Have younger people confused standing up for themselves with being disrespectful?

Question

I was raised to respect people, especially those older than me, and I genuinely feel like something has changed in the way some younger people treat older people today. I'm not saying all young people are disrespectful, but the level of rudeness I see from some of them is concerning.

What bothers me is how quickly some younger people become defensive or disrespectful when an older person corrects them. You can disagree with someone without raising your voice, throwing insults, rolling your eyes, or speaking to them as though they are beneath you. Having your own opinions doesn't give you the right to treat people badly.

I understand that older people are not always right. Some can be controlling, unreasonable, and even abusive, and nobody should have to tolerate mistreatment simply because someone is older. But there is a clear difference between standing up for yourself and deliberately being rude. I don't understand why some people struggle to recognize that difference.

Growing up, I was taught that the way you treat people says a lot about your character. You don't have to like everybody or agree with everything they say, but you should still know how to communicate without being unnecessarily disrespectful. To me, that is basic maturity.

Sometimes I wonder whether social media has contributed to this attitude, especially when people get praised for embarrassing others or when disrespect is presented as confidence. I also wonder whether some parents have become too hesitant to correct their children.

Respect should go both ways, of course. Older people should treat younger people with consideration too. But I don't believe that showing respect means you are weak, unintelligent, or incapable of standing up for yourself.

When did basic manners start becoming such a difficult thing? 🤔

Chazmatazz269 · Accepted Answer

Indeed. It seems to be part of a larger pattern of entitlement. Kids who are both ignorant and inexperienced believe that they are owed the same respect as an older, wiser and more experienced person. It’s the “You’re not the boss of me!” mindset, and it only demonstrates their ignorance and inexperience.
If not corrected, they grow up to be young adults who look at the results of an older person’s lifetime of work and decide that they, the child, deserves all of those same rewards without ever having done the work or made the sacrifices. Even if you tell them about the decades of hard work and sacrifice, they dismiss it and call you “privileged”. Instead of “You’re not the boss of me!”, they usually sputter things like “Just cuz you’re older than me that doesn’t mean you’re better than me!”.
I’m convinced that these are all indicators of the same childish mindset. They are almost certainly the same idiots pushing for “socialism” on a larger scale. They want everything given to them without ever having earned it.

Anonymous · Accepted Answer

I think a lot of people didn't get enough hugs growing up. I think a lot of people behave this way because they feel the only way to gain any respect is by taking it. And i don't care what anyone says or does until they hurt somebody else. Then they become my problem.

FreyaRed · Accepted Answer

I was raised to threat people the same way they threat you and some old people pissed me off so I turned to be bad girl. Being 50-60 years older doesn't give magically the right to threat me with disrespect.

Jessie__a_ · Accepted Answer

standing up for yourself is about setting healthy boundaries, whereas disrespect is about being rude or insulting.

Interstate · Answer

Since parents started lacking on discipline. Many kids are an only child, so it is easy to spoil them rotten. Parents don't know where to draw the line, so they continue to give to them to the point they keep taking and taking and not respecting or appreciating what they have. So it develops into gimme gimme gimme! Then that develops into disrespect towards others.

Levin · Answer

I think this has gotten worse since covid.

Younger people have not had any boundaries, so they are bound to kick off if someone tries to pull them up on their behaviour.

I deal with students and you have to choose your battles with them. Sometimes I don't let them get away with shit. Others, I'm like, whatever, let your teacher deal with this shit. I don't get paid enough to wipe arses.

832loverboy73 · Answer

At 73, I don't think I should be called "bro" (or even "Unc," an apparent inner city honorific for us older chaps) by someone my great-niece's or youngest great-nephew's age.(They're respectively 21 and 22.) In any event,"bro" is a dumb word.

msc545 · Answer

This doesn't translate very well. By that. I mean that what to one person constitutes standing up for themselves will be called disrespectful by the recipient. The definitions of disrespectful and just standing up for yourself are confused and conflated depending on who the recipient and who the deliverer really are. Many older people feel that anything that is said to them by a younger person is disrespectful and many younger people feel than anything An older person says to them is picking on them in some fashion.

loveslongnails · Answer

Younger people don't seem to understand what the terms "respect" or "disrespect" mean, especially the latter. They think if someone corrects them, even in a totally non-aggressive way in private because they are provably wrong, it means they're disrespecting them.

Staximus · Answer

I think many younger people don’t know how to keep themselves composed and keep their emotions and behavior under control. They have never had to suffer any consequences for behaving out of control, like getting punched in the face.

slatyb · Answer

This is not new. It's a myth that younger people were more respectful fifty or sixty or seventy years ago.

Shiprex · Answer

I don't think they have. They are more knowledgable about things that many people older don't have a clue about so that pointing out the ignorance thing is only disrespectful if you're ignorant

NathanDavis · Answer

this is not a generation thing...  there's a lot of old and older people who do this the same, and sometimes worse...

Snakeyes7 · Answer

Standing up for yourself is essentially reciprocated disrespect. The problem is that a lot of people can't tell the difference between disrespect and constructive criticism.

fish5505_87 · Answer

I think people in general have become more disrespectful!

Bklynbadboy12 · Answer

Yes they have cause they are very disrespectful

Agape93 · Answer

Yeap

Have younger people confused standing up for themselves with being disrespectful?

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