Modeling Good Behavior

"Kids these days, they don't do anything right, they're bad, disobedient, untrustworthy."

How often have you heard these words? Too often perhaps, the news is full of stories about bad youths, kids gone off the rails. There's drugs, theft, car chases, everywhere you look, it seems. Maybe you've spoken the same words yourself.

But really, is it fair to label all kids like this? Have you had a lot of interaction with teenagers lately, seen them at school, or sport? Or seen them working away to sell you the food or goods you want. If you have, you should consider factoring these sorts of young people into the equation. They don't attract the media's attention like the "Bad Kids" do, but there are a lot more of the young people working in whatever field, who do the right thing. They just don't make as exciting a story, so the media ignores them.

Conflict is what sells - How boring can a nil all draw be? No where near as exciting as a game where the lead changes almost constantly, with the conflict of the players in competition. For the same reasons, a lad who steals a car and leads the police on a high speed chase makes a more interesting story than a lad who works steadily at his schoolwork and passes his subjects. The school success would go unheralded by the media unless there was something "sexy" about him.

Look at what is on television, the movies. For the most part the highest rating vision is of people being bad, whether it's thrillers, or reality TV, or the nightly news. People quietly going about their business probably don't want media attention, but if these sorts of people aren't the ones seen by children, how can kids know how to act themselves?

The thing that prompted this story was an incident from my past week. I was in the city last Friday, waiting for the pedestrian light to turn green so I could cross the road. Standing next to me were a man with a young child in a stroller, both waiting for the green light. Across the road from us were two people also waiting for the light to change. Well, they waited a split second and then with barely a glance at the traffic they crossed illegally at the red signal.

I remained waiting on the pavement, as did the man and child. The traffic wanting to turn right was inconvenienced by the wrong-doers, and the light turned green for us only a couple of seconds later. As I stepped off the pavement to cross the road I looked at the child. What lesson did she get from the bad behaviour? When she grows up a bit more and can cross roads by herself, will she do the right thing and wait for the green light or will she just cross whenever she feels like it, with the green light or against it?

I sincerely hope she will continue to do the right thing and display the good behaviour of her father, but if she sees more people who do the wrong, rather than the right thing, whose fault is it if she does the wrong thing? Not mine, I always cross on the green light. I say it's the fault of the people who think they are too busy/important/special to do the right thing.

This story can fill in for so many other things. If adults speed, do drugs, drink too much, steal, and children see the bad behaviour, then some of them will model that bad behaviour. It is important we all do the right thing and model good behaviour, so children can see people who wait for the green light are the majority, and do the right thing too.

Just think of the children, and wait a while longer. Your world won't end!