"The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.”
Attributed to SOCRATES by Plato
When I first saw this quote I could imagine it was someone of my parents generation speaking about mine, and now I can imagine it someone from my generation speaking about the next. It looks like every generation has the opinion that they were better when they were kids. Were kids ever not tyrants? Is ‘tyrants’ just a word they used long ago for ADHD? Is the youth that ‘contradict their parents’ today’s teenager? Did children ever rise when elders came into the room?! I can’t even get my kids to move off the couch to let older relatives sit down… but I guess it isn’t a new problem! Have students tyrannized their teachers since Plato’s time?! I must admit.... like my kids, I do prefer chatter over exercise on most days…. Don’t most of us?!! I do not understand the leg crossing thing. I read that Socrates was the type of guy that looked at others and told them what they were doing wrong. Sort of a “Do what I say and not what I do” kinda guy… but it is interesting that the same problems parents had with children in 400 BC are still around. By the way… I also read that he was executed for ‘dangerous ideas’…. I guess someone thought it was ok to cross their legs!! ☺
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