I've Noticed...Have You?
The following article was given to me by a concerned community member. It was written by a Centerville, Iowa teen that was featured in the High School Student Times, an insert to the local newspaper there. I must say I was impressed by this teen's insight into the lack of manners we are experiencing in society today. I've noticed this decline in manners and behaviors for quit some time. If you question this article, I would ask that you just observe the children of today or listen to the evening news more carefully.
"De-Evolution of Manners" By AJ Anderson
You are standing in the lobby of a building watching someone walk up to the door holding a bunch of boxes. Would you hold the door for this person, or would you stand and watch? Would your answer still stand true if you were with your friends? The degeneration of manners in my generation is ridiculous and is so much engrained in young people that people no longer expect anyone to have good manners.
Thank you, I'm sorry, you're welcome, please, may I, and simple friendly greetings have become almost completely unused. My generation of kids and teenagers has become manner-less, irresponsible, and down right rude. They will make fun of people for almost any reason, they will cuss and talk inappropriately in front of anyone, they will ignore people or just demand things, they will slam doors in people's faces and they will do illegal acts. Teenagers and young adults of my generation started this trend, but it has been passed down to smaller kids and so on. The jokes smaller kids tell, the things they talk about, the cuss words they say, and the things they do are very inappropriate and make their families look bad.
The cause for this all, I think, comes from three different sources. The first and probably most damaging is video games. They are very entertaining and fun to play, but they should only be viewed by kids of appropriate ages, after the kids learn what is right and wrong.
The second source is movies and TV shows. They have the same amount of violence, cussing, and nudity, but instead of the kids playing the games, they watch real actors play these parts.
Now, this next reason is not intended to make a stab at parents but more to make a general statement. Some parents nowadays are allowing their kids more freedom and not monitoring them as well as they used to. With new forms of media it is hard for parents to really know what their children are always doing. Some parents also allow kids to hang out with their older sibling's friends and other older people, this is never a good mix. The subjects the siblings may talk about should not be heard by smaller kids.
Now, some may say that this is just an issue Centerville has. This is not true. I travel a lot and when other sports teams come here, they are just as rude and disrespectful as we are if not worse.
Therefore, this is a generational issue. Cashiers become shocked and don't know how to respond when I say "Thank you, have a nice day." People are just becoming more and more accepting of how kids act and begin to act like them. The degeneration of manners is like a mass disease that spreads and changes everyone.
This needs to change and soon. The world will be a happier place if people, would smile more, say more good mornings, hold doors for people, thank people and give nice compliments to people. If one person would do one kind thing for someone, that person might do something kind for someone else and so on. (The End)
I appreciate this teen's insight into the what is happening in society today. It is just one of many issues that is eating away at our already weakened society. Hats off to AJ Anderson for noticing and taking the stand to write this article. It is one thing to notice the downfall of another generation but to be part of that generation and notice is quite another thing. Change always begins with just one.
T
