Lord of the flies

[Labarum]

An important comment.

It refers to an incident last week when teenagers pushed a woman onto electrified railway lines for telling them not to smoke.

Adults have surrendered to the Lords of the Flies | Jenni Russell - Times Online

We have it wrong in UK. It may be better in other countries.

[Greeneggs&ham]

Re: Lord of the flies

Nope, not much better in America at least. Jenni Russell includes one of my three reasons that this kind of news is becoming the norm (IMHO):

1) We, as parents and guardians, have bought into the convoluted idea that love can not allow for discipline. Psychologists (many of them childless) have been telling us for years that it is wrong to spank our children. Now we get to live in a world that is the result of that dumb logic.

2) As Jenni mentions, the government has decided to tell us how to be parents. They believe that if my hand touches my child's bottom one time I must be an enraged lunatic, capable of domestic violence and worse. They have unintentionally encouraged children to do whatever they want because the government won't allow us to respond.

3) Adults, beginning (at least) with my generation (X) have become self-centered. We would rather entertain ourselves rather than take care of someone else. Children are nothing more than a status symbol, carelessly left with a daycare or nanny as we run out to the bars and theaters to enjoy ourselves. Children are left to raise themselves in an adult-free, discipline-free environment. On top of that, they see how adults behave, thus perpetuating the problem into the future.

I'm obviously speaking of the majority rather than the totality. I for one, have turned into a shade of my father (GASP!), and discipline my children as well as take an interest in their lives. I am sure there are others on the board who do the same. As to those who will criticize my response? Perhaps they are the same ones who would have allowed the smoking teens to continue smoking in the non-smoking terminal...