Ask WYE – Issue 40 – Kids These Days

Not just for the parents among us this time, our recent guest Joe Newman chimed in with a question about if we on the streets as first responders have seen a change in kids, parenting, or both. It reminded Justin of the following interaction between noted sociologists Carl Reed and Richard Vernon in the well known childhood behavioral documentary Breakfast Club:

Vernon: Carl, don’t be a goof. I’m trying to make a serious point here. I’ve been teaching, for twenty-two years, and each year, these kids get more and more arrogant.

Carl: Aw BS, man. Come on Vern, the kids haven’t changed, you have! You took a teaching position, ’cause you thought it’d be fun, right? Thought you could have summer vacations off and then you found out it was actually work and that really bummed you out.

Vernon: These kids turned on me. They think I’m a big freaking joke.

Carl: Come on…listen Vern, if you were sixteen, what would you think of you, huh?

Vernon: Hey, Carl, you think I give one rat’s behind what these kids think of me?

Carl: Yes, I do.

Vernon: You think about this…when you get old, these kids; when I get old, they’re gonna be runnin’ the country.

Carl: Yeah?

Vernon: Now this is the thought that wakes me up in the middle of the night; that when I get older, these kids are gonna take care of me.

Carl: I wouldn’t count on it.

This week, the guys cross the lines between peace keepers and caregivers and authoritarians in their own homes, taking childhood experiences that are literally opposite yet land in almost the same space as adults. How does that compute? Covered this week by your experts:

• Has law enforcement seen a generational change in recent years?
• Do tactics used in police and EMS have a place in determining if little Johnny is telling the truth?
• Has every generation asked this question? If so, where is the answer?
• Is it safe for MC to come over and punch HM in the uvula during Shelter in Place?

These questions and more are answered as your hosts take off their work hats to put on their parenting hats only to have to kind of take off one hat to…then…wait, who wears hats anymore?