What has gone wrong with this generation of youth in America? Is it video games? Maybe it’s the music? Or could it possibly be the overwhelming percentage of single parent households today? Whatever the case may be, it is apparent that kids today need more guidance than previous generations. In the past one to two years it is evident that murderers, rapists, burglars, and thieves are getting younger and younger.
Ocala, Florida – Five teenagers were convicted of first degree murder after they brutally beat, shot, dismembered and burned the body of 15-year-old Seath Jackson back in 2011. The murder reportedly took place over a love triangle between Jackson, his ex-girlfriend and her new boyfriend who were both convicted of the murder along with three of their friends. Their ages at the time of the killing ranged from 15 to 18.
Brunswick, Georgia -March 2013-Two teenagers shot and killed a 13-month-old baby then turned the gun on the mother while trying to rob her as she took a stroll with her child.
The victim, Sherry West told police, “A boy approached me and told me he wanted my money, and I told him I didn’t have any money.” He said, “give me your money or I’m going to kill you and I’m going to shoot your baby and kill your baby.”
One of the boys then took a gun and shot the baby in the face, right between the eyes while the helpless woman was pleading for the life of her child.
Duncan, Oklahoma -August 2013- Three teens shot and killed 22-year-old Christopher Lane in the back “for the fun of it”, one of the teens told investigators. Facebook and Twitter mark it out as a premeditated [Hate Crime], and while charges for a hate crime have not yet been filed, the teens are facing murder charges.
Christopher Lane’s girlfriend, Sarah Harper said she is devastated over the tragedy.
“He didn’t deserve any of this,” Lane’s girlfriend, Sarah Harper, told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. “It’s heartbreaking that it was such a random choice those guys made that drastically altered so many lives in the process.” “This is unbearable.”
Lane’s Father said, “There’s not going to be any good come out of this because it was just so senseless. There wasn’t anything he did or could have done. He was an athlete going for a jog, like he would do five or six days a week in terms of his training schedule.”
“It’s happened. It’s wrong and we just try and deal with it the best we can.”
Police Chief Dan Ford has said, “the boys had the simplest of motives — overcoming a boring end to their summer vacation. Ford said in a variety of interviews that the 17-year-old had told officers that they were bored and killed Lane for [the fun of it].” Ford added, “They were going on a killing spree, I am just we were able to stop them before anyone else got hurt.”
Spokane, Washington -August 2013- Two teens savagely beat and murdered 88-year-old WWII veteran Delbert Belton. One teen was arrested immediately while the other was only arrested on August 26, 2013 at 3 a.m. The parents have stated it happened because, “It’s the summer and ain’t nothing to do here.” The parents are hoping for a sentence of less than 10 years, however the community wants life in prison for the teens heinous crime. This investigation is still ongoing.
Northwest Indiana -August 2013- A 17-year-old boy was arrested after he allegedly hunted and killed three kittens with a bow and arrow. CBS News was told by police that the boy skewered the kittens on an arrow.
According to investigators the boy confessed, saying that he was bored out of his mind the week before school started and decided to go hunting for some kittens.
Author Robert Jeffress said in an interview with Fox News, “We live in a nation that celebrates violence. The proof is in our movies, music, and our athletic pastimes. Violence has become the new pornography of our culture. One cause of the violence is the unprecedented and explicit violence in video games and cable television. It has desensitized teenagers to the idea of taking a human life.”
Jeffress, who is also a Pastor at the First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas believes that parents are responsible for raising a generation of thugs and savages.
“Parents have absolutely failed in their most basic, fundamental responsibility as parents and that is to instill God’s moral law in the hearts of their children. Our culture continues to deny or marginalize the existence of God. We shouldn’t be surprised that teenagers would ignore the most basic laws of God- like thou shall not kill,” said Jeffress.
However one cannot lay all the blame on parents. The government is doing a fine job of making sure that people cannot properly discipline their children without the fear of being arrested for child abuse. It’s no longer politically correct to spank a child, teach them about God, or to love and respect the country they live in. Society today teaches kids to be selfish, disrespectful, self centered, narcissists who only care about themselves. However it’s not only kids who learn to behave that way. Young parents tend to behave that way as well, leading to record breaking numbers of broken homes.
Broken homes come from failed marriages and failed marriages come from parents that forgot how to work for a marriage, in fact research shows that today’s generation is not willing to try and make a marriage work. Marriages get strained from everyday life, finances, and infidelity. However statistics show couples today will throw it all away without a hint of trying to heal the husband and wife relationship.
In America, there is one divorce every 13 seconds. The age range is 20 years of age to 39 years of age.
| Age | Women | Men |
| Under 20 years old | 27.6 percent | 11.7 percent |
| 20 to 24 years old | 36.6 percent | 38.8 percent |
| 25 to 29 years old | 16.4 percent | 22.3 percent |
| 30 to 34 years old | 8.5 percent | 11.6 percent |
| 35 to 39 years old | 5.1 percent | 6.5 percent |
The stress of the situation can also cause the quality of parenting to suffer. Divorce frequently contributes to depression, anxiety or substance abuse in one or both parents and may bring about difficulties in balancing work and caring for a child. These problems can impair a parent’s ability to offer children stability and love when they are most in need.
Psychologists Joan B. Kelly of Corte Madera, California said that children that come from problematic homes where the parents constantly fight, yell, and scream at each other will definitely have an effect on them. She said studies show that when the marriage ultimately ends in divorce children can become mentally unstable later in life.
Ultimately it is the children, the new generation that will suffer in every way, shape, and form.
What do you think? Do you feel parents today are more lazy when it comes to parenting? We want to know what you think, leave us comments below.