A popular English magazine recently came to the conclusion that Mumbai is the rudest city after it carried out a survey, but many feel it’s not a city but today’s generation that is rude and mannerless. They might not raise their voice or say something impolite, but their body language, tone and attitude are enough to cut someone dead.

Well-meaning but boring relatives are forced to cut down on their moral lectures when they realise that their nephew has mentally switched off. Acquaintances are shocked when they ask people personal questions like, “Why are you getting divorced?” and are asked to mind their own business. Parents don’t go on and on telling kids to do something out of fear that they will be labelled as nags or snapped at. And teachers are still in denial over the fact that students can’t be asked to get up and greet them when they bump into each other in corridors (in fact teachers should be happy if students stand up when they

enter the classroom). Why is this happening? Are today’s youth really insensitive, rude beings or are they being misunderstood?

Veerendra, an 18-year old going abroad to study says, “It is a very competitive world and nobody really cares about what the other person might think. Also nobody wants to suffer fools anymore, so if you ask a stupid question, you won’t get a polite reply”. Someone in their 40s or 50s might argue that Veeredra is being rude and snappy, but his generation will just say that they are being direct and assertive.

S. Malleswara Rao, Principal of BBH College, feels there are many reasons behind these behavioral changes. He says, “Kids have a lot of confidence in themselves today and even parents encourage that, so they always think they are right. Through television and the Internet, they gain a lot of knowledge and aren’t dependent on teachers. Their outlook is very Western, but I tell my students to be Western from the inside too. Learn to be honest like them and be good with time management too”. Apart from confidence, youth are also independent. If they want they can start earning very early in life thanks to BPOs and part-time jobs. This shifts the traditional balance of power.

Forget schools and colleges, these attitudes have entered the workplaces too. A 24-year-old won’t be polite to a 40-year-old who isn’t doing his job efficiently and neither will someone look eternally grateful after being given a promotion because it’s her own hard work she has to thank for it.

KV Narasimha Rao, principal of St. Anns Engineering College, sums this cultural change very well. He says, “Today’s youngsters are exposed to so much and many go abroad for education. In the West nobody stands up when a teacher enters a classroom. Neither is one addressed as ’sir’ or ‘madam’. We might think they are being rude because we are not used to this.” Mr Rao is right, may be the older generation needs to get with the programme and stop living in the past

 

http://yagnamurthy.sulekha.com/blog/post/2008/07/assertive-youth-get-branded-rude.htm