Generation Y Less Violent?

Current generation is less violent than previous generation? Really?? Hmmmm...

I read a similar article to the one I am linking to in the March 12th Des Moines Register. Who are they trying to fool? There's still violence.

This is like Tom Brokaw calling the World War II generation the greatest. Although that generation had some good people, Mr. Brokaw's opinion is not to be construed as fact. There were some very terrible things that World War II generation faced. There are terrible things that the current youth are facing. However, I wouldn't call Gen Y the second greatest generation. Maybe Tom Brokaw would.

So, all the violent video games, acceptable drug use/abuse for new fangled ailments like ADHD, the pervaillance of drugs in smaller communities, rave parties, loud boom cars, the total lack of respect for anyone but themselves, and complete disregard to authority makes them less violent?

How about this: Police are more willing to tolerate this generation's reckless (and feckless) behavior because they don't want to deal with them and their attitudes. This generation has gotten away with more crime than my terrible Gen X ever could. We see this Gen Y, or Millennials, as they apparently prefer to be named, talking back to police officers and other citizens on our small towns streets consistently. We speak to the police officers who would prefer not to bother them when they are fighting at the quicky mart down the street because they don't want to deal with them. The police ignore the drug trading that is going on right at the courthouse square and across from the middle school, as if the brown bag that is passed is just filled with peanut butter sandwiches and an apple. This is a generation that feels entitled, and desires to be spoon-fed, lest they have to ever think on their own. And if you force them to think on their own, well, then you're not being fair.

And this: The more we make children nice, obedient robots, the less apt to deal with rebelious issues. Right? Well, instead of finding a cause for a child's inability to focus when we want them to pay attention, let's just drug them. That's what we've done to the Millenials. Approximately 8.8 million children each year are prescribed with stimulant medication to treat ADHD. It's become the miracle pill, or has it? How safe is it? Does it really help the child, or is it just to keep the sanity of the teacher, or parent, who can't deal with certain children? What underlying conditions is such a drug like Ritalin covering, especially for those children misdiagnosed in their early years? How have we in effect doomed these young children for the rest of their lives with the label ADD/ADHD and forcing them to take a pill that in the 70s and 80s would be classified as an illegal drug for kids (remember speed, uppers)? Is the current thought of less violent kids a direct result of the legal drugging up of our children? Is this all a part of the dumbing down of America?

Is this why children in the US are more inclined now more than ever before, to be overweight? Are our children so complacent with ADHD drugs that they don't have the energy or ability to play on their own without some guidance (by teachers or drugs)?

Can ADD/ADHD and other distracting behaviors be overcome without the use of drugs? Yes. And Yes. But that would take some effort on the part of teachers, school administrators and parents. They'd have to take an active interest in our children and truly help them. Work with the environment kids are in to avoid distracting objects, and becoming an example of behavior that is expected of them. That takes brain power and human relations power, that apparently schools don't want to be forced to use.