I am a part of this youth that is so often misunderstood. I can not count how many times i have been called irresponsible by adultsbecause i dont have a job at the moment. I am in high school right now, i am playing basketball right now, i am a member of the bsa. Many adults don't realize how much we youth do for zero pay. Listen to many conversations, jobs are about money. Many of The kids you described were trying to support the family but many were doing it for personal gain. This is not responsible in my mind, but responsible is staying home and studying for AP or practicing for basketball till 8:00 at night without pay. I feel that many kids today do sit around playing MW3 to much, but to say a whole generation is not working in my mind is either a skewed reality or a nostalgic view of the past. Many kids do work in fact also, many people i know work for a local water well service, grass farms, HEB (a Texas grocery store that hires a LOT of kids.) And other things. The school work is harder now than it used to be. Just look at the standardized testing from the 80s. If you think it is easy now, just look at the difference being back then makes. It was much easier to be considered academically acceptable back then than it its today. People have said that america has fallen behind on education in the world and is now below average. Actually we are 7th in the world most of the other 6 (including China) have a six day school week and all of them have much longer days. If we want to be one of the best, than we need to improve our dated education system. Now, stepping off my podium.... I dont mean to argue or sound rude, i just don't like hearing about how my generation is amoral from 60s teens (who as a generation, not all people, were WAAYYY less moral), or dont work. I may be skewing it from my perspective, but to me, we are the most misunderstood and strong people on the face of the earth.