Dave, I'm 40. This teenager thing isn't new you know! We weren't welcome in groups when I was growing up. Growing up in MK is a bit different to me though as I grew up in a pit village. There was a youth club one night a week- Thurdsay, and roller disco on a Sat morning- that's it. We grew up rabitting, ferreting, shooting messing around in parts of Sherwood Forest but it wasn't called bushcraft then it was camping! making dens etc. We didn't have axes so didn't cut down trees and we thought it wrong to light fires. We did all carry knifes though- SAKs
When we were 14-15 girls came along too
I didn't grow up in MK, I grew up in Glasgow. We never got a chance to get out into the woods for that sort of stuff, cos our parents would have gone monkey poo on us. The girls thing was nice, but mostly had to happen at parties or in parks where we were exposed.
The was an old pill box on the edge of a plantation that regularly got graffitied inside (Not me I can't draw a stick man!) but when someone did it on the outside we were all outraged. Seems very minor looking back now, but that's how we were. Nearest swimming pool pool was 8 miles away, nearest coast 90 miles away but we swam in the reservoirs sometimes.
We had access to swimming pools, but swimming in a reservoir would have probably got us arrested "there's teenagers, get them an ASBO". I was never involved in graffitiing, but could see the art in some of it, I don't really mind it.
Different times? Yes maybe, but why have things progressed so much to the stage they are now? What's changed? The youth of today DOES have far more laid on than we did. It's not that where I grew up was small- the comprehensive had 1200 in which is big even today. IMHO it's more about the wrong attitude and nothing more.
You say the youth of today has lots laid on, but I never saw any of it. As I said earlier, the youth centre was violent, we were skint as hell so no movies and you can only swim so much. I really wanted to go out and do things, but what are these activities laid on for us you mention? Sure the council does one or two big events a year, but those are for publicity, the rest of the year there's nowt.
I never took part in "Anti-Social Behaviour", however that didn't matter as soon as there were more than two of us in the same place, it was anti-social. Apparently socialising with your mates in public is ant-social!
People always say the youth of today are terrible (I believe Plato did too), but I feel like if people actually got to know the kids they are calling anti-social they'd realise they are wrong.
As I say I've no idea as to the solution but I try impart my experiences into my kids. My eldest and middle kids (10 and 8) are mad on bushcraft and survival. I can give them the values but what they do with it is down to them. You were obviously given the right values, but how many of your friends weren't?
No magic wand here, I'm just trying to do my bit with my kids. I've had my rant now and I'm all played out. Hope this gives you an understanding of where I (and a few others I suspect) are coming from.
You obviously spend time and energy on your kids, but when the eldest hits 13-14-15-16 will you let him/her go off camping with his/her mates any day he/she likes? Teenagers are not afforded the same freedom to get out and about as children of 10 years old were in your generation.
I can happily say that out of all the kids I grew up riding with none have gone to jail, which in Glasgow, in a group of 30 or so males, with many unemployed, is quite a good record. Also if I'm incredibly un-PC I'll tell you that most of us were from poor families and a couple even had drug addict parents.
All of us have worked hard to get to where we are, even the unemployed ones work hard to find education and jobs. But in Glasgow there simply is a shortage of work, even for those who want it.
I would say that this is evidence of an above average level of values in modern society. We had a good group of mates, we stayed away from gangs, shunned violence and there was never any peer pressure to try drugs or drink.
I do understand where a lot of you guys are coming from, but I often feel that the older generation don't get us young'uns.