Author Topic: Teens vs. Adults  (Read 2068 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

zi_fairy

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 444
Teens vs. Adults
« on: January 14, 2007, 07:11:30 AM »
I witnessed a very...interesting situation last night as I was leaving Wal-Mart. I was heading towards the exit when two teenage girls (they looked to be about thirteen or fourteen) come running through the entrance, laughing their heads off and looking behind them. Seconds later, a teenage boy about the same age comes strolling in, smirking, but all the while looking over his shoulder at an SUV parked right by the curb near the doors. As I'm passing by the boy, I notice the passenger window of the SUV being rolled down and the driver (a woman), looking very upset, calls out to the boy, "Please use the crosswalk next time!" And what does the boy do?

Yells to her, "F**king b***h!"

 :o :o :o

As if that wasn't bad or shocking, the woman's passenger (whom I assumed to be her husband), flips off the boy and yells back, "F**k you!"

More  :o :o :o

And, while this is happening, I'm thinking that although the boy should've handled and presented himself better but probably doesn't know how or wants to, I would have expected better from the man. I feel that most of the youth I encounter need to learn how to deal and respond to social situations by watching the adults around them. I just cringe whenever I hear kids using foul language. :(

SunkissableOne

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 808
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2007, 09:21:30 AM »
I agree with you...it's totally appalling to hear people swearing.  Seriously, it doesn't help with your point.  If anything...it makes you look like an idiot.  The kid had NO right to say that and as for the adult...well he's the adult and he should act like one.  Swearing back only took him down to the kids level.

emeraldsage85

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1585
  • Proud auntie of Owen!
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2007, 09:33:15 AM »
I'd have to say that they were both rude. But that goes double for the adult who should know better than to retaliate like that.

Venus193

  • Super Hero!
  • ****
  • Posts: 14718
  • Backstage passes are wonderful things!
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #3 on: January 14, 2007, 09:41:42 AM »
The biggest problem in all that is that parents like those are the ones who are most likely to complain when their own kids mouth off like that.  Whenever I see parents using profanity in front of small children I always give them the Miss Manners Glare of Death.

Chartreuse

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 979
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #4 on: January 14, 2007, 09:58:06 AM »
Nobody in that yelling match is going to win the etiquette or maturity trophy.  Of course, the adults yelling back really should have known better, and just because somebody else yelled it first doesn't make it right for them to do it back. 
Tact: The ability to tell some one to go to hell in such a way that he looks forward to the trip.

zi_fairy

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 444
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #5 on: January 14, 2007, 10:15:40 AM »
The biggest problem in all that is that parents like those are the ones who are most likely to complain when their own kids mouth off like that.  Whenever I see parents using profanity in front of small children I always give them the Miss Manners Glare of Death.

I know exactly what you mean! My SIL swears non-stop in front of her kids, but when they "accidentally" swear to vent their frustrations she gripes and moans that she doesn't know where they get it from!  ::) I have to try really hard not laugh when she does this.

On the other hand, from my own personal experience, I've learned to watch how I act and what I say around my kids. For instance, if they see me snap at dh or even them, they're more likely to talk harshly to one another. It's all about being an example.

Chivewarrior

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1525
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #6 on: January 14, 2007, 10:49:19 AM »
The biggest problem in all that is that parents like those are the ones who are most likely to complain when their own kids mouth off like that.  Whenever I see parents using profanity in front of small children I always give them the Miss Manners Glare of Death.

I know exactly what you mean! My SIL swears non-stop in front of her kids, but when they "accidentally" swear to vent their frustrations she gripes and moans that she doesn't know where they get it from!  ::) I have to try really hard not laugh when she does this.

On the other hand, from my own personal experience, I've learned to watch how I act and what I say around my kids. For instance, if they see me snap at dh or even them, they're more likely to talk harshly to one another. It's all about being an example.
My aunt needs to learn this, or Baby Cousin is going to end up cursing. I don't think she's curbed her language in front of him at all... actually, I think the first, last, and only time I swore in front of my parents, I tried to justify myself by saying "But Auntie says it!"

That occasioned a stern talk with Auntie, but she resumed the habit as soon as my sister and I were old enough to know better. I wonder what Baby Cousin is going to wind up talking like. I used to tease her that he was going to have a mouth just like her...

Venus193

  • Super Hero!
  • ****
  • Posts: 14718
  • Backstage passes are wonderful things!
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #7 on: January 14, 2007, 11:10:15 AM »
I have a friend with a child who is almost 9, so we all are very careful around him.  I certainly don't want to see him start swearing in addition to the scatology.

Clara Bow

  • Super Hero!
  • ****
  • Posts: 18183
  • I gotta go.
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #8 on: January 14, 2007, 11:23:04 AM »
*thinking about what my father would have done to me if I had called my mother a f-ing b in his prescence, shivering in fear*
If that had been my child, the whole little gang would have been ordered back into the car and taken directly home. And Mr. Mouth would be living on house arrest doing extra chores for quite some time to come....
Yelling swearwords in public is unacceptable, period. I can give the teen a small pass, he was probably showing off (and should have been swiftly dealt with). The adult? Well, the word "adult" should say it all.....you should know better.
I have finally found the bar I can't get thrown out of....

Suze

  • I live in the real world. I play in the Middle Ages.
  • Super Hero!
  • ****
  • Posts: 9249
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #9 on: January 14, 2007, 07:51:39 PM »
my head would still be spinning on my neck it I had said something like that.

Not to mention the grounding and taking away all privlages.
Reality is for people who lack Imagination

jfulle5

  • Guest
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #10 on: January 14, 2007, 10:24:55 PM »
you were at walmart, you can see anything there

Lisbeth

  • I am a rock, I am an island
  • A Pillar of the Forum
  • *****
  • Posts: 29353
  • a/k/a KeenReader
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2007, 02:00:42 PM »
They were both rude, but I think the boy was rude more out of immaturity, while the man was rude out of annoyance with the boy's response to his wife/driver.

Nobody wins here.
I'm away from sanity right now...please leave a message after the beep.
NYC

minnaloushe

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 391
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #12 on: January 15, 2007, 05:45:57 PM »
I witnessed a very...interesting situation last night as I was leaving Wal-Mart. I was heading towards the exit when two teenage girls (they looked to be about thirteen or fourteen) come running through the entrance, laughing their heads off and looking behind them. Seconds later, a teenage boy about the same age comes strolling in, smirking, but all the while looking over his shoulder at an SUV parked right by the curb near the doors. As I'm passing by the boy, I notice the passenger window of the SUV being rolled down and the driver (a woman), looking very upset, calls out to the boy, "Please use the crosswalk next time!" And what does the boy do?

Yells to her, "F**king b***h!"

 :o :o :o

As if that wasn't bad or shocking, the woman's passenger (whom I assumed to be her husband), flips off the boy and yells back, "F**k you!"

I hate this.  Kid just about gets himself killed while jaywalking in the dark and then curses at the person who tried NOT to kill him. I'm sure the person that finally hits this kid as he's jaywalking will think up all sorts of fun new names for him instead.  Like Pancake! Stupid Smear! Darwin Award Winner!
"The Moving Finger writes, and having writ, Moves on; nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line" -Omar Khayyám

zi_fairy

  • Member
  • **
  • Posts: 444
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #13 on: January 15, 2007, 06:54:50 PM »
I hate this.  Kid just about gets himself killed while jaywalking in the dark and then curses at the person who tried NOT to kill him. I'm sure the person that finally hits this kid as he's jaywalking will think up all sorts of fun new names for him instead.  Like Pancake! Stupid Smear! Darwin Award Winner![/quote]

Why do kids think they're invincible anyhow? I can't tell you how many times I've had to slam on my brakes in some parking lot or near a school because some kid thinks it's "funny" to pretend to jump out in front of my car! One time, I was driving by a middle school and some kid in a group saw me coming and jumped right in front of me! :o I slammed on my brakes, put the car and park, then jumped out of the car to chew out the lil' snot. He was so embarrassed, he started to cry. In front of his friends, too. I felt so bad about making him cry, but I think he and his friends won't be doing that again anytime too soon. Why would they want to put themselves in such danger and potentially break the hearts of their parents?

kkl123

  • Hero Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 1712
Re: Teens vs. Adults
« Reply #14 on: January 15, 2007, 07:15:35 PM »

Why do kids think they're invincible anyhow? I can't tell you how many times I've had to slam on my brakes in some parking lot or near a school because some kid thinks it's "funny" to pretend to jump out in front of my car! One time, I was driving by a middle school and some kid in a group saw me coming and jumped right in front of me! :o I slammed on my brakes, put the car and park, then jumped out of the car to chew out the lil' snot. He was so embarrassed, he started to cry. In front of his friends, too. I felt so bad about making him cry, but I think he and his friends won't be doing that again anytime too soon. Why would they want to put themselves in such danger and potentially break the hearts of their parents?

The answer to your question appears to be adolescent brain chemistry.  The region of the brain that inhibits risky behavior generally doesn't fully develop before 25.  And having peers around seems to further egg on risky behavior, even when the peers aren't cheering the kid on.

http://silverchips.mbhs.edu/inside.php?sid=4906