What is it with the youth of today :(

[Mr Brooksy]

Originally Posted by DJM83

Valid point and you the youth worker not me. But why should i have to change them. I did wrong as a kid, i got belted as did all my mates, we all ended up pretty well off. Maybe im being old fashioned, but im not old. I know the world is different now and im not the expert. But its hard for me to see what you are alluding to as being beneficial.

The bold section is one of the issues right there (not pointing any fingers at you, it's totally a common belief). We as people in our communities somehow assume that we are completely disconnected and not part of any problems. We do our own things, mind our own business etc, because we all live in an individual focused world. But kids/youth etc are effected directly or indirectly by the community they are raised in as a whole (as we all are). No matter how individualistic we are, we effect more than those directly in our personal lives. If you've ever gotten to speak on a deeper level with the 'delinquent' troublesome kids, you'll often hear them say that "no one cares" (add the usual language as needed). They are not just talking about family, relatives etc.

Many of us, if we think really hard about it, have people in our formative years who were either not paid or paid very little to do things that benefit you. Sports coaches, zebra crossing lollipop people (at schools), friends parents, school councellors, canteen volunteers, grounds keepers, the army of community organisations and volunteers that work behind the scenes to allow our childhood to be what it was. Not to mention professionals who directly/indirectly effect us all the time.

The kids that feel like no one cares often 1) don't see what others do for them day after day (common) and or 2) have more negative influences than positive, the file that schools have on some kids with very messy situations that they are aware of would make you sick (at times it's too much even for someone like myself with experience to cope with).

Even something as simple as saying Gday in passing to a group of kids can actually be the only positive experience that a kid/kids will see in a day.

Originally Posted by falcon_bandit

Being young doesnt excuse you from being on drugs, being in a gang & generally disregarding anything thats right. My kids are fine. Why am i supposed to be held responsible for others?

You are correct in saying that kids situations do not excuse what they do. But be careful in assuming what you think is right is what they have grown up thinking's is right. As I mentioned above some kids definition of 'right' or normal can be totally messed up, totally backwards, totally/unbelievably wrong. If they don't have an opposite or right model to compare to, then what do the wider community expect?

You may have done a great job as a parent, fantastic, bravo, good on ya, hats off. You may even be well past the age of raising kids, but you still have so much to offer kids who don't have parents period/good parents/role models etc as good, awesome, extraordinary as you. If you as a good role model don't do anything then those who aren't good will continue to be the driving/informing influence on our communities kids, what do you think logically will more than likely happen?

NB, apologies if I've missed spelling mistakes and sentence structure, I did it all on my phone and I'm exhausted.