Is it just me or are youngsters today less responsible for their own actions?

[GreasyFryUp]

Sitting parked up in a side street answering a text before I got out of my car to go to work. Restricted space, you need to be careful when parking in the area. Felt the car rock and looked up to see someone reversing into a space opposite.

Got out, examined the wheel arch where there was a mark, nothing much and not necessarily caused by them. Get my stuff out of the boot by which time they got out their car. Politely told them to be more careful next time they park. "I didn't do anything". Yes, you bumped my car as you reversed. "Didn't touch it". I felt it rock, you did. "No, we would have felt it bump". I'm just politely asking you to be more careful next time. At which point his girlfriend butts in "Think you are being a bit paranoid"

Bloody hell. If that was me I'd have been "oh, sorry, didn't realise I'd done that. Everything ok?"

Something happened this weekend too where my DS wouldn't accept responsibility for something he had obviously done, an accident, but completely denied it had anything to do with him. Had a long chat about it....

Just got me thinking why this seems to be happening?

I don't think your examples demonstrate a clear link between 'youngsters today' and accepting responsibility for bad behaviour. It's not like there aren't plenty of people of all ages doing the same thing. YABU.

I just think people in my age group wouldn't have been so arsey about it. Maybe I'm wrong, maybe age isn't the defining factor.

Yes, I think arseiness is probably the defining factor rather than age.

In my 50s. Youngsters did stupid thoughtless shit when I was a youngster.
You see consequences when you are older that you don't see when you are young.
I didn't do thoughtless shit when I was younger. Or I don't think I did.

I think there are arseholes of all ages on the road. the guy who drove into me out a side road and the tried to say it was my fault because i 'should have known he was coming ' was about 55-60.

Well, having worked in aged care, I can assure you that the older generation (interwar births until around 1945) are some of the rudest, most inconsiderate and ungrateful people I have met.

But they aren't all like that.

You'll get rude teenagers. But they aren't all like that. And so on.

You even said yourself that the mark "wasn't necessarily caused by them", but then went on to tell them that it was definitely them. So it seems that your insistence and their resistance are on equal ground.

An older lady scraped the side of my parked car a few months ago when I was sat in it. When I pointed out what she'd done she was rude and aggressive. I was the one being reasonable and polite. It was a horrible experience being yelled at for something I had no responsibility for. My 3 children were all sitting in the back of the car agog at the old yelling woman. Definitely not a "young people these days" thing.

I don’t think it’s just teenagers, there is a certain type of person that just won’t ever admit they are wrong. Ever. It’s like their life literally depends on them never admitting to anything.

Stuff like this gets my fuming. Own up to your wrongdoings or you completely lose my respect!

I know plenty more rude people aged 40+....

They were correct in not admitting liability, I believe it's what insurance companies advise.

Right. I'd better get this attitude issue sorted with my DS. No way do I want people moaning about him on MN when he's old enough to drive 😂

YABU to say that young people are less likely to take responsibility for their actions. Rude, irresponsible, CF come in all age groups.

We currently have a local situation involving a senior citizen refusing to take responsibility for an accident in a car park where she is clearly at fault and which was witnessed by many people. She's way old enough to know better and not be driving but prefers that the young stationary driver be out of pocket with the excess until it can be sorted out.

Youngsters? those sound like adults. And your DS is your own responsibility. Raise him better and he’ll behave better. Nothing to do with other children.

I think people of all ages can be thoughtless, it's not fair to generalise the actions of a few to represent their age group.

YABU

Refusing to take responsibility for your own actions is not related to age!

I have a colleague in his 60s who, if you listen to him, is never at fault. It’s always the telephone system or the computer system or the process or lack of training that’s st fault... despite the fact that the other 30 people on the team managed to do it correctly with the same systems, processes and training. I have a colleague in his 30s who’s exactly the same.

Sorry you had a bad experience but totally unreasonable to extrapolate this to 'youngsters today'. Today's young people are on average more open minded, less prejudiced, more tolerant, more environmentally aware, more socially conscious and more community minded than their parents' generation. That is all evidenced by social studies but even just anecdotally I used to work in the service industry and the sheer entitlement and self interest I saw from baby boomers and Gen Xers far outstripped millenials and Gen Yers!

You ran into one muppet, they come in all age brackets. Stupid to extend that to all young people.

Mind you I will agree that with kids I teach there's definitely a culture of not being allowed to fail - that comes from home. It's very unhealthy imo.