Has todays society gotten weak or what? I know that I am not old by any means only 24, but what has happened to todays youth. They have to be by far the weakest we have produced yet. What am I getting at...guns. Kids today don't do anything without them. Even when I grew up guns were not even an option. Now thats all they fight with. How does pulling one prove anything, other than you are a coward. If you have to fight, fine, but at least do it man to man. Guns are so cowardly. Stand up for what you believe, even if you loose so what, you made your point AND you BOTH get to walk away alive. Respect is about standing up for what you believe in, thats how you earn it and even prove it. I am not old fashioned and I don't back down from my beliefs or insults to my family, wife or child. I do get into quite a few fights because of this, but both of us have walked away alive. Alot of the people I have fought have now become friends for the simple fact we both stood strong for our beliefs. Have I lost...yes got whooped good twice, but even now we respect each other enough to allow some space between us if we can't get along. Yeah I hurt the next day, I am sure he does too, but again we are both alive. Thats all I am hopping off my soap box now. Ya'll have a nice week.

CJ

 

I think it is more of a domino effect than a weaker society. Today's kids have to fear being shot or beaten by 9 kids to 1 because of all of the idiots in todays society.
For example the "cool" kid in school engages in an argument with a more reserved kid, they beging to engage in some pushing or whatever, now the reserved kid who doesn't have his "boys" to back him up is in a serious situation. Because the idiot "cool" kid and his idiot "boys" are now going to simultaniously kick his ****. This to me is a good example of why someone would choose to fight with a gun, because fights aren't fair anymore. The "cool" kid didn't have to do a darn thing and he's going to get a lot of praise for kicking the other kids butt, cus 9 of his friends just did it for him, while the other kid will be subjected to more ridicule than before. Not to say i condone the carrying of guns, because i really don't unless they are used responsibly which in most cases they are not. This situation wouldn't even be in my opinion a responsible use of a gun, but it's an example of a reason someoen might choose to use one, it's the best example i could think of a domino effect. The fact is in todays society people dont think for themselves and there are too many "followers". This again is just my opinion and everyone in America is entitled to that, and I'm respectful of everyone's, as long as it's theres and not someone elses as it seems a lot of people's are. Perhaps my credibility will be hurt by posting my age, but i'm 17 and have seen firsthand someone being beat by about 15:3, i chose not to get involved because i don't fight fights for people unless i know all the facts and can judge for myself that i'm doing the morally right thing. But needless to say one of the kids couldn't see for a few days or remember his name for about an hour after that. Looking back perhaps i should have done more, but i felt by staying out of it i was doing the smartest thing. He's fine now but it really was a shame to see.

 

No - I think the issue is what were they fighting over? Meaning, 95% of all fights are about small stuff. When you got your butt kicked was it really over something worth fighting over?

I would argue that todays kids are thin skinned and don't have anything that is really important (in the scheme of things) to make a stand on. So they fight over trivial stuff and use serious equipment in the process.

There is always somebody ready to blow and go to try and show how tuff they are. Well, I can beat my head against the well to and what does it proof? That I bleed and the wall really doesn't care. :-X11

 

I'd have to agree that the gun thing is all about being out numbered. When I was in elementary and junior high I got into fights all the time. I was lucky enough to be the victor about 3/4 of the time, but towards the end of my junior high years I started finding myself in fights with gang members and the like. After I was out of there and into high school, I stopped picking fights with people because the last fight I was in I got my butt kicked and was told by the guys friends that if I tried anything I might find myself dead. A couple of months ago a buddy of mine was told third hand about this party in the next town. He went to it and it turned out to be a trap and about 10-15 guys kicked his butt. Their reason: he had both flicked a cigarette onto this one guy's lawn, and hit on his girlfriend, whom he did not know was with this dude. About 3 weeks ago some buddies of mine were at a party on mercer island when they found themselves surrounded and out numbered by about 40:5. It turned out that the 40 guys thought my buddies were someone else, and it was all cool after that ( the whole lot of 'em even went out drinking together after that), but it was still scary to know that ratios of 5:1 and even 10:1 are considered the norm nowadays. As a precaution, on friday and saturday nights when we all go into town, we generally keep an AK, SKS, or shotgun behind the seat. We've never pulled it out, and when things get a little bit scary, we usually leave, but it's nice knowing you've got a gun of your own for when that one wacko comes out of the party with 40 guys and even a gun of their own.

The Law

 

Ok guys, I'll weigh in here and disagree with what all have said, atleast partially. Fights between boys have always been. Fights between one bully and his cadre and the reserved kid have always gone on. And they have almost ALWAYS been over the small stuff. Milk money, trading cards, stuff like that. Today, the milk money is a Gameboy and the trading cards are sneakers. But comparitively, it's still small stuff.
The problem with guns now is that our society has cheapened life to the point where using a gun to kill no longer is a shock to anyone. Time was when someone brought a gun to show his friends it created surprise, credulity, nervousness, worry, and made his friends scrared. Now, kids are overjoyed at seeing a gun. Cool! Let's go shoot something. Our society now kills it's unborn and it's infirmed as a matter of convenience and in the name of compassion. Life is cheap. Respect and responsibilty are novelties. Just look at the way youth today treat each other. We have bred a generation of poor little rich kids with more time and money than sense. We have kids having kids because they want someone to give them the unconditional love that a parent and child are SUPPOSED to share but whose parents are too wrapped up in their own thing to notice, if they have perents at all. Sex is not something that two people in love share, it's just another way to feel good and as we were told in the 60's and 70's, it if feels good, do it.
Don't give me the "gun control" schpeel.... I don't want to hear it. I don't for a minute believe that guns are any more readily available now than they were 60 years ago. In fact, we have 20,000 gun control laws in this country and guns are easier to get now??? Our country was born using guns. We used them to break free from tyranny and to survive. We used them to create a country of laws. But then, we started to breed apathy. Life is cheap. Guns are now an option where once it was fists. They weren't always.

We have become a country of rights without responsibilities and respect. Used to be, "I don't like you, I'm going to beat you up." Now its "I don't like you, I'm going to shoot you."

 

Many have brought up good points, and I'll be the first to admit their are many causes to my aforementioned "domino effect". But, despite the fact it appears society is weaker because of more obesity, and more money and more time at home etc. etc... I don't think it is a society of weaker people but rather, one without a common cause, something to unite them. I believe that there are more cultural seperations now then before, although we are trying to overcome prejudices we have in a way caused more i believe. I do feel as if we are a stronger country in that regardless of how it seems, people are getting smarter but they lack a push to put it to use and we finally seem to have a country where free speach is allowed, so long as it doesn't involve race or sexuality.....But a conversation that is way right field is allowed (as odd as that seems). But anything that used to be taboo is now supposed to be accepted and not complained about.... I'm not prejudice but i feel as if society as a hole still has problems with it and i believe always will because it isn't discussed. If there's one thing in my life i've realized it is that talking things out and being open minded cure more problems than guns, fists, or bombs.......But people don't accept the open minded part........especially one's in power.

I appologize for rambling and kinda changing subjects in the middle....

Sincerely, TruckFreak a.k.a. Josh

 

I'd like to put in my 2 cents. I think we as a society are desensitized to violence by movies and video games. It is showing up in the younger generation. Also, I don't think the kids and guns thing is as bad as the media wants us to think it is. Remember that most media are anti-gun and they never miss a chance to show them in a bad way. FBI statistics show that these crimes are down. They also show that the places that have the strictest laws have the worst crime. In Texas and 30 other states we have shall-issue concealed carry. In every state, that passed this law, crime has dropped. More and more people are taking personal security into their own hands because they feel threatened. They know if they dial 911, the cops can't get there fast enough to help them. That is not to slam the cops, they are doing the best they can with limited money. Our country is blessed with some really good young people but we never hear about the good ones. We need to support those youth programs and encourage the good kids. Get involved in the local Scout programs and such.

 

I'm proud to say that my parents, uncles and aunts were all part of "The Greatest Generation", 1930-1945.
Today, we're lazy, spoiled and selfish.
It's downhill from here fellas!!!

 

My opinion (or rant)......
I think there are a lot of things that contribute to some of todays youths being the way they are, but I believe there are a lot more descent respectful kids than bad, and a lot of it has to do with their up bringing.

Parents who will stand there and smile while their 4 year old kicks them and curses them out in public! I'm not saying they should give the kid a black eye, but if they don't want to "spank" them they should at the very least discipline them! I'd hate to cross paths with that kid ten years from now! No discipline at a young age = no discipline or respect when older. Learned behaviors aren't easily changed later. Some of this I blame on the "I'm never going to spank or raise my voice to my child" parenting skills, and some on lawyers and agencies who try to get involved for those who do.

TV, Computer, and video game babysitters. Ever notice how many kids your neighborhood really has when the electricity goes out?

I totally agree that some of todays youths are desensitized to violence. like the above post mentioned, it's all around them in games, video games, movies, and TV shows. I suppose it could be harmful to completely shelter your kids from the real world, but if they are not monitored at all........

Schools used to be all about getting a good education (or so I thought). Money and policies seem to get in the way of that nowadays. A straight "A" honor roll student can be held back a grade for not having a doctor's note everytime they are sick, or because they were rewarded with a family vacation for working hard. Why? Because the school gets X amount of dollars for each student who is there X amount of days. Then there's the budget cuts that eliminate the shops and "hands on" classes. I was talking to a high school student the other day. He said he was into cars, but he did not know that you could take an engine out of one car, and put it in another????? O.k, maybe that's not common sense or knowledge.

Then there are the things that make life a little too easy. You are allowed to use a calculator in math class?? Automatic "change giving" cash registers?? This is why buying gas the other day, I handed the kid a $50.00 bill, he scratched his head, handed back a wad of bills and asked me to "take out my change".:-X23

As far as the shootings go, guns are not the culprit, and gun control is not the answer! I think some of the culprits are drugs, ignorance, lack of respect, stupidity, and mental health problems.

In the words of Dennis Miller... "That's just my opinion, of course I could be wrong".
With all that kids today are up against, I think there are many that turned out well thanks to good involved parents and role models.