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ive got a much younger sister (12yrs younger and just graduating from highschool this week) and the things Ive noticed that have lead to the "decline" of society stems from a multitude of sources. Decline in quotes because its not necessarily a decline, but more of a radical shift. Ive also got young nieces, and see how they are parented differently depending on the parents.
discipline as I knew it, is a thing of the past. Its no longer socially acceptable to spank, and even in some cases ground/timeout/etc. Parents are ridiculed from their peers. Ive seen this first hand with my young nieces at parties/play dates/events/etc. You spank a kid, and everyone immediately condemns you. You put them in timeout, and you can see the other parents talking about you. This leads to a less disciplined and respectful individual if other meas of discipline are not used. Add in that when I was young, teachers and other adults were able to step in and at the very least, give a talking to, without fear of parental repercussions, and I knew that i needed to stay in line in order not to get called out. I still misbehaved, but was much more sneaky about it. I have first hand witnessed a parent lay into a teacher because their kid was misbehaving on a field trip and was sent to "timeout"; and guess what, the teacher was ultimately written up by admin to appease the parent.
the "viral" culture is also having a negative influence as well. Seems the majority of society wants to be "instafamous" or at the very least, be known among their peers. Everything is put on social media, everyone is trying to one up everyone, and it leads to a trade off of morals and self discipline for getting that 15 minutes of fame. Also take into account society as a whole is moving towards a possession based society, so you have both parents working to afford the lifestyle, and you have an abundance of teens and young adults that dont get the attention at home, so they seek it out elsewhere. the saying "any publicity is good publicity" applies here. Parents are just as much at fault here as well. How many IG and twitter accounts out there are just parents posting "funny" things their kids do? The majority are the kids doing something wrong, but instead of disciplining, they pull the phone out and post it in hopes of getting a "like". It's rewarding the kid for misbehaving.
Times are changing as well. It is much more socially acceptable to question authority, instead of just falling in line. It is much more socially acceptable for kids to think and do their own thing, instead of following the rules. This isnt a bad thing, but those that grew up following the rules and doing what they were told see it as being disrespectful. For example, Josh Rosen who was recently drafted in the NFL. His college coach came out and said he is the type of guy to ask why instead of just following orders. This, along with some other "millennial" type behaviors, ended up causing him to fall in the draft. There is a time and place for questioning, and a time and place for following the rules. This needs to be taught at an early age, but is something that is most often overlooked.
The way we parent needs to be looked at based on the new norms. In the past, the general consensus was to have your kids fear what would happen if they misbehaved. We need to shift towards a "lead by example" type of parenting. Ultimately, most kids want to make their parents proud, and develop their moral compass from their parents, or parental figures, at a young age. If the parents are respectful and disciplined and INVOLVED, chances are the kids will be as well. I like to think that should i ever have kids, I would strive to be their role model, vs letting some one else.
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