<p>A pretty straightforward question. Almost every american teenager i know hates his/her parents with passion and wants to leave his/her house asap. And i’m not talking about families where parents drink, do drugs, or beat children and each other, i’m talking about normal muddle-class suburban families.
Do you guys really think that your parents want to make your life miserable? Do you really think that they have curfew just because they’re jerks like that? Do you really think that if you get better grades than they used to, you know life better?
Where I come from, we respect our parents. We understand that they are often strict because they love us and care about us, not because they think we’re burdensome and don’t deserve a life. We understand that parents have lived in this world a lot longer, they better understand it and know how to deal with it, no matter how smart we think we are. I just can’t get why american kids fail to accept any of this.</p>
<p>If kids really hated their parents they would leave them, but then they say they can’t survive in the real world and come crawling back, so maybe they’ll still hate them, but they’ll always appreciate them.</p>
<p>Because Americans are spoiled.</p>
<p>“Where I come from, we respect our parents.”</p>
<p>That’s nice, want a cookie?</p>
<p>Yeah I don’t know what you’re talking about. American kids are just more outspoken about our feelings. We respect our parents too. We probably are much closer and more affectionate with our parents than you, wherever you’re from. We don’t HATE our parents. We just express our FRUSTRATION with them. We may or may not be right–we’re probably spoiled. But we do love Mom and Dad.
Anyway, my parents are Asian, and they definitely keep me in line. Do I have a right to tell them what to do or to criticize them? Probably not. But I don’t think it’s a bad thing to express your feelings, as long as you’re not doing it TO your parents.</p>
<p>Because the desire to be independent is engraved into the minds of all Americans?</p>
<p>Seriously, though. I hate being told what to do by anyone, even my mom. Do I hate HER? No. Do I hate some of her RULES? Yes. I still follow them, but that doesn’t mean I can’t ***** about them.</p>
<p>wowie…where do you come from? Pleasentville? (great movie FTW)</p>
<p>We are spoiled…sue us. Your kids will be spoiled too. They will moan annd groan when you talk to them as if they are not there. (as in ‘Teenagers these days’ topic when you ARE a teenager!) Or when they kiss you in front of your best friend, or when they argue with you about the most stupid things, remind you to brush you teeth while you are actually doing it (same with H.W and similar stuff) Or arguments about philosophy such as politics, religion, life in general… (the last one wasn’t a complaint at all)</p>
<p>Some complaints are legit, some are stupid. I get annoyed with them, sure, but that doesn’t mean that I hate them. The same way my parents argue with each other. They fight a nice amount of times (fight meaning arguments. not beating or actually fistfighting. lol), they disagree on an nice amout of things, but that doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.</p>
<p>I think Americans tend to want to be more independent than some other cultures, so when they get to be teenagers they start to express this by trying to rebel against their parents, even when they know in the backs of their minds that there are perfectly acceptable, loving reasons for their parents’ actions. It doesn’t mean that they don’t respect their parents. I also think that at some point, you have to stop listening to your parents “just because” and start to think on your own terms. I used to agree with everything my parents said because that’s all I knew and I thought that they were right about everything, but as I got older I started to realize that we can be very different in terms of beliefs. Maybe you disagree with them, or think they have made mistakes, or don’t particularly like them as people. I sometimes get the impression that some people don’t think this is acceptable, but I don’t think you should ever blindly follow anyone.</p>
<p>I also kind of have a suspicion that kids who grow up in the blandness of suburbia and have a relatively problem-free life feel kind of bored about it all, and then they have this feeling of independence they want to express for no apparent reason, so they try to create problems and reasons to be angry that aren’t really there. So you get all this overly dramatic “my parents just don’t understaaaaand meeeeee” crap.</p>
<p>I dont think anyone HATES their parents. I dislike them a lot at times. My parents have done drugs. they have fought all the time before they got divorced. and they have a tempor that’s really annoying. So sometimes I feel like I’m better than them and I can’t take them serious when they yell at me. A lot of the time I’m right and I’m one of those people who has to have the last word(unfortunately). So am I pretty eager to move out and be on my own…absolutely. because honestly the stuff they’ve done has probably damaged me and i kinda resent them, and i just want my freedom. I feel like I know better than them anyway now. I appreciate them(well mostly my dad because i live with him and he pays for everything) but man do they bug me.</p>
<p>“My parents have done drugs. they have fought all the time before they got divorced.”</p>
<p>I believe you are exempt from this arguement, as the OP stated in his/her 3rd sentence. Lol, I get the distinct feeling that everyone in here getting offended by this topic are those kids that “hate” their parents. Those kids who throw hissy fits over every little thing, think they know all, aren’t under their parents rules. Dima1109, you are right. Where I come from, that’s in my household, we treat my parents with respect (with the exception of my ***** of a sister). Kids these days are too spoiled, airheaded, and ****ing stupid. </p>
<p>I firmly believe this generation is a weak generation. Not enough parental involvement. Kids need to be taken out back and get the shiit kicked out of them and set in their place. I dont care what you’re taught in school, until you move out you are your parents property (probably not the best word choice for some of you on this forum but hell, you “hate” your parents). I dont live a secluded life, and I partake in many of the activities that are associated with misfit kids. Yet when I come home, I know who’s in charge and I respect that.</p>
<p>“Almost every american teenager i know hates his/her parents with passion and wants to leave his/her house asap”</p>
<p>Try paying for your own education and living expenses and then talk to me about being independent and wanting to leave your house ASAP.</p>
<p>Most university students are still living off their parents’ financial teat, just further away.</p>
<p>As for the invariable arguements that will come up saying how spoiled we are, take a good look at the Baby Boomers. This was a generation that fought against the draft when it threatened their lifestyle of free love and copious marijuana smoking. They benefitted from the economic boom that WWII created without ever fighting in it (old Chinese proverb, one generation plants the tree another enjoys the shade). You hear many stories of people coming out of high school and getting jobs that would today require (expensive) university degrees. By the time the boomers hit their 30’s and 40’s, they decided it was no longer necessary to fund the social programs (public education, cheap university education) that had benefitted them for so long and began cutting them in order to avoid paying higher taxes. Many also won the genetic lottery and were able to buy property during the 70’s when the average house only cost four times more than an average person’s yearly salary (today, it’s 10 times more). </p>
<p>Boom, Bust and Echo. <— Great book on this topic.</p>
<p>I know it’s kind of a generalization and everything, but sometimes I ask myself when I read and see certain thing-- Why do american parents hate their kids so much?</p>
<p>But my mommy and daddy love me!</p>
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<p>Are you serious? Not ENOUGH involvement? ****, there’s another thread on this forum saying parents are TOO involved and need to back up. </p>
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<p>OMG, I was talking about this the other day to a co-worker, and she just kind of tilted her head… glad SOMEBODY understands me, haha.</p>
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<p>That’s what they want you to think. =|</p>
<p>The problem with american kids is that they treat their parents like equals, almost like a couple of annoying roommates they live with because they pay the rent. Freedom is good, but only to some extent. I’m sure you guys know kids that do drugs, smoke, drink everyday, don’t give a shait about school, yet live at home. Those are the ones whose parents gave them “enough” freedom. Think about that.
Also, the teenager’s perception of freedom is very exaggerated and confusing. Most want their parents to buy them cars and clothes, give them food and shelter, pay thei school/college expenses, yet give them the ability to do any stupid shait they want. Is there anything wrong with this? How would you feel if you worked your as$ off, bought a house, a car, created a good comfortable life for yourself, and there came some arrogant jerk that lived at your house, ate your food, and argued with you on every occasion, disrespecting you and disregarding your advices?
PS Anyone who’s done babysitting for at least a week has an idea of how much time and effort it requires to take care of a child. You guys think you have no life now? your parents stopped having a life 15/16/17/18 years ago. Think about that too.</p>
<p>this thread could have (and should have) ended after the third post.</p>
<p>"Are you serious? Not ENOUGH involvement? ****, there’s another thread on this forum saying parents are TOO involved and need to back up. "</p>
<p>NOT that type of involvment. -Flexes muscles- PHYSICAL involvment. I know how involved parents are in our lives. I’m talking about how much of a lack of discipline there is. Society has mad to many laws saying you cant give your kid a good beating, and what do we get? A bunch of drugged up (both legal and not!), emotional (really emo), way-to-much-time-in-therapy weaklings. Dont tell me that all this shiit you see in the papers about how kids are too depressed and over-worked is true. BULL SHIIT. It’s plain and simple, our gerneration is WEAK. Kids need to grow a set of balls…or ovaries… and toughen up. enough said</p>
<p>I blame the baby-boomers… they were the first of the spoiled generations, as someone on here already said. </p>
<p>God, I hate mother ****ing baby boomers.</p>
<p>dima, thats great and i agree with you mostly, but some parents just suck. and whether or not they pay for stuff, it’s not a license to be combative.</p>