Respect

I was watching a police programme on tele the other night and children as young as 6 years old were effin and blinding at the police when they stopped to talk them as they were causing criminal damage.
I see the children round here with no respect to anyone or anyones property. When I worked in a school the children including the new ones starting had no repect for the teachers.
What went Wrong?
When I was young if you saw a policeman coming you would always be respectful as they always held that little bit of fear to you. Not in the way you wouldn't go for them for help if you got lost, but you never wanted to be on the wrong side of them as they would give you a good clip round the ear and tell your parents and then God help you as you would get another from your parents and be grounded. If you cheeked the man down the road or he saw you misbehaving he would clip you round the ear, even if he did not know you. You learn't to always respect your elders as nothing else would be tolerated at home or in society.
I think its because then along come the do gooders who said nobody must lay a hand on children as it would turn them violent, the cane must be abolished and teachers and police must not lay a hand on children. Children being very bright soon learn't that nobody could touch them so they could get away with stuff, so that generation grew up knowing their elders could do nothing so got a slightly more don't care attitude. Then of course they had children and so on and everygeneration had more and more rights as children and parents became more and more under scrutiny not to smack their children and stopped following through threats as there was no back up from anywhere.
None of the kids in my year grew up violent for recieving the cane or being clipped round the ear etc and all seemed to go on to have very good futures and were law abiding.
I look round these days as children yell scream, have tantrums to get their own way, and succeed, and run wild and do as they please when they please and sadly they are now the majority, it seems when I am out and about.
Some parents do follow through their warnings and don't give in and do care about their children learning respect, but its harder for them because the hands of the community are tied in backing up a childs behaviour reprimanding them firmly when they are out away from their parents.
I just look round at things now compared to what they used to be a feel sorry that many many children are losing out on learning that basic lesson of respect, which actually helps you form into a well rounded person that can really get on in life.
They just don't get to learn that in life you can't have just anything in life without making an effort for it and if you can't have respect for others or yourself without earning repect from others first.
I wonder what things will be like in another 50 years time if things keep going this way, when they have changed so much in the last 50years.

It`s kids being brought up by kids who were brought up by kids. It`s generations of neglect. I`ve lived on estates (and I know this isn`t confined to estates) where 5 generations haven`t worked and it is normal to get a council house by getting pregnant - it`s what you did to get your start.

It`s the `loadsamoney` parents who were brought up by the `Me` generation, convinced that they are the top of the pile and prepared to step on anyone else to stay there.

And on the other hand are those parents who struggle to bring their children up with values and ambitions.
I`m finding the gap between the two wider and wider these days.

The word "respect" no longer has any meaning to a large part of society.

Don`t you "dis" me! starts at home, then goes into schools, then tumbles into society.

Parents don` teach it, teachers cant teach it, so its inevitable we get a society that has no concept of it.

....and judging by the absolutely terrible behaviour of young children that I see all the time, it isn't going to get much better either.

I can only see things getting worse in society unless there is a turnaround at some point soon

I also grew up respecting my elders, being mannerly and having a healthy respect for the police (so much so I wanted to join when I was old enough).

My son goes to a nursery where most of the children do say please and thank you, are polite and are nice to each other. They are taught to respect one another and to be polite to their elders, as well as doing as they are told (or should that be asked?!). I am fortunate to live in the countryside, and my son and stepson go to a village school 10 miles away in a relatively affluent area (East Lothian) and so we see less of the problems that are common in large towns and cities.

The only answer as I see it is for a return to some of the old-fashioned values, which would also mean a return to discipline in the young and tougher sentences for those on the wrong side of the Law.

I wonder if it is all that tolerance, free speech and freedom we have here that has led us to this situation?

Well we had all the above when I was a child, and we managed to teach respect.

Really, the world was just as tolerant in your childhood as it is now?

There was no prejudice against unmarried mothers, homosexuals, other ethnic groups?????????????????

We had free speech, freedom and an element of tolerance (I will give you that) in my childhood.

We have never lived in a era that is less respectful of others, even if in gone by times prejudice was around towards elements of society.

There does seem to be regional differences too.

I lived in a town before and despaired at the behaviour of a lot of the kids I saw.

Here, kids are far more respectful. They say 'thank you' if you move the dog aside for them to pass, they even say 'hello' and smile.

They stand up for older people on buses and even in places like Mcd's they are well behaved.

It goes downhill during the six weeks holidays when holidaymakers hit town, but it's so refreshing the rest of the time to see kids actually behaving as we used to when we were younger - ie having respect for elders and authority figures.