Are Kids Angrier Than Before?

WHAT IS GOING ON?   Last week I posted what happened while I was traveling on a ferry.  I shared how, in the course of an hour, I witnessed three separate incidents of young children behaving badly, disrespectful and down right rude.  I was appalled.  That story is here. After reading that post, a friend of mine emailed me her story.  She witnessed these two events in less than a 24-hour period.  While reading them I kept saying out loud, "No!" and "I can't believe it!"  But it happened.  Just like she saw it and it makes me either want to throw up or cry; in other words, it makes me sick. While at the grocery store yesterday, she noticed two children around five years old who were racing down the aisles pushing those little grocery carts.  One of them lost control, hit an elderly woman with the cart and knocked her down flat.   When she fell, she hit her head on the side of one of the coolers and was bleeding.  Here's the ultimate question:  What did the mother of these two little boys do?  NOTHING!  She did not even apologize to the woman but.....it gets worse. The woman had to be carried out on a stretcher because her fall caused her great pain, along with her wounded head.  Hold on....... it gets even worse! A few aisles later my friend saw the same kids racing down the aisle and this time, they hit an elderly man.  An employee came immediately to the man's rescue, put his hands on the shoulders of the boys and took away their carts.  Finally, we see some action on the mother's part and it ain't pretty. "TAKE YOUR HANDS OFF MY CHILD!" "HOW DARE YOU TOUCH MY CHILD!"  She screamed.  "You have no right to do that!"  Followed by a stream of cursing and her two little angels joined her, screaming and swearing at the store employee. Maintaining his cool he said, "I am only trying to provide safety to my customers.  You seem to be unable or unwilling to do that so somebody needed to step in!"  That took guts! "I demand to see the manager," she continued to scream.  The manager talked to her and backed up his employee's actions.  The woman was so angry that she started throwing all her groceries at the two men, then grabbed her kids and left the store.  Would you like to know what happens to those two boys in about ten years?  I don't think it takes much imagination. 17-year-old abuses grandparents My friend's neighbors have a 17-year-old grandson who has been living with them for the past year.  His parents could no longer handle his major anger issues and he moved in with his grandparents.  They soon realized they were not equipped to handle this boy's anger.  Recently, they asked the police to do a walkthrough of their house as they were terrified to go home. The police assured them that the house was empty and safe.  What they did not know was that the grandson was hiding in a closet during the police check.  When they arrived home, the grandson jumped them as they walked through the door.  He kicked his grandfather in the stomach and knocked him onto the floor.  They both escaped and ran to my friend's house asking her to call 911.  The man's face was bleeding from being kicked while he was lying on the floor.  Now, here is the saddest part.  The grandparents have been to social services, doctors, and the police asking for help.  BUT......they can offer no assistance as the law states that once a 'child' turns sixteen, they are considered adults and the authorities no longer have any jurisdiction in the situation. This raises so many questions and very few answers.  I have my own strong opinions as to how we got here and am convinced that one of the main reasons is the scenarios I cited in my former post.  When a child shows no respect to an adult at a very young age and the parents do nothing to discipline that lack of respect, why should we expect anything different?   When I shared the Spiderman story last month regarding the kids that stole my grandson's backpack with all his toys and camera, many of you agreed with me that those parents were in for a shock when their kids became teenagers.   How ignorant are these parents?  Why are they allowing this to happen?  I know many parents feel guilty about working too much and feel that time with their children needs to be a "happy time" without discipline.   I have heard some say that discipline is a negative experience and they want their children to grow up in a positive environment.  GIVE YOUR HEAD A SHAKE.   And the scariest of all is this.........what about the next generation? On the positive side of this awful problem, there are many parents who raise their children to be respectful, kind and polite.  I am blessed to be surrounded by these parents and hope you are as well. When my kids were very young, a wise woman told me the only thing I have to remember in raising a child is this:  EXAMPLE.  EXAMPLE.  EXAMPLE. Have you seen a change in parenting recently?  Do you agree or disagree that this is a problem?  What, if anything, can we do about it?