Who says the kids of today are? FBI stats indicate that juvenile violence is at a twenty-year low. I think kids are somewhat more independent of parents (cars, urbanization, mass transit, etc) and have a greater space to experiment with different things but overall this image of the youth out of control is more fearmongering by the usual powerhungry sources.
Short answer, and I think I stated it in my first post, is that they're sheep.
Long answer, and I've had this discussion with someone in my family, probably my mom, is that some people can't differentiate between the virtual world and the real world. Example, television violence, most people my age watch lots of TV. Most watch stuff that's basically mind-numbing. I like shows that have some sort of plot (except the Simpsons, hold that thought for a second). I watch Law & Order, CSI, and NYPD Blue on a regular basis. Basically the only other shows I watch are on Discovery Wings channel or the Discovery Channel (gotta have the gearheads of Monster Garage and American Chopper). See...now I've gone off on a tangent and lost my train of thought.
The point is, many people my age watch violence on TV or play so-called violent video games and can't differentiate it from the real world. That's where we get the fringe groups like Columbine et al. They see it and they absorb it as if it's real, and althought they may know it's not real, their brain can't differentiate it from anything else because they don't think about it.
I agree that a majority of people my age show no respect to their elders. Another example of a kid I went to grade school with. We have the best math teacher, probably in the country, and we're his last class. My friend continually comes in late to class, and when our teacher tells him that he has a ten minute detention at lunch he says something to me like "I don't see why he's so stupid." I have to try to keep from staring at him wide-eyed and saying "are you really dumb as a post?"
This teacher teaches both Calculus and Algebra, at the "enriched" level, two classes of each. He has a policy that if you have a spare during the other class of that math you can go to either your scheduled class or the other one, as long as you go to one. My friend decided that he wanted to have a double spare in the morning and so he told the teacher that he would be going to the afternoon algebra class from now on. The second day of that he skipped both classes and the teacher stated to our class that he won't play that game, and continued to mark the student absent. I told my friend about it and he said "I told him that I was going to the other class, why is he so dumb?"
Complete lack of respect for our elders. Check. It's sad, it really is.