The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for
authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place
of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their
households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They
contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties
at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers
Kids today are pretty awful right? Except that the above quote isn't exactly from today. It's from Socrates, according to Plato.
Or how about this one:
I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on
frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond
words... When I was young, we were taught to be discreet and
respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise
[disrespectful] and impatient of restraint"
That's from Hesiod, in the 8th century BC.
I know, you want something more recent...
"The world is passing through troublous times. The young people of
today think of nothing but themselves. They have no reverence for
parents or old age. They are impatient of all restraint. They talk as
if they knew everything, and what passes for wisdom with us is
foolishness with them. As for the girls, they are forward, immodest
and unladylike in speech, behavior and dress."
That's from a sermon by someone named Peter the Hermit in 1274.
Every generation complains about the next generation, but the previous generation said the same about them. There has been drinking by high school students ever since both alcohol and high school have existed, even in the 40's and 50's. Leave it to Beaver is fiction.
