by Marie Hall

Created on: November 18, 2008   Last Updated: November 19, 2008

"Kids these days", a familiar rant you hear from your parents, teachers, your parent's parents, etc., and now with two teenagers in the house, I catch myself saying it too. Are kids different today? The answer is yes and no. It's like asking if we as a society are different since the industrial revolution? Of course they are different, but not because they have somehow chemically evolved into these different beings, but because they are influenced by what is going on in our society. They are a barometer for where we are emotionally as a society. As adults, we live among this too, but have developed the filters that allow us to discern the information. Unfortunately, for many youths, this filter is non-existent.

Technological advancements, the home computer, the Internet, the cell phone, my space, chat rooms, MTV, You Tube, On-Line music, text messaging, Will and Grace, Two and Half Men, Family Guy, South park, Celebrity magazines and the list goes on and on, have all played a part in shaping the attitudes and behaviors of our teens today. It isn't enough to have friends anymore, now they have "friends with benefits", getting together isn't about meeting up with friends and going to the movies, it's about "hooking up". As early as eleven, teens are not only announcing their sexual affiliations, but are doing it publicly on my space accounts, and in chat rooms on the Internet. It isn't enough to be either a heterosexual, or even a homosexual, but being bi-sexual is all the fad. Both the input and output of information is so available and easily assessable that youths become much more aware of everything earlier in their lives. Talking about sex is as common today as it was to mention the weather. And why wouldn't it be, when some the the longest running television programs make references to it all the time.

With the advent of text messaging, and the use of acronyms like "TTYL", "LOL", "LMAO" - youths can communicate all day long with friends and family without ever having to communicate to them directly. Is it a bad thing? No, as long as they can eventually have a meaningful conversation with these people, and they don't forget how to spell words correctly! But, what it does offer for some teens, is an avenue to express themselves in a way that they may not be inclined to do in person, or even on the telephone. More and more teens are using this device as a way to be "wild" and will photograph themselves or parts of themselves with sexually suggestive expressions

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