TEENAGERS AND RESPECT

I'm a mother of three teenagers and a high-school teacher. And here's my take on it: I think today's teenagers are more open and candid than we were. They feel very familiar with adults, that they are all the same level with adults and can say almost anything. To adults, this can by very annoying. Also, teens can be quite vulgar in what they choose to talk about, but it's not a calculated vulgarity meant to shock or hurt, but it's only because they think it's normal (after all, they were little kids watching Rickie Lake while mom and dad were busy) and teens can take a lot of raunchiness in stride. But disrespectful? I think that teenagers were very disrespectful in the 1980s! In fact, in some ways we were worse. These kids today aren't any "meaner" than we were.