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AIBU?

To think that children are getting worse?

66 replies

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 20:06

Younger ones that is. Me and dd (2years old) were on a walk earlier and there was a group of young boys (between 7&9) playing football in a no ball game area. I asked nicely if they could stop just whilst dd was walking past as the ball was flying everywhere and they were kicking it really hard. Fair enough the leader was telling his friends to 'watch' but i wasnt talking to him i was talking to his friends. And this boy got very angry and asked me if i was deaf or stupid, i asked could he please not talk to me like that and he said well dont look at me like that, ripped his glasses off as if to try and start a fight and jumped forward to try and scare us off. I repeated please dont talk to me like that in front of dd its not very nice, he then told me to f* off and i asked him where he lived so i could talk to his mum, he pointed to his house and i said thanks ill be around later. I then walked away and he kept shouting 'just you walk away' i was nearly home when i seen him run into his house to probably tell his mum about me. His mum is very intimidating so im expecting her to show up at my house and rip my head off. i would be mortified if i knew/heard dd talking to people like that, when did children get so cheeky? I know i was wrong to ask them to stop but i thought they would be understanding! How wrong was i?

OP posts:

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TheWindInThePillows · 13/05/2016 21:43

I think swearing has got more common in public, it wasn't as usual when I was younger, people did swear ('bloody' being the most common) but not to older people or out in public as much as they do now. I remember being really surprised to get on a bus and hear teens in school uniform saying 'fuck' every second word, now it's pretty typical although it does make me wince.

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 21:51

I remember his mum from when i was younger and she was awful! The children used to be lovely and kind but over the past year they have all changed into little devils. (im only 22) so a lot of the people that were teenagers when i was younger are now the parents of some of the children im talking about. There is some lovely people about but thats the teenagers and adults.

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GretchenBeckett · 13/05/2016 21:53

Op, do you realise that you're basically insulting every parent with children in the age bracket you're talking about?

Arfarfanarf · 13/05/2016 21:56

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 21:59

My dad used to swear a lot around us as kids but so did his mum, it was normal to hear a lot of swearing but i never copied and if i did i was in trouble as only adults were allowed to swear, i dont even swear in front of them now its too embarrasing. I cant stand hearing little kids swear thats just not meant to come out there mouths.

Gretchenbeckett its nice to hear some children arent like that, i would be mortified if my dd said that or was just awful in general.

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nightpiano · 13/05/2016 22:01

I live in a very rough area with a terrible reputation, and I take the view that my kids will at least be streetwise. They don't have to copy the behaviour they see around them.

Every generation thinks the next one is worse.

I worked as a playworker in a local park about ten years ago, and there was a particular group of kids who were really, really badly behaved (think setting fires, vandalising things, swearing at their neighbours and at the police and so on). They have nearly all grown up into respectable builders, plumbers and parents. I met a couple of them having a pint after work the other day, and they said "the kids today are much worse than we were" - I nearly fell over laughing!

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 22:04

Gretchenbeckett so they should be offended if my daughter acted like that i know it would be my fault. Anyway im only talking about the small handfull of badly behaved children, theres probably about 10-15 in this street alone the other ones i never see because they are terrified of the others. My dd is 2 and already knows her manners and she will continue to do so as she gets older if i ever hear her being a cheeky sod she will be punished, phone taken off her, no tv before bed etc...

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paxillin · 13/05/2016 22:06

Children older than your own are always a bit alarming.

JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:08

Ahh oh to be so naive. Your DD will be cheeky. And whats more, she'll do it at times you wont even know about and the people who hear it will judge you for it and blame you and say "kids these days are far worse than we were"

JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:09

And she'll be cheeky long before she has a phone to get taken off her.

JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:11

In fact at 2 years of age, i'd say you havent got long before she is showing you her "assertive" streak. She'll probably do it in asda.

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 22:15

Shes already shown shes assertive she has a terrible temper!

Even if she doesnt have a phone im sure ill find a suitable punishment

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Amy214 · 13/05/2016 22:15

I dont want her to grow up!

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JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:16

And she'll still be cheeky. Far more that you'll know.

JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:16

than

RaskolnikovsGarret · 13/05/2016 22:23

I think some children are less respectful to teachers nowadays at any rate. But definitely not all. JustLoss, my teen DDs can be rude to me and DH, but I know for a fact that they have never been rude to another adult. They just wouldn't.

JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:25

Yeah ok even if they havent, they will have been rude in the presence of other adults who will be judging their parents. Or maybe they'll have a bit of sense and acknowledge that they were teens once themselves.

BrandNewAndImproved · 13/05/2016 22:25

If you had said oi boys watch the ball please I don't want my little one getting hurt the outcome would have been completely different.

Amy214 · 13/05/2016 22:30

Brandnew how would it have been different? I thought if i was nice then they would be nice back to us, maybe i was expecting too much

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JustLostTheGame · 13/05/2016 22:33

You went in too polite. They see that as a pushover. Which is exactly what they then did. If you'd gone in mouthing they'd have been more wary of pissing you off.

Woodhill · 13/05/2016 22:36

Why would you want to stoop to their level. Yam up. Treat people how you want to be treated and you set a good example to your dd. Not your fault the boy is what my father would have described as uncouth.

BirthdayBetty · 13/05/2016 22:36

Op, it wasn't that long ago when people were saying the same about kids who are your age now

Woodhill · 13/05/2016 22:36

Yanbu (sorry irritating predictive text)

Feelingsolow12345 · 13/05/2016 22:38

my nans next door neighbour kids was screaming and banging her fence. my nan asked them nicely to stop and they told her to f off. they was about 7

NannawifeofBaldr · 13/05/2016 22:42

The child shouldn't have been rude to you of course.

But.... Why did you ask them to stop? Why not just pick up your child?

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