. I think you should give your daughter a little more time to grow up, but if things still go bad for a while longer she may need some type of help so she doesn't end up living in your basement after she's 20.

i think the comfortable circumstances they are in since birth leads to this not so good result.yeah,many young people are very passive and not so much aggresive towards life. i think they need difficulties to make them more enlighted and maturer than they originslly did. they need to experience the hard of life.

I do not want to say laziness, although that is a lot of it, I will say complete lack of motivation. They do not see the point. Things are a lot different. A lot of people are not motivated because they probably think that their life is worthless. It is not, but they believe it. They see all of the problems in the world and they do not see their worth.

it is really true. amny young adults and teens just take life so easy. they do not think tehy ahve to work hard to earn more. what they have done as you mentioned is shame. they should have secured financially bfore settling down.

Yes I think so too. It will come around again hopefully. I have high hopes for our youth of today I will think positive. xxoxoxoxo

Its not really laziness, its the upbringing. There is little purpose of life in education these days. Ever since everyone has aborted religion and morals are left to everyone's own decision making, there is no teaching that life has a spiritual purpose or any such thing. So, after you get bored with the difficulties of life we face and entertainments we are offered you get a sense of purposelessness. Also, deprived people, that is, those with little to look forward to in terms of career or efforts to make money, soon develop this same purposelessness because there appears to be nothing for them in this life. I know its hard to believe when you don't appreciate religion and live in a progressive upbeat economy, but I believe I am right. Think about it.

I noticed that also as one of the young even old behavior. They lack motivation all of a sudden and become more active in sometimes. Those behavior maybe present in every individual but we have different approaches towards that condition. Some may have experience it for long and some other may only show it for awhile. Lack of motivation is a result of being lonely or hiding problem or losing faith in life. We have to be more understanding in those people because if its our turn we might be needing more patience and understanding from them also. I have one sister like that but she become more real and active after that phase so my opinion is we have undergo that stage but we are'nt notice it because we are not that responsible to think about life and about our action.

Hi there! I think the reason for this is because they have no dreams in mind or goals they want to reach someday. People who don't aspire to become anything or something tends to be lazy or lacking initiative and therefore ends up to be irresponsible. Goals are important for everyone. We don't necessarily have to dream big but at least have one. Its what keeps us going. Without them a person might loose direction to what he/she wants to achieve in life in the future and ends up in a wrong destination. Maybe the right thing to do is for parents to help their children in their early years to set goals for themselves. Help them to recognize their dreams and goals and shape them to be responsible enough to achieve them in the future. Ciao!