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Funny what a couple generations of failure to engage, communicate, enlighten has resulted in. Unsurprising. And not all that funny, either.
Personal responsibility. Parenting. Hard work. Education. The "golden rule." Balance and moderation. What a concept. And if those were foremost in everyone's lives, I'd bet that much of the storm of disconnected insanity would evaporate ... after a couple more generations. If only.
Interesting point steffen... along the same lines of "Guns don't kill people, people kill people."....Quote:
Originally Posted by steffen
"Video games don't make deluded narcissistic people, bad parenting makes deluded narcissistic people."
I would disagree. There are many, many brilliant people in the younger generations and its foolish to make general statements like that.Quote:
Originally Posted by RKflorida
More like, narcissistic people are to blame for themselves and they should be held accountable for their actions, not their parents, not the media. It's a pretty simple concept, but it's hard to put into practice.Quote:
Originally Posted by iguanadon
Well I'll meet you half way on this one... when parents plant their 6 year old kids in front of a TV with handheld video games to act as electronic baby sitters, the kids have no control over that and of course will be thrilled with the visual stimulation. They don't know any better and have no reason to question their parents as to whether it's good for them or not.Quote:
Originally Posted by steffen
Once you reach a certain age, by all means you should be held accountable.
I am not raising deluded narcisissts. I played video games, but also played in the street. The big difference was my parents made sure I knew the difference. Video games are no different IMO than the cops and robbers cowboys and indians shoot em up play games people (myself included) played. It is the reality at home IMO. I see kids everyday that I teach, and I have yet to be surprised by their parents. They are replicas. In some cases it is great and others it is scary. My job is to be a good parent and that will prevent my kids from being worthless nutjobs...pending head trauma which I also may give them if they act a fool!
IMHO, the video games and blood and guts movies of today have no more of an impact on our kids as the shoot-em up cowboy movies of 1930's to the 1960's have on my generation. The problem is the lack of parent supervision and guidance and/or the lack of two parents within the home and the well documented fact that 60% of one groups offspring are being raised by the grandparents and have little or no contact with their parents. This coupled with a completely dysfunctional court system will perpetuate the problems. Births by never wed mothers continues to rise and the majority become a burden on our society.
While I agree that society is producing deluded narcissists, I disagree with the author as to why people have this mentality. He is using the same old beat-the-dead-horse blame TV and video games for the worlds problems.
Look at it this way. You hold the parents and the kids responsible for their own actions. If you can prove that the parents harmed their kids, then take appropriate action against the parents. If you can prove that the kids harmed somebody else, then you take action against the kids.Quote:
Originally Posted by iguanadon
Keep in mind that you can't take action against a crime that hasn't been commited yet, no matter how rational your argument is.
My wife made a point last night that rings true, I believe. FYI, I am 39,and she is 33. We are raising children that have never seen a day that email, cellular service, digital television, etc. were not available. It's in the schools in every classroom. Their friends have access to any and all forms of technology that may or may not be available in our home. Instant messaging, video games that allow users to speak with and interact with anyone around the world in real time, webcams (thankfully allow users to "virtually" speak face to face), etc. No one in my generation, nor the preceding generations, was raised in this type of environment. Her point in this statement was that no one from any other generation can tell the current crop of parents what is correct in raising their children. This ain't your daddy's world.
Even though things have changed, this is where we are. I told my son he has the fortune (and at times, misfortune) of growing up with amazing opportunities in areas we never dreamed of. He has the ability to learn how to do things that my parents and grandparents probably said would never happen in their lifetimes. However, regardless of how different things may be, there is one element that remains in parenting. Raising children in a way that teaches them the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, and the ability to make the right decisions and go down the most productive path.
No one ever said parenting was easy.
Dude, who said anything about a CRIME? I'm talking about raising kids that are able to function at a normal level in society. This conversation has gotten way off track. Never mind.Quote:
Originally Posted by steffen
The problem is that there aren't enough sheriffs to protect our rights from the narcissists who think that they run things by their rules and their "know-what's-best-for-all-especially-me" ideas while the world waits for their cell phone call or text message conversation to end.Quote:
Originally Posted by Doghandler
I'm just saying, people can raise their kids however they want. I'm not going to get involved unless I can prove that they caused harm.Quote:
Originally Posted by iguanadon
2? I count three, starting w/ the Baby Boomers.Quote:
Originally Posted by RKflorida
I'm reminded of Chuck Palahniuk's quote from the movie "Fight Club." “I see in the fight club the strongest and smartest men who've ever lived. I see all this potential, and I see squandering. [Expletive deleted], an entire generation pumping gas, waiting tables, slaves with white collars. Advertising has us chasing cars and clothes, working jobs we hate so we can buy [stuff] we don't need. We're the middle children of the history, man - no purpose or place. We have no Great War, no Great Depression. Our Great War is a spiritual war. Our Great Depression is our lives. We've been all raised by television to believe that one day we'd all be millionaires and movie gods and rock stars, but we won't, and we're slowly learning that fact, and we're very, very [upset].”
(Posted with apologies to the grammarians on the board. It's colloquial spoken English. I've tried to meet standard grammar rules, but the last sentence defeats my efforts.)
FWIW, I don't agree with the "greatest men who've ever lived" sentiment. Greatest opportunity, perhaps.