[OAC_Sparky]

ANTHONYD,Nov 11 2005, 09:06 AM Wrote:Kids today are uneducated and just don't care.[right][snapback]155122[/snapback][/right]

Sorry, I have to slightly disagree. Kids are just as educated and do not care any less than we did when we were kids.

Their method of upbringing is different, mainly because THEIR parents had the luxury of not going to war.

What do we teach our kids now? We complain that our military is a mere shadow of its former self. (Sorry Slimsride and Drivesthebeast, I was in the military myself). It's hard to make a decent living, it's pathetic. But do we do anything about it? No. Can't raise those taxes, but we can send $500Million to Zimbabwe for warlords to squander. Our government is a joke. National pride? What is that? Really?

My grandfather just passed in January, wounded twice in WWII, the second being a German grenade that if it was a foot closer would have killed kim. I had a grandfather and three uncles in the British army, one uncle didn't make it back, and a step-grandfather that was a navigator in the RAF. They told me the stories, and it stuck with me.

Those are the people that taught you to stand up straight, stop dragging your feet, get your elbows off the table and take your hat off inside the house. A whole different set of values.

What stories do we tell our kids? About the smoking pot and nailing Suzy Rottencrotch in high school? If we look at our collective youth, what have we done to show self-sacrifice for the greater good? A major catastophe when I was a kid was not getting that Atari game I wanted. For my Dad growing up in Scotland it was hoping that his city didn't get bombed and that his dad and brothers made it home intact.

Anyways, this has turned into a rant, but my point is this:

Values such as national pride, self-worth and self-reliance are cultivated, not inborn. As much as we'd like to see teachers teach our children these things, we've handcuffed them with political correctness and a tight educational agenda.

Kids are only apathetic because we allow them to be, because we as a society have become too lazy and too self centered to make the effort. We as parents, just like our parents and their parents, are ultimately responsible for teaching these values. So we have to look ourselves in the mirror and ask ourselves, "Are we doing our job?".

My $.02, anyways.