Well Behaved Teenagers

Take a look at the  KSL news headline from today:  Studies indicate today's teens are better behaved than parents. 

Here's a tiny bit of that report:

"FORT MYERS, Fla. — New studies say teenagers are behaving better than their parents did: Fewer are drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having sex than their parents were 30 years ago.

Florida mother Deby Emmers remembers her days in the ‘80s pretty clearly and speaks about it to her daughter as an open book. "We were all doing drugs, we were all crazy," she said.

Studies say at least 60 percent of teens were doing the same thing in 1980. Today, the number of high school students who have tried marijuana has dropped to 45.5 percent, and the declines run across the board."

The first thought to pop in my head after reading this article was "Better than MY generation?  Yeah, right.  The 80's were awesome!  Well, okay... Not for hair styles, but as a whole I would give the 80's a big thumbs up!"

Three seconds later I snapped back to reality and I smiled.  Of course there has been a decline in doing stupid things like "drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having sex than their parents"!  Who do they think raised these kids?  I come from a long line of parenting where being completely honest about "taboo" topics was frowned upon. 

My theory is that in the 50's, the attitude was "Ignorance is Bliss" so no one talked about feelings or touchy subjects.  Then, thanks to that big time parenting FAIL, we got the 60's and the 70's where the children of the Ignorance generation went nuts. 

In my opinion, the general attitude of "Make Love not War" that took hold in the 70's, along with "sex, drugs & free love" was embraced because so many kids had never been taught or seen for themselves the honest effects of living that spritually & physically dangerous lifestyle.

As a whole, I think most of us who were teenagers throughout the times of big hair, parachute pants, mullets and INXS, decided to learn a thing or two from the previous generation.  I believe good parenting is when we teach our children by talking to them about those previously taboo topics. 

My generation knows that information is power, so now we teaching safe sex at school and have the D.A.R.E program.  I believe a big reason many of us have good kids, is because we, as parents have figured out we need to feed not only the mind and body but the spirit of our children as well.

I have four children who are far from perfect but that is because they have less than perfect parents. I freely admit that a few times each week of the year, I feel that teenagers just might be the death of me. Parenting can be extremely tough at times but most things in life, that bring us the greatest joy are acquired through blood, sweat and tears. The love and happiness of being a mother far out weighs the hard times.

Teenagers of the World, who behave better than your parents did at your age: YOU'RE WELCOME.  Parents of well behaved teens: WELL DONE.

Take a look at the  KSL news headline from today:  Studies indicate today's teens are better behaved than parents. 

Here's a tiny bit of that report:

"FORT MYERS, Fla. — New studies say teenagers are behaving better than their parents did: Fewer are drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having sex than their parents were 30 years ago.

Florida mother Deby Emmers remembers her days in the ‘80s pretty clearly and speaks about it to her daughter as an open book. "We were all doing drugs, we were all crazy," she said.

Studies say at least 60 percent of teens were doing the same thing in 1980. Today, the number of high school students who have tried marijuana has dropped to 45.5 percent, and the declines run across the board."

The first thought to pop in my head after reading this article was "Better than MY generation?  Yeah, right.  The 80's were awesome!  Well, okay... Not for hair styles, but as a whole I would give the 80's a big thumbs up!"

Three seconds later I snapped back to reality and I smiled.  Of course there has been a decline in doing stupid things like "drinking, smoking, doing drugs and having sex than their parents"!  Who do they think raised these kids?  I come from a long line of parenting where being completely honest about "taboo" topics was frowned upon. 

My theory is that in the 50's, the attitude was "Ignorance is Bliss" so no one talked about feelings or touchy subjects.  Then, thanks to that big time parenting FAIL, we got the 60's and the 70's where the children of the Ignorance generation went nuts. 

In my opinion, the general attitude of "Make Love not War" that took hold in the 70's, along with "sex, drugs & free love" was embraced because so many kids had never been taught or seen for themselves the honest effects of living that spritually & physically dangerous lifestyle.

As a whole, I think most of us who were teenagers throughout the times of big hair, parachute pants, mullets and INXS, decided to learn a thing or two from the previous generation.  I believe good parenting is when we teach our children by talking to them about those previously taboo topics. 

My generation knows that information is power, so now we teaching safe sex at school and have the D.A.R.E program.  I believe a big reason many of us have good kids, is because we, as parents have figured out we need to feed not only the mind and body but the spirit of our children as well.

I have four children who are far from perfect but that is because they have less than perfect parents. I freely admit that a few times each week of the year, I feel that teenagers just might be the death of me. Parenting can be extremely tough at times but most things in life, that bring us the greatest joy are acquired through blood, sweat and tears. The love and happiness of being a mother far out weighs the hard times.

Teenagers of the World, who behave better than your parents did at your age: YOU'RE WELCOME.  Parents of well behaved teens: WELL DONE.