Saturday, January 30, 2010

The Youth Today - Teen Behavior Today vs Years Ago

Have the youth changed over the past 10 years? I work at a high school and I am troubled by the student population I see everyday. Keep in mind, the school I work at is recognized as being one of the top schools in the state. You would think being one of the top schools means you have the top students. From my experience this is not the case.

As I walk through the halls, I see students with their pants sagging down below their butt, piercings through various part of there face, and hats turned sideways. These kinds of things are not encouraged, but there is not much enforcement of the dress code rules. Another thing that bothers me is the language these kids use. It's pretty much impossible to get through the halls without hearing several bad words coming out of the student's mouths.

It's also quite common to see a couple students making out in the hallway or outside the school. This is one that really bothers me. I and I'm sure other student's don't want to see people making out as we walk to our next class. Again, it's not allowed, yet the students do it anyway.

Another thing that makes me question the intelligence of these students is when they come to school dressed completely inappropriate for the weather. It will be negative 10 degrees outside and there will be tons of kids coming to school without coats. You might even see some kids going outside in just t-shirts. Then there are the kids who come out to the bus in this weather carrying their coat. I really don't understand the logic in that. Why not put your coat on? What is it for?

Now not all students I encounter are bad. There are lots of good students too, but overall I guess I'm just wondering if kids have always been like this or if it is just a change in the times. I was in high school not all that long ago and I don't think the kids were like this.

One thing that makes me wonder is this. I hear kids listening to mainstream rap, stuff that is not very good, and would be considered a bad influence. I look down upon this, but then I remember when I was their age or even older, I was listening to the same kind of music. Same thing goes for the baggy pants. I don't like when I see the kids wearing really baggy pants, but when I remember back, I had really baggy pants when I was their age.

Given these comparisons, I turned out alright. So then I wonder, should these kids be judged on these characteristics? Maybe I'm being to hard on them with my impressions. I mean, when you are in high school, you are just trying to fit in and survive basically. These kids are still young and they have a long way to go. So even though many of the things mentioned above bother me, maybe I need to be a little more understanding and less critical.

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