Today it is the world. As our community has changed, so has the nature of youth. These changes are reflected in how young people come to school. Children used to come to school with enough understanding of basic values such as personal property rights and individual responsibility so that the teacher and class could function together with relatively few problems. Traditional discipline approaches that educate or establish useful habits no longer work with too many of today's youth.
Many students spend hours in front of television and computer monitors.
These students engage in less interaction and socialization than former generations of students. Many of today's students' emotional maturity is at a lower developmental level. Many students today are aggressive, disobedient, disrespectful, disruptive, impulsive, and self-centered. Our profession has contributed to the dilemma. We have replaced standards with rewards for expected behavior.