AIBU to think children are now in charge

[Itsmeagainandagain]

The school kids protesting in London, how things have changed when we were children we done what we were told, now the kids are laying down the law and dictating to adults.

We already know children know they are above the law and untouchable, we had Greta Thunburg blame the older generation for all the faults of planet earth.

AIBU to think that children are being disrespectful and have no idea how the real world works? These are the same children who would be in floods of tears screaming if you changed the WiFi password to their gadgets, WiFi that us adults work to pay for!!

@C8H10N4O2

Oh is it my turn to post the Socrates quote:

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

Well, he was forced to drink poison so maybe he was right?

Youngsters pretend to be concerned about climate change, pollution etc but most of them could not care less

I love how people tar all children with the same brush.

I also love how they forget that children are reflective of the adults around them, so if you’re seeing a lot of this then I would ask you to consider what kind of role model are you.

I agree @MorrisZapp. Most of the teens marching are just protesting loudly, not putting the same energy into solutions. I think that's forgivable though, they are children still thinking things through and working it out. At least they are building awareness, hopefully some of them will be inspired enough to build change.

Why do you assume young people know less? Being older doesn't equal wisdom. As a Gen X I'm pretty annoyed with the fact that baby boomers have more say than anyone else, because they're more of them and sway everything.
I think its a great thing that young people are getting involved in politics. It's their future.
Apathy is what's got us here.

@ClearMountain

Demanding to remove the flag is ridiculous, unpatriotic and frankly unBritish. But I guess a lot of them don’t want to be British, and that’s a large part of the problem.

I don't know what's been worse on here recently - the influx of MRAs or the not at all subtle government workers and their flag shaggery/British love bollocks.

No. Personally I think DC are far better equipped than we were as DC.
I keep hearing about overly anxious DC are today, yet depression, mh anxieties, agoraphobia, self harm is rife amongst the adult's on here and in RL the DC from the past.
If I'd have had half of the confidence and knowledge DC have today, life would be better.

@GalesThisMorning

Cheap fossil fuels will kill us all in the end. We are all living a life of unimaginable luxury (here in Britain), hundreds of years ago it would have been beyond most people's dreams. Thousands of years ago even more so.

I don't quite see your point. Should we teach children to be grateful for the internal combustion engine, is that what you mean?

They won’t kill us, where did you read that?

Warming temperatures has some unpredictability, but no one has forecasted an apocalypse. Read the IPCC reports and take a Xanax pls

The real killer is poverty.

"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”

I blame the parents

I have read the thread, and all I can think to say is that "young people" are protesting the wrong things according to the op.

When I was 6 I remember protesting outside our townhall with hundreds of other kids for the fall of the berlin wall. Then when I was 8 or 9 I remember protesting for apartheid to end in south africa. I was 12 when a group of us decided to protest against racism off our own backs.

These things definitely happened but it depends how old you are. An 80s child was probably more likely to be involved in protests than a 90s or 00s one just because many teachers were from a protesting / punk / anti-establishment generation. Eg as part of primary english lessons we wrote letters to amnesty international to free various people & we weren’t the only school doing that.

@tangerinelollipop

flags is racism

How is a flag racist? Please explain, I'm curious

Thanks for only quoting part of my sentence.

Do you disagree that the hairstyles and headscarves is racism as well? I agree the flag is less of an issue (and actually said this in a previous post). But when you take everything they’re protesting about the flag is indicative of them being educated in an environment where they feel they’re not taken account of, it adds to the sense of disenfranchisement.

I would expect of the flag was the only issue then the students wouldnt be protesting.

@ClearMountain

Demanding to remove the flag is ridiculous, unpatriotic and frankly unBritish. But I guess a lot of them don’t want to be British, and that’s a large part of the problem.

What makes you think they don't want to be British?

What part of what they have said, appearance or protest makes you think they don't want to be British?

@Itsmeagainandagain

things that are important right now, bullying in schools Increasing and worrying knife culture Grooming gangs targeting children Child trafficking The rise in child suicides County line drug smuggling

Not important at the moment.. Hairstyles, headscarves, flags, gender

But those are easy targets to protest about.. God forbid going against your peers

According to whom?

I bristled at that. It's our flag, warts and all. That's where I drew the line.

Who's driving this madness?

@yeOldeTrout

People care about different things, OP. You don't get to dictate their priorities.

I'm glad the young are still idealistic & energetic, instead of being jaded & tired like us oldies.

But adults must have a backbone and not give in to childish demands. That’s the real issue.

The school and society in general are showing weakness, which only spurs them on.

[quote BrumBoo]@GalesThisMorning, I'm not just referring to climate change protests, but my point remains in general. Of course children and young people should be passionate about the world around them, but they should also be educated on how to listen and problem solve without getting angry and thinking once they have an opinion it must be rigidly stuck to without debate.[/quote]
Yes I definitely agree with you there! That's much harder isn't it - learning how to listen and problem solve without getting angry or overly wedded to your own opinions.

It's not just our kids that need to learn these skills - any aibu thread will show you many adult women need to learn it as well!!

@Graciebobcat

Why the hell are schools flying flags outside? It's not the US, thank fuck. I'm 45 and I'd be climbing the flagpole and ripping it down myself.

Agree with you. Completely

Greta Thunberg refuses to fly and travels by train, boat and electric car

Young people are the ones who will suffer the consequences of generations of people like you not giving a fuck about anything

And she still has a massive carbon footprint and offers no real solutions. You should see what kind of emissions her little boat journey to America took. She’d have been much better off going economy but had to literally showboat.

I would expect of the flag was the only issue then the students wouldn't be protesting

The fact that they seem to have an issue with the flag is precisely what makes it apparent that there's something else going on here. That's the problem

I do wonder OP, apart from being older than young people what you have done to deserve respect?

It's not the US

Exactly, we are not in the US, that's why we are flying the UK flag

I think Greta is amazing, and I am pleased children have the right speak. Particularly about climate change.
They might not know how the world works totally, but they will learn, and be motivated for change and confidence to be heard.
I think its brilliant, as a child I was never heard. I'm still not as an adult.

Who protested the Vietnam war? Or Nuclear weapons in the days of tbe Cold War and mutually assured destruction? Cultural revolution of the 60s? Many protests a d changes hace been driven by young people - children are just becoming more engaged at a younger age .

And yes, I do roll my eyes, and think they're taking a load of idealistic and impractical old tosh sometimes, but I think the world would be a depressing place if children had the cynicism of a 40 year old. Sometimes we can find middle ground between idealism and worldly-wise.

Well I'm the opposite I think it's absolutely fantastic to see your people stand up for what they believe in. Then again I'm not one who thinks children should be subservient do-as-they're-told robots until they're 18 🤷‍♀️

@UsedUpUsername

Greta Thunberg refuses to fly and travels by train, boat and electric car

Young people are the ones who will suffer the consequences of generations of people like you not giving a fuck about anything

And she still has a massive carbon footprint and offers no real solutions. You should see what kind of emissions her little boat journey to America took. She’d have been much better off going economy but had to literally showboat.

"No real solutions".

Sure. Sure.