[garbanzo]

Were there school shootings, rampant pregnancies and illegitimate births, widespread illiteracy, or violence against teachers back when you went to school?

Depends on the time frame, I went to school in the 80s. Teenage pregnancy was not uncommon in the 1950s - you just didn't hear about it as much. And as for violence - the stat you cite is only reporting victims of crime. There is no word on how many perps. To give an example if one kid commits 100 crimes a year against 100 students, it shows up as 100 crimes, not one hundred criminals.

While it's an article of faith among people that things are just getting worse and worse, it really isn't born out by much reasonable evidence. What I'm responding to is the notion not that there are no social concerns, but rather that somehow or another today's teens are vastly more violent and out of control than compared to historical norms, as you suggested by implying that today's teens will steal anything that isn't bolted down.

[FITZ]

Depends on the time frame, I went to school in the 80s. Teenage pregnancy was not uncommon in the 1950s - you just didn't hear about it as much.

It wasn't as common --- but a couple of generations ago kids expected to be married at age 18 to 21. As a society, we've probably delayed the age of marriage far beyond what biology would have it as.

[Jaysun]

What I'm responding to is the notion not that there are no social concerns, but rather that somehow or another today's teens are vastly more violent and out of control than compared to historical norms, as you suggested by implying that today's teens will steal anything that isn't bolted down.

OK. Here's a chart from the US Department of Justice - Bureau of Justice Statistics. I included a link at the top of the chart so that you can go see this one and others if you'd like. The numbers represent the total number of arrest per 100,000 population (to adjust for population growth). The total number has been climbing since 1970 on this chart. Even though it went down in 1999, it's still a 50% increase over 1970. The same holds true from 1960. The rates were relatively normal from year to year before that. I'm having trouble "uploading" the other chart, but will do so if I can. If this doesn't make you reconsider, nothing else will.