Is it a generational thing

[yoker brian]

I despair - had to endure a woman bawling, shouting & swearing at her kids...apparently the children were embarrassing her at the bus stop and don't treat her with respect!

Well Hello! Respect works both ways, maybe if you weren't screaming at the top of your voice and swearing in the street, your kids would respect you, and as for being embarrassed, you reap what you sow missus. As an older lady said at the bus stop...people like her shouldnt have kids....I said, maybe its the kids who shouldn't have parents like that.

Next, waiting to board a connecting bus at the bus station, I'm third in line, and this woman in her 60s pushes her way to the front, and shoves one of the 2 teenage girls in front of me out the way, the girls to their credit didn't say anything..I did however politely point out that a)the bus had just pulled in, b) people were still getting off the bus and c) there was a queue of people waiting in front of her, and she should wait her turn like everyone else.

The girls & myself were subjected to a foul mouth tirade, and she accused the girls of having no manners or respect! Again respect works both ways.

Sorry for the rant but there you go.

[BrigitDoon]

You have my sympathy. It sounds rather familiar. The two older ones were once like the kids in the bus stop. They didn't get respect from their parents who were too busy demanding respect because their parents didn't ... etc ... and so on.

That doesn't mean the kids will end up like it, but they might if someone else doesn't teach them manners and give-and-take. They won't be getting it from those who are supposed to teach them. Fair shout to the older woman; I agree with her: some people shouldn't have kids.

[Bridie]

In the words (sort of) of Tim Rice;

From the day we arrive on the planet
And blinking, step into the sun
We pass on the crap of our parents
To our own we annoying cun(?)s
It's the cirrrrrrcle
The shite circle of life

'k you

[RDR]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

[hungryjoe]

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

How true.

[Bridie]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

True.
Manners and politeness should be taught at school -seriously.

[RDR]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

True.
Manners and politeness should be taught at school -seriously.

The school all three of my daughters went to (the youngest one is still there) does teach the above.
However at the end of the day its a waste of time if it isn't supported at home.
It's a minority of families and like I said before it isn't necessarily the sterotypical disadvantaged ones either.

If you want an example of private school louts, then get the Motherwell/Lanark train any week day at about 4 pm going through Central. Watch some of the kids from the High School or Hutchie and then consider if their carry on is any worse than some of the neds.

[Josef]

The school all three of my daughters went to (the youngest one is still there) does teach the above.
However at the end of the day its a waste of time if it isn't supported at home.
It's a minority of families and like I said before it isn't necessarily the sterotypical disadvantaged ones either.

If you want an example of private school louts, then get the Motherwell/Lanark train any week day at about 4 pm going through Central. Watch some of the kids from the High School or Hutchie and then consider if their carry on is any worse than some of the neds.

Absolutely. I used to watch the green, blue or brown-blazered, to-all-intents-and-purposes-bar-parental-income neds shoulder aside frail pensioners every morning. I made sure that they wouldn't do it again in my presence.

The same applies on any commonly-used Underground to the West End, btw. Anyone that tries to shove their way in, past the people getting off, gets the 'Oops', did you catch my elbow? So sorry." treatment.

Which would ordinarily be not nice. But they get told precisely why.

[RDR]

The school all three of my daughters went to (the youngest one is still there) does teach the above.
However at the end of the day its a waste of time if it isn't supported at home.
It's a minority of families and like I said before it isn't necessarily the sterotypical disadvantaged ones either.

If you want an example of private school louts, then get the Motherwell/Lanark train any week day at about 4 pm going through Central. Watch some of the kids from the High School or Hutchie and then consider if their carry on is any worse than some of the neds.

Absolutely. I used to watch the green, blue or brown-blazered, to-all-intents-and-purposes-bar-parental-income neds shoulder aside frail pensioners every morning. I made sure that they wouldn't do it again in my presence.

The same applies on any commonly-used Underground to the West End, btw. Anyone that tries to shove their way in, past the people getting off, gets the 'Oops', did you catch my elbow? So sorry." treatment.

Which would ordinarily be not nice. But they get told precisely why.

Yep. The lassies with there bloody hockey sticks are some of the worst.
Not the first time I've had to pick up some older lady who has had her shins done with one of them.
That's before you even get onto the bags and stuff blocking gangways and seats.

[The Egg Man]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

True.
Manners and politeness should be taught at school -seriously.

It's probably too late by the time they get to school. If kids haven't been shown, by example, how to behave from the moment they open their eyes it's hard to unlearn that sort of stuff.

It's hardly surprising that parents whose sole method of communication between each other, with their neighbours, with officialdom and with anyone else they come into contact with is at 120 decibels and littered with sweary words have a good chance of breeding kids who behave in exactly the same way.

[RDR]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

True.
Manners and politeness should be taught at school -seriously.

It's probably too late by the time they get to school. If kids haven't been shown, by example, how to behave from the moment they open their eyes it's hard to unlearn that sort of stuff.

It's hardly surprising that parents whose sole method of communication between each other, with their neighbours, with officialdom and with anyone else they come into contact with have a good chance of breeding kids who behave in exactly the same way.

I'd agree to a point.
The trouble comes when they become teenagers, with hormones and all that comes with it.
Then they test the boundaries and you have to manage them through it.
That's a parent's job and you take the rough with the smooth and make sacrafices.
When they become adults and get their own lives then it's great and all the hard work and tears and tantrums are worth it.
I'm so proud of my daughters. The two oldest ones whent through difficult times as teenagers, yet are brilliant adults and family night outs are great fun.
The youngest is going through those difficult teenage years, but with patience and support she'll get through it.
Then my job will be done........

[Mori]

I've slaped my childrens ears when they got cheeky to elders or misbehaved... even when they were at the age 21.

They look at you and say what was that for ?

[Josef]

My pair wait till people have finished talking before they start themselves. I'm proud of them. Not just for that, though.

My greatest dislike is "Be quiet! Mummy/Daddy's speaking!". Or (is this WoS-specific, btw?) "Sit Nice!"

I have to seriously restrain myself from slapping them.

[Vinegar Tom]

My pair wait till people have finished talking before they start themselves.

You should be proud of that. I try very hard to enforce that rule (with myself) , but I don't always manage. My Wife and her family usually fail miserably.

[The Egg Man]

You look at some parents and think those kids will have no chance!

Mind you with regard to manners I've seen some very middle class parents behave appalingly when it comes to things like queues and they way they speak to shop assistants/tradesmen/nursing staff etc. It's like they are beneath them. You would have hoped in this day and age that sort of carry on would have lonng disappeared.

True.
Manners and politeness should be taught at school -seriously.

It's probably too late by the time they get to school. If kids haven't been shown, by example, how to behave from the moment they open their eyes it's hard to unlearn that sort of stuff.

It's hardly surprising that parents whose sole method of communication between each other, with their neighbours, with officialdom and with anyone else they come into contact with have a good chance of breeding kids who behave in exactly the same way.

I'd agree to a point.
The trouble comes when they become teenagers, with hormones and all that comes with it.
Then they test the boundaries and you have to manage them through it.
That's a parent's job and you take the rough with the smooth and make sacrafices.
When they become adults and get their own lives then it's great and all the hard work and tears and tantrums are worth it.
I'm so proud of my daughters. The two oldest ones whent through difficult times as teenagers, yet are brilliant adults and family night outs are great fun.
The youngest is going through those difficult teenage years, but with patience and support she'll get through it.
Then my job will be done........

I've never had to bring up teenagers but I suspect it can be very dificult. I'd argue that the fact yours (and no doubt others) got throught it to become the 'brilliant adults' they are is because of the work (you know what I mean) you did in the first few years of their lives.

You only have to walk up the street in most towns and cities to know that not all parents put in that initial effort. They've allowed their offspring to get to get to 6,7 or 8 without a notion of how to behave in public (Dog knows how they behave at home) and I fear those kids chances of surviving adolescence without the intervention of the law are slim.

I suspect there's also an increased chance their peers will intervene at a more physical, perhaps deadly, level.