Parents are Raising Mean Kids

Nearly 80 percent of moms believe kids today are less kind than in past generations, according to a recent PARENTS 2020 Values Survey. So if that is, in fact, the case the question is why?  Perhaps it's because parents are not instilling the kind of values in their children to make them kind-hearted, grateful for the little things, respectful of others, etc. Or maybe it's because the parents raising today's generation of children never learned the true meaning of kindness from their own parents.  Ironically, in this same survey more than half of the moms rate their parenting abilities as either excellent (13 percent) or very good (38 percent), while just 1 percent say their parenting skills are poor or very poor.  Kudos to the one percent because I believe they were telling the truth!

Also noted in the survey was the fact that 65 percent of moms say that kids today are less happier than kids of previous generations and they blame it on technology, social media addiction, bullying and undefined parental issues. But then, the next question is what are parents doing about that?  How do you blame technology for your child's unhappiness if you're not spending any quality time with them?  Have any ground rules or limitations been established for social media time?  When it comes to my grandson, he knows his phone will be taken away at any given moment (for at least 24 hours) should be choose to misbehave or not get his schoolwork done.  As far as bullying goes, Bullying experts say kids who go out of their way to intimidate others are often neglected by their parents in the home so they lash out to get attention or, even worse, they learn first-hand what it means to be a bully from a parent who also has that reputation.  

Moms were asked to select the top three qualities they most hope to instill in their children:

1. Kindness (73 percent)

2. Love of family (68 percent)

3. Intelligence (51 percent)

4. Strong work ethic (51 percent)

5. Individuality (31 percent)

When those moms were asked what THEIR parents valued most for them, this is how they responded:

1. Having a family of my own (64 percent)

2. Having close family ties (63 percent)

3. Being better off financially than they were (57 percent)

4. Getting a college degree (49 percent)

I might point out that "kindness" isn't on the moms' list of values from their parents so that may explain a whole lot.  You can't teach what you've never learned.