On Tue, 7 Dec 1999, P.K. Geevarghese wrote:

> Socrates did not know what we know now.  You and I and their parents made
> them the way they are today.  Don't blame the young alone but 99% of the
> blame goes to others like us and their parents.  Let's treat them better
> and they will become better!  Dr. Geevarghese.
>
> On Mon, 6 Dec 1999, Oralia Preble-Niemi wrote:
>
> >      "Youth today love luxury.  They have bad manners, contempt for
> > authority, no respect for older people, and talk nonsense when they should
> > be working.  Young people do not stand up any longer when adults enter the
> > room.  They contradict their parents, talk too much in company, guzzle
> > their food, lay their legs on the table and tyrannize their elders."
> >
> > who wrote this????  Scroll down for the answer. . . .
> >  ..............
> > Socrates, indicting the youth of athens, greece, circa 500 B.C.
> >

Good comments, both P.K. and Oralia.  Lest someone go off on a guilt trip
over P.K.'s comment, let me point out that Ruth Benedict about 1938
published an article on "Constinuities and Discontinuities in American
Child-training" suggesting that in contrast to many cultures with specific
"rites of passage", our society complicates and prolongs adolescent
uncertainty by its very vaguesness on training and preparation for
adulthood.

To get more specific:
        Our teens are too long in a situation where at one moment adults will
        say, "You can't do that, you're still a child." and fifteen minutes later,
        "Don't do that; you're no longer a child!"
Even the timing of our transition is vague:
        We get our license for very symbolic "wheels" at 16 or 17;
        We get a work permit around 15;
        We graduate from High school around 18;
        We can vote at 18;
        But we can't legally drink until 21;
        When can we marry without parental permission ?
        Even if married and self-supporting, and a year or so past 21,
                it may be difficult to get a car loan or home mortage
                without a parent or someone as co-signer!

Wouldn't it be great if our culture offered a clear break between
adolescence and adulthood?

On the other hand, perhaps this youthful rebelliousness built-into our
system gives us early training in opposing arbitrary oppression?  Could it
be related to our successful efforts for economic and social change, civil
rights, etc.?  Can social dysfunction have a positive function?
                                        Carter Pate