I must have had more common sense as a young child than I ever realized—because I never had the nerve to talk back to my parents nor display the kind of reckless, disrespectful and disobedient behavior many young people do today. Call it chicken. Call it fearing for my life. Call it unadulterated respect. The point is—I, like so many other kids from my era would have had to be crazy, out of our minds, to think we could have gotten away with anything as remotely as this. Being raised in a very small, intimate community where everyone knew everyone—standards were high, expectations were clear and regardless of our age or mindset, we were expected to extend the same level of courtesy and respect to each and every adult at all times. That’s the way we were taught. That’s the way it was done.

Today—parents, educators, counselors, spiritual leaders and many other concerned adults have become genuinely perplexed by the improper behavior of some teenagers and young adults. In almost any venue—shopping at the grocery store, attending church service, waiting at the bus stop, school events, business offices, community meetings—the major topic of discussion is more likely, than not, centered around this unexplainable, disturbing issue. And everyone is asking the same questions……….

“What’s wrong with this generation?”

“Why do they appear so bored and uninterested?

“What can we do to inspire and motivate them?”

“What happened to common courtesy and respect?”

Yes, these are the most commonly asked questions amongst a diverse population of adults who interact with teenagers and young adults on a regular basis. However, no one seems to have that magical answer. Everyone is scurrying around trying to figure out what can be done, what should be done, and how will it be done. One thing for sure, something has to be done—quickly and effectively in order to rescue this generation from ignorance and shallow perception. We have to impose upon them the urgency of facing the inappropriateness of their behavior and embrace the need for change—but, most importantly understand the significance of developing self respect, respect for one another, and respect for their elders.

The primary goal of this chapter is to challenge every teenager and young adult to move out of their comfort zone—become open minded and receptive to the information presented and strive for perfection in making the necessary improvements in their lives. In my feverish desire to point out the major behavioral differences of the generations and particularly in my quest to identify when and how the breakdown of values occurred—I’ve elected to respectfully reference some of the childrearing practices and tactics used in my parent’s generation. These facts will serve as a baseline as I objectively point out the obvious—their way worked!

Most of you are probably asking yourself, “Why should I care what childrearing techniques parents used to raise their kids over 40 years ago?” My response to your question: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?”

Stay tuned, you just might learn something.


W a y B a c k W h e n___________________________

When I was growing up, I kid you not, my parents, like so many other parents, had some sort of magical, unexplainable insight of knowing what you were thinking, without you even uttering a word. And, if you had just a brief moment of entertaining a thought of disrespect toward your parents, trust me, you would have been knocked down for the count—and, no sense in trying to get back up because you would have been knocked down again. Parents, back in the day, did not play! But even more important—they did not put up with utter nonsense from their children, like so many parents do today.

Now this is not to say that I am an advocate of parents beating the heck out of their kids, nor am I implying that our parents beat us unmercifully for the smallest mistake. What I am merely trying to point out is that parents of this era raised and disciplined their children aligned with the old adage, “spare the rod; spoil the child”. Their ultimate goal was to save us from ourselves—setting clear, well controlled and well balanced boundaries to ensure that we were properly and appropriately trained in preparation for our upward journey of life.

The main objective of this chapter is to wake up the younger generation into facing the harsh reality and responsibility of their actions. This chapter will reveal some cold hard facts about the unruly, inappropriate, and immature behavior of many teenagers and young adults today.

News Alert: I’m not talking about all of you, so don’t get your feathers all ruffled. There are many teenagers and young adults who are doing all the right things in their daily interaction with people and in their proactive approach to prepare for their future. If you meet this profile, then by all means—take a leadership approach and mentor to your peers. Set the tone, walk the walk, and talk the talk. The ideal way you can make a difference is by helping your peers make a difference—observe their behavior, make an assessment and offer your help in the areas that they need to improve.

Unlike the other chapters in this book, you will not find a lot of warm and fuzzy, sugar on top, kinds of information—I’m shooting straight from the hip and telling you like it T.I.S. The overall intent of this chapter is to strongly and emphatically point out the need for this generation to read the truth and take heed to the things they need to know and not so much about what they think they know. It’s about the perception that adults have of you and, how important it is for you to accept maturity, recognize the realization of your behavior and make a conscious decision to change.

If much of what you are about to read applies to you, even though you may not want to accept the truth, do not become offended. Accept it as a constructive analysis of yourself, in an effort to help you to make the necessary changes and adjustments. This is merely a shout out forum to hopefully and effectively communicate to the teenagers and young adults that are missing the mark in how to build a better and brighter future. So, read on and take note of some of those key problem areas that may need immediate resolution.