This document analyzes common stereotypes about "problem children" and examines the real problems facing kids today. It discusses how adults often blame and stereotype children as being rude, immoral, lazy, greedy, stupid, and at-risk. However, the document argues that children actually struggle with issues like abuse, lack of access to healthcare, nutrition, education, and quality childcare. It suggests we should move past stereotyping kids and instead address their real problems by bringing more critical perspectives that consider children's actual lives and empower them.

1. WHAT’S WRONG
WITH KIDS
THESE DAYS?

2. OR,TO PUT ANOTHER WAY,
THIS IS THE TOPIC ABOUT...
“problem children”
vs.
children’s problems

5. dis⋅course an⋅al⋅y⋅sis [diss-kawrs ann-all-i-sis]
– noun. Examining how we understand and think
about the world by deconstructing the ways in which
we talk about it.

6. facts and fictions
about today’s youth

9. one of the biggest challenges
children face is their relative
lack of social power

10. kids are rude
immoral
lazy & greedy
stupid
at-risk

12. kids are rude

18. “A crying baby is
the best form of
birth control.” –
Carole Tabron

22. kids are immoral

28. Cheating is relatively rare in
classrooms where the
learning is genuinely
engaging and meaningful to
students and where a
commitment to exploring
significant ideas hasn’t been
eclipsed by a single-minded
emphasis on “rigor.”
– Alfie Kohn

33. only 30-35% of children trust
celebrities
77% trust friends
86% trust parents and
teachers

35. kids are lazy & greedy

37. $1,800,000

46. kids are stupid

47. things today’s kids will
never know!(!!)

69. kids are at-risk

74. why do we
stereotype kids?

75. blaming the victim:

76. living in a
culture of fear:

77. idealizing
the past:

78. targeting kids
to absolve adults:

79. Kids’ Real Problems:
• Child abuse and neglect
• Lack of affordable quality child care
• Lack of access to good nutrition
• Lack of access to health care
• Lack of access to quality education
• An adult culture of work and
efficiency

80. Struggles in Addressing These:
• Images of childhood as a time of
innocence
• Images of children as passive victims
• Adult role expectation of protecting
the weak
• Lack of adult awareness of realities
of kids’ lives
• Limits of child assertiveness
• Limits of child empowerment

81. where can we
benefit from
critical perspectives?

82. Reading for the Week:
• Pages 418-470