I've been reading the posts and have decided that there are a couple things that bother me and I decided I have a couple points I'd like to throw into the fire.

One is the assertion that the military only uses up their recruits and does nothing to better them (Art). I think this gives grave disservice to the men and women in our military branches. These "kids" (even mere infantrymen) are taught more than just shooting and killing. They are taught leadership, teamwork, computer sciences, geopolitics, attention to detail, etc to accomplish their assigned mission - they are not robots merely blindly following orders. They are provided with numerous opportunities to attend college both during and following their service. The vast majority of service members serve with honor and deserve better. The few who don't fit are processed out.

Another is that the younger people are ALL jackwagons. Again, I think this is a serious over generalization. Each generation learns new skills that previous generations couldn't fathom. They also don't learn other skills that were critical to prior generations because they are no longer valuable to day to day living.

Each new generation shocks the previous generation just by living. It's especially in the nature of teenagers to challenge authority at all times. Remember when you were young, you did it too! There are many famous quotes back into antiquity about the new generation being lazy, ignorant wastrels and how their music is terrible. Ok, sometimes I agree with that last part but I do like me some GaGa

I do agree that newer generations are having to work really hard to maintain that shock and awe. I've recently encountered a disturbing trend of kids dressing like the 60's and 70's again! The Horror!

Loss of some skills occurs every generation but I do feel the loss is accelerating. Parents may learn only 25% of what their parent knew and then only pass on 25% to their children. The reasons are many and have been mentioned earlier, but each successive generation passes only a portion of their knowledge onward resulting in a diminishing return.

Additionally, I do think our public schools are failing in what I consider their primary mission. However, I feel it is the fault of the parents because the school system is overburdened doing the parent's job. Teachers are being charged with being supplemental parents rather than just being teachers. All the responsibility but none of the authority. Schools shouldn't be responsible for every facet of a child's life, but that's what they're being held responsible for doing. If the school does discipline a student oftentimes parents come to the school and complain that their little precious is being picked on. So much for the school having any authority to maintain order let alone establish a rigid standard. Parents that pay for private school or Home school are usually far more involved in their kid's schooling than many public school kids. Apples and Oranges with regards to parental involvement.

There, I've said my piece.