Are Your Kids Making Good Decisions?

I just read the results of a survey that was discussed on KidsPost at WashingtonPost.com. It said that kids today, compared with those of 1989, were making better life decisions.

For example, 62 percent said they wouldn’t cheat on a test compared with 48 percent in 1989. Only 18 percent thought it was OK to smoke just because you enjoy it as opposed to 27 percent in 1989. 58 percent said they would refuse alcohol at a party if it were offered to them (46 percent in 1989 said the same). The survey was done by the Girl Scout Research Institute. What do you think? Are kids making better choices?

When I look at the photos on some kids’ Facebook pages, it doesn’t appear that they’re making good choices. Maybe the questions on the survey were a little old fashioned. No one asked, “Have you in the last month sent a text message of yourself naked?” or “Have you in the past month posted photos of yourself and friends doing tequila shots?”

Honestly, sometimes I’m surprised at what I see and how willing kids are to be so exposed, both literally and figuratively. College admissions counselors and potential employers have no problem viewing someone’s Facebook page. And they do.

I don’t mean to be negative. There are great kids out there who are making good choices about their lives, despite the fact that they’re bombarded daily with temptations to do the opposite. I have high respect for the teenagers that I know – they’re terrific people. And I admire them even more because thanks to technology they have so many more choices to make than those kids in 1989.