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cynatnite

(31,011 posts)
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:11 PM May 2012

I keep reading that not having god in school is why teens are so screwed up...

My sister posted on FB the horrible shape of teens and blamed it on lack of god in their lives.

I'm of the opinion that it's pretty much at the parents' feet plus the fact that teenagers are sometimes just crazy hormone-driven teenagers.

So what is up with this? Why blame not having a god for a reason why a person commits "sin" or whatever wrong they choose to do at any given moment? What is the matter with taking responsibility for your own actions or looking to the parents when a teenager jacks off, experiments with pot, has sex or whatever.

Anyone care to speculate on this?

35 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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I keep reading that not having god in school is why teens are so screwed up... (Original Post) cynatnite May 2012 OP
I think its a lack of discipline DJ13 May 2012 #1
There's a religion forum around here somewhere. ScreamingMeemie May 2012 #2
This is not strictly about religion... cynatnite May 2012 #4
It is based in god. ScreamingMeemie May 2012 #8
It still covers others areas... cynatnite May 2012 #12
Is this generation of teenagers really worse? Or is that the most sucky, tired meme ever? CreekDog May 2012 #14
It is a very tired old meme... cynatnite May 2012 #22
exactly CreekDog May 2012 #23
Magical thinking MrScorpio May 2012 #3
+1 nt TBF May 2012 #26
Great post. nt raccoon May 2012 #29
Nonsense. hifiguy May 2012 #5
Kids are more than welcome to pray to their god in school. NYC Liberal May 2012 #6
The lie that they can't has been spread far and wide. Mariana May 2012 #18
Just another thing to blame Drale May 2012 #7
Maybe we should try putting lots of gods in schools jberryhill May 2012 #9
Even though I believe in God, Drale May 2012 #31
I've always liked this graphic hifiguy May 2012 #34
Parents need to pay attention to their kids in ways that model the behavior they expect from kids LaurenG May 2012 #10
Here's some speculation... SomethingFishy May 2012 #11
Magical thinking. Dawson Leery May 2012 #13
Easier to blame god or lack of god for problems Capt. Obvious May 2012 #15
I disagree with the premise and the conclusion CreekDog May 2012 #16
Circularity -- you can't beat it. immoderate May 2012 #17
tell your sister god cannot be kept out of school. there is not like a magical wall seabeyond May 2012 #19
I think religion is why teens are so screwed up Taverner May 2012 #20
There's plenty of god in public school. Trillo May 2012 #21
It is the absence of corporal punishment. Rex May 2012 #24
Please tell me you're joking... cynatnite May 2012 #25
So your sister is saying schools have more influence than the home does.. Tikki May 2012 #27
Parental involvement is job#1 eom montanto May 2012 #28
Having attended both religious and godless public high schools... GoCubsGo May 2012 #30
and more likely to have parents who helpfully "cover stuff up" too Proud Liberal Dem May 2012 #35
It's just a baseball bat get the red out May 2012 #32
Having had 12 years of god in catholic school HockeyMom May 2012 #33

DJ13

(23,671 posts)
1. I think its a lack of discipline
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:15 PM
May 2012

Teachers and staff cant hardly even look at a student without the potential for legal trouble, and the kids use that to get away with a lot of crap that wouldnt have been allowed (or even thought of) back 30 years ago.

cynatnite

(31,011 posts)
4. This is not strictly about religion...
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:17 PM
May 2012

I think it covers a large area such as parenting, education, teenage-ishness, etc.

cynatnite

(31,011 posts)
12. It still covers others areas...
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:25 PM
May 2012

I'll leave it to the mods to make that determination. Alert if it will make you feel better.

CreekDog

(46,192 posts)
14. Is this generation of teenagers really worse? Or is that the most sucky, tired meme ever?
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:28 PM
May 2012

It's trotted out every 2 minutes by people who forgot that the past kind of sucked too.

It was trotted out when I was in high school and it's out now.

I don't honestly see any major difference between my cohort and current teenagers, except that I think the current group works harder, is smarter, is more sensitive and open minded than my own was.

cynatnite

(31,011 posts)
22. It is a very tired old meme...
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:59 PM
May 2012

We've just got cooler stuff than before. I remember when it was said my generation was the worst ever and we were going to drag the country to hell...blah, blah, blah.

MrScorpio

(73,626 posts)
3. Magical thinking
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:15 PM
May 2012

Best way for people who want to do nothing for solving the ills of society to absolve themselves from everything.

The ultimate catch all cop out.

 

hifiguy

(33,688 posts)
5. Nonsense.
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:17 PM
May 2012

The school prayer decisions came down in the early 1960s. There hasn't been (or shouldn't have been, at any rate) organized religion in the schools for 50 years. Years ago I was discussing this with my late mom, who was born in 1922 and went to school in a small town in NW Minnesota. She said that when she was growing up all the kids said was the Pledge of Allegiance - the pre "under god" pledge - each day and knew nobody who prayed in school.

NYC Liberal

(20,132 posts)
6. Kids are more than welcome to pray to their god in school.
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:18 PM
May 2012

They just can't have the school force it on everyone else, which is what these fundies/right-wingers are really complaining about.

Mariana

(14,849 posts)
18. The lie that they can't has been spread far and wide.
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:40 PM
May 2012

Many Christians, fundie and otherwise, fervently believe that students are strictly prohibited from praying in school at any time. It may even be a majority of Christians that believe that.

Drale

(7,932 posts)
7. Just another thing to blame
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:19 PM
May 2012

If its not a lack of god, its video games or sugar or hundreds of other things. 99.99% of the time its the parents fault.

 

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)
9. Maybe we should try putting lots of gods in schools
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:22 PM
May 2012

That's my answer.

When people want to put "god in schools", I wonder why they want to limit it to just one.

The more the merrier!

Drale

(7,932 posts)
31. Even though I believe in God,
Mon May 14, 2012, 04:58 PM
May 2012

I used to praise the Norse Gods in High School just to piss off the Bible-thumpers. lol

LaurenG

(24,841 posts)
10. Parents need to pay attention to their kids in ways that model the behavior they expect from kids
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:22 PM
May 2012

Taking a teenager to church doesn't keep kids out of each others pants, or their own for that matter. I recently had my teen-aged grandchild living with me and the rules were do not hurt yourself or others and no casual sex. It meant something to her that I cared enough to help her learn about setting good boundaries. I think training kids to respect themselves is something they learn at home. I'm no expert though it just worked that way for my kids.

SomethingFishy

(4,876 posts)
11. Here's some speculation...
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:24 PM
May 2012

There is nothing wrong with teens except that THEY ARE TEENS.

Every generation tries to blame "what is wrong with teens" on something. Dime store novels, comic books, video games, Rock and Roll, all have been blamed for the "problems with teens".

I guess we can add "lack of god" to the list.


CreekDog

(46,192 posts)
16. I disagree with the premise and the conclusion
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:32 PM
May 2012

I think the teens are screwed up is BS. They are no more screwed up than any other age group now and no more or less screwed up than teens before them.

And since I disagree with the premise, I also think the "god" part is BS.

Many teens have "god". Many teens do not.

Many teens around the world have god and turn out great and many around the world don't and also turn out great. And the reverse is also true.

Sometimes we need to just call BS when BS is told to us.

Or else we end up posting things like kids chewing gum was the main problems schools had in the 1950's. BS as it turned out. But if you accept these premises you often are unwittingly accepting BS.

So question it. It's the most useful thing you can do.

 

immoderate

(20,885 posts)
17. Circularity -- you can't beat it.
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:34 PM
May 2012

They're screwed up, so they don't believe in god -- which is the reason that they're so screwed up!

--imm

 

seabeyond

(110,159 posts)
19. tell your sister god cannot be kept out of school. there is not like a magical wall
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:45 PM
May 2012

if a child has god in his heart (this is for believers) then god is in that school all day long with that child.

if a parent cannot convey this to the child, then it truly says something baout the parents ability. that being said

i think there are a lot of social factors going on with our kids. there are so many things in their life today, that children have never had. it is a big boiling vat of an experiment and who knows what the repercussions or rewards be.

 

Taverner

(55,476 posts)
20. I think religion is why teens are so screwed up
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:47 PM
May 2012

They are given a Bronze-Age code of ethics to live during the information age.

Unlike adults, they aren't as adept at compartmentalizing.

Trillo

(9,154 posts)
21. There's plenty of god in public school.
Mon May 14, 2012, 03:58 PM
May 2012

god=authority
So, the top local god is the principal. The next local god of note is the teacher.
Those who have no authority, are by definition godless, thus,
students=godless.
The right seems to be saying that students need to have authority, in order that they won't be godless. The hypocrisy is that the right fails to demonstrate this principal in their religious schools, granting the same godless status to students.

cynatnite

(31,011 posts)
25. Please tell me you're joking...
Mon May 14, 2012, 04:03 PM
May 2012

You think teens went to hell because they stopped using wooden boards on their asses?

Tikki

(14,539 posts)
27. So your sister is saying schools have more influence than the home does..
Mon May 14, 2012, 04:13 PM
May 2012

on teens.

Best talk about life with young ones, not just talk at them.



Tikki

GoCubsGo

(32,061 posts)
30. Having attended both religious and godless public high schools...
Mon May 14, 2012, 04:43 PM
May 2012

I can assure your sister that teens in religious schools are as bad, if not worse than teens in schools where "God" is not shoved down their throats. The kids in the religious schools do the same things as their public school counterparts. The difference is that they are just better at covering it up.

get the red out

(13,459 posts)
32. It's just a baseball bat
Mon May 14, 2012, 05:00 PM
May 2012

I see those posts all the time on FB, it's a baseball bat the right uses to beat the left with, hoping to seem less obvious about it.

 

HockeyMom

(14,337 posts)
33. Having had 12 years of god in catholic school
Mon May 14, 2012, 05:04 PM
May 2012

I say BS. All this constant god and praying does it turn kids OFF to it. I swore when I graduated I would never subject my own children to this, and I didn't. That is why I sent them to public school. So where can people escape it if they put "god back in public education"?.

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