Are values changing in our society at large?

Were the increases in gun-related violent crime in the 1990s, particularly by teenagers, related to some collapse of social values or do they simply reflect the emergence of some underlying problems that have been in our society for years but only then began expressing themselves?

Is everybody too busy exploring the virtual online environment to be socially involved in their real-life communities?

What are your thoughts regarding today's values compared to values in the past. Are they the same or different?

They are different. No doubt about it. Everything changes constantly, even if it's not always entirely obvious.

Women showing their ankles? What is this nonsense. Dirty harlets I say. They deserve 2 lashings...

The times they are a changin.

Yes, society tends to change.

But then again, people tend to adapt. 10 years from now this thread will reappear, just a different OP

I think we have more advancements in technology that enable communication to the masses, than we did back in the old days. So we have more news, and to increase ratings, more sensationalism.
As far as societal values: I don't think the problems of education, nutrition, affordable housing and access to health care will ever disappear, and most certainly could be contributing factors in some inner city or minority cases of violence with a firearm. However, that does not include instances where where teens/children with access to good nutrition, safe housing, and healthcare went postal and shot up their schoolmates because they didn't integrate well.
So those factors aren't the only ones.
I think instad, it points to a problem of psychological issues not being recognized, for whatever reason, by the parents or caregiver, and not being dealt with soon enough.
Those reasons could be neglect, exhausted parent working two jobs to support the family, caregiver being absent due to job, parent or caregiver assuming that a shift in their teen's emotional makeup is a harmless phase, chemical imbalances, and not recognizing the signs due to a lack of mental health education.

Thirdly, I think most people try to aim for a happy balance of IRL friends to online ones. (I have more IRL ones than online ones, beacuse I prefer face to face interactions to online ones. - Jokes are made about my nonfunctioning online sarcasm detector, hee-hee).
I think the internet has actually been good for some folks with social anxiety disorders, places like Facebook, Twitter, and even these forums give the user the option to be a social or reclusive as they want to be. One could even argue that with so many avenues available for mass communication, we should have no issues connecting and being involved in the community. Many communities, both physical places, and online ones, have Facebook and Twitter Pages.

Thank you, Mama.

You are very welcome.

Yup, values have changed, and in many ways, for the worst. I won't get into much detail because that would get political, but one thing I can comment on is the music.

Today, most music just svcks. Musicians are slaves to huge corporations that make them pop out album after album with auto tune and go on world wide tours just to make a buck.

Back then, musicians were artists, Jazz improvisation is evidence of that. Even the 70s and 80s, Rock and Roll musicians would do complex solos that demanded perfection. Now, there is no skill.

+100

And yes, I think values are changing.

Values are always changing; whether those changes are for the better depends on who you ask.


You sir, don't have the slightest clue about modern music, nor about all the crap that was made in the previous century.

I dont think the values have really changed much, TBH.. i know that theres this wholesome postcard image of the past that we all have engrained into our heads and heads.. But i dont think it was ever really that way- its window dressing for children.
It is easy to look back and see how it was "when i was a kid" and say its completely different now.. but is it that things have changed, or that our perception of them have changed?

We can see things like school shootings in newspapaers and on TV.. but did things like this happen in the past? sure they did.
One big difference now is the speed at which news travels. News events can almost instantaneously be beamed live via satellite anywhere in the world now- in the past, it might take weeks or more to really know what went down a few towns away.
Another difference is that the populace is just bigger. we may have more things like school shootings.. but we also have more schools. more students. more people that are in that percentage of the populace filed under crazy.

I do think that we are adjusting to a larger population with faster moving information and less space for people in bigger cities. so sure we are changing. I dont know that our values are changing though..
most people still think that treating other people well is the best way to go about things. Most people just wantt o be happy. Religion doesnt hold as much of a grasp, at least here in the US as it once had, but it never really left and doesnt need to be synonymous with "values"

just my two cents though..

Of course. The shorts I'm wearing right now would be considered indecent as underwear at the turn of the last century.

Values. Values never change.

Oh wait, actually they do. Society is constantly evolving.

I'll say values are changing...

why it use to be that a movie was a dollar, and now it's twelve-fifty! And lord knows they ain't makin' any movies worth watchin' out there in Holly-wud, what with all them nudie-flicks bein' made..

Ah reckon it be them inflatables that they keep going on 'bout up in Wallstreet, an' how it's driving up the prices everywhere.. although ah be stitched what blow up sixdolls have to do with the economy, outside of Californee course..

yep.

Maybe societies values change, but human nature is the same now as it was several thousand years ago. The things that change are society's tolerance and reaction to these behaviors. I do think there is a canker of a particular sort, the permissive and pervasive cheating culture, as described in http://www.amazon.com/Cheating-Culture-Americans-Doing-Wrong/dp/0156030055/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1309204008&sr=8-1.

Yes, values change... but I would be so bold as to say some values (honesty, integrity, responsibility, for example) may bring more benefits (such as better order, social mobility, and sense of community) for society than other values.

Values.

Values change with time, age, culture, geography, economy, etc.

Yup theres alot of change.

The worst is News and Media which seems to just become some ill tempted attempt at entertainment. Least in America.

Burn her at the stake!

It's funny how people poo-poo the old days, when in fact, when I was in school, there was no need for metal detectors. Not even one. When my oldest daughter was in high school, they already had 6 and were installing 6 more when we moved to Oregon 10 years ago. They also had to have city police, 6 cars worth, at school every day after school. No, nothing's changed. :rolleyes:

I went to an inner city high school, you can bet we had metal detectors. The issue was knives, not guns.

Oh, I have great knowledge. Over my years of life, I have had many musical tastes. Note how I said Most in the modern music. Not all the music made in the 20th century was good, but most of it had complexity and musical talent that is far better than MOST modern music.

This.