Teenagers

These days I have a general distrust for most teenagers.  I know they aren't all bad, but whenever I see a large group of teenagers together, I tend to avoid them as much as possible.  So many kids these days have no sense of morality.  This is the selfie generation.  Everything is all about "me".  What I want, where I want to go, what I want to do.  They have no manners.  They are spoiled and selfish.  There is no sense of common courtesy.  They have no idea of how they should behave in public.  It's just scary to me.

A few weeks ago, I took my children to the Kentucky State Fair on a Saturday.  We arrived late in the afternoon and there were lots of people, but we were still able to get the kids on the rides fairly quickly.  We spent about two hours on the Midway, then we took the children to get some yummy fair food.  When we started to head back to the Midway so the kids could ride some more rides, I thought for a moment my eyes were deceiving me.  I looked towards the rides and all I could see was a sea of teenagers.  There wasn't even an opening to get through to the kiddie rides. 

I didn't want my kids to be disappointed and not get to enjoy the rides, so we slowly squeezed our way through the sea of teenagers.  I repeatedly said, "Excuse me", which fell on deaf ears.  We literally had to elbow our way through.  My Dad is unable to walk for long distances due to nerve damage in his feet and legs.  He was in a motorized chair and these rude teenagers wouldn't even make a path for him.  It took him 30 minutes to get through the teenagers.

We finally arrived at the kiddie rides.  My older two got on a ride while my youngest and I got an ice cream for them to share.  Once my kids got off the ride, we were standing there eating our ice cream.  All of a sudden, about 50 teenagers come sprinting towards us.  My Mommy instincts kicked in and I took my children and put them against the rails of the fence around the ride and put my body in front of them.  If I hadn't gotten them out of the way so quickly, we would have been trampled.  I have no idea where these teenagers were going and what was happening.  I only knew that I had to protect my children. 

My husband had left a few moments before to go and get our car.  It was a long walk to where we were parked and the kids were tired.  As he was walking, he got slammed by the stampede.  He said he stood there with his arms folded across his chest as they bounced off him.

I decided that I wouldn't risk my children's safety in this mob and we decided to leave.  I spent 20 minutes elbowing my way through the mob, again repeatedly saying, "Excuse me", which again fell on deaf ears.  If I were to guess, I would say there was approximately 5,000+ teenagers just standing around at the beginning of the Midway.  I still don't understand why security hadn't intervened and got them moving.

I just don't trust teenagers.

You can get on YouTube and watch video after video of teenagers and their mob mentality.  You can see them being bullies, fighting, looting, etc.  It's just disturbing on so many levels. 

Maybe I'm just getting old, but they seem to behave worse than they ever have before.  I know teenagers have always been getting into mischief.  That is to be expected on some level.  However, teenagers these days seem to have no regard for anyone but themselves. 

I pray that I am able to raise my children to be well-mannered, selfless individuals.  I want them to have respect for themselves and respect for others.  I want them to have empathy for others.  I want them to have kind hearts.  I know they will get into mischief and will make poor decisions from time to time.  I just hope that I give them enough of a good foundation to learn from their mistakes.  I will do everything in my power to prevent my children from becoming another generation of selfish, ill-mannered teenagers that have no respect for anyone.  I'll do my best.  The rest is in God's hands.