Do you think people are lacking 'class'?

By reading the responses, not only do we lack class as a society - not enough money is invested in our educational system!

It seems every generation says the next spells doom for the earth. As devolving accusations go, soon we will be back to living in caves and bonking women over the head and dragging them back to said cave.

This has been something I’ve been getting angrier over for a while now. I guess I have a 1950s mentality (even though I was born in the 80s). I don’t know about anyone else but the youth of today just freak me out with how entitled they seem (not all, of course, but a pretty large amount) and how they don’t care who they step on to get what they want. I feel like, in no time, Children of the Corn will come to life, except they won’t have machetes they’ll have laptops. But I can’t blame just them as it begins in the home. Considering how easy everything is for us now, I really can’t understand why we can’t make more time for the family? With the birth of the internet, came the death of the “family.”

Not really class but respect and manners. Everyone thinks they deserve respect yet they seem to fail to show people the respect they deserve. There are just too many grumpy, rude, people, always in a rush and act like they are the only person busy, pushing in queues, dumping their rubbish wherever they fancy. I'm always polite and try to be as helpful as I can.

It seems these days, if someone falls over, the majority of the crowd would be stood around with their phones taking photos rather than helping. This could be just me, where I am, I would love to live in a place full of polite, happy people willing to lend a hand.

I think we can be too insular these days, we don't really know our community.

It's because these days children are all taught in school that they're entitled to get what they want. They're not allowed to fail, they're not allowed to excel, they aren't taught manners, and they aren't punished when they're obnoxious or disrespectful to others.

The above paragraph is a result of using schools as the scapegoat for problems that originate AT HOME

Discipline?

This paragraph is a result of the lack of options for discipline we have as teachers. I remember being paddled by my first grade teacher. Now, we can't even touch a kid. If I pull a kid away from a fight, I can loose my job or get sued. Discipline now is just silent lunch, in-school suspension, and out-of-school suspension. The problem is, the students that are constant discipline problems that act the way the OP describes have no consequence AT HOME when they get in trouble at school. The parents behave a certain way, the child feels that is acceptable behavior.

Manners?

Well, we try, but if the child is allowed to use foul language or be disrespectful at home, it won't matter what we teach them at school. We do punish them, get a ear full full from the parents because we're picking on their kid, and the behavior continues. Once again, if it's allowed AT HOME, it doesn't matter that they got ISS or whatever because they are going home to no consequences.

Failing?

They are allowed to fail, I hand out plenty of F grades, BUT students are often still passed on to the next grade when they clearly don't have the knowledge. I can't tell you how many times I get a call from a parent, screaming at me because there's no way their kid could fail, and that I must "have it in" for them since I sent home an F on a report card. What happens on the next report card? The student fails again because it's not addressed AT HOME

Hear! Hear Ebbtime! I work in middle school!!!

JM

Definitely, I went to a restaurant the other day, kids where running around everywhere screaming, & other kids where fighting, the parents of the kids didn't care, then one woman shouts "Oi, there's toddlers in here, if you want to fight, piss off & do it outside"... it would have all been well if she didn't swear as well.

If I ever acted like that as a child I would have been grounded for my entire life! I wouldn't dare act like that, I obey my parents, I'm polite & respectful to everyone, some kids & adults these days just put me at a loss for words at how loud, obnoxious & toxic they are.

I believe we have lost not only class, but civility. And it's a shame, because it doesn't have to be that way. Regardless of technology or velocity of life, we need to treat each other better. Even a simple "please" and "thank you". Not in a sniveling, permission-seeking way, but as acknowledgement of humanity (from one important person to another). Best summed up in the Sanskrit word "Namaste", which has no real equivalent in the West. But it's a great word with a great intention--

"That which is Highest and Finest in me greets that which is Highest and finest in you".

What a world this would be if we would all embrace this concept--Namaste.
--LEWIS

*<3*<3*<3*<3 I absolutely agree. And as a parent of 2 children (23 + 13) I am very aware of how they speak to each other, their friends, and me and I'm constantly reminding them to speak softer, act kinder, be forgiving, etc and that you can not speak to people in real life like you do when you're online or playing a game. Someone will snap and kick your @$$ (might be ME LOL) *<3*<3*<3*<3

I manage an inbound call center and I'm saddened to say that I hear people behaving at their worst so much that it's become our "norm". We used to say that people would say things on the phone that they wouldn't say to our faces but even that's not 100% anymore. They say children are our futures. We need to teach at all levels to not let evil win over good.:flowerforyou: PEACE LOVE AND CHARITY FOR ALL

This may not be popular but I believe much can be attributed to the "special snowflake" attitude that has become the norm in child upbringing over the last 20-25 years.
The idea of participation trophies and not keeping score in games so that everyone is a winner.
I get trying to establish self esteem but I think that has to come from self respect not an artificial atmosphere that is not the reality of life where there are winners and losers,successes and failures.

The whole thing has led IMO to people that can`t understand or cope with the fact that sometimes things go wrong or not as we wish them to.
Now the expectation is that whatever has happened must be made right by someone instantly because that is what is owed.
When that doesn`t happen the reaction is anger,impatience and a need to lash out.

You expressed it much better than I did.

It's because these days children are all taught in school that they're entitled to get what they want. They're not allowed to fail, they're not allowed to excel, they aren't taught manners, and they aren't punished when they're obnoxious or disrespectful to others.

I'm not attacking you, but I hear this quite often and I just have to say that this is not the case with my son and his school. He's always been held accountable for his school work and his behavior, both by his teachers and at home. Not all children are a-holes and not all schools allow them to be.

Oh, I meant it as a generalization. There are definitely exceptions.

I think that largely depends on what you consider "class" to be. From a sociological standpoint, class is a lot of things, but mainly it is an agreed understanding of a set of behaviors/guidelines/etiquette/what have you, that pertain to a certain group of people of perhaps similar socioeconomic levels, backgrounds, regions, etc. It is easy to say that someone "doesn't have class" but what that really translates to is their culture or "class" is different than yours. It's not difficult to feel discomfort when someone reacts in a way that is unexpected or different from how you would.

Sure, there have been plenty of times people have done things I considered to be "rude" or "not classy", but that's really just me viewing their behaviors through my own, specific lens of "class". I think the definitions of class change over time and space, so your experiences may vary where you are. For example, my experiences on the subway in NY and CT were very different than those of me riding on the BART in San Francisco. Were people less "classier"? No, it's just that the agreed upon behaviors and expectations were different. Not bad, just different.