Even before a group full of pre-teen students made national headlines for bullying a bus monitor in the last few weeks I had decided that there was something wrong with kids today.

Sure, the ones on the bus were especially monstrous, but when you look around at their counterparts they’re really not that different.

I once read that you can’t diagnose a child with any mental illness until after they’re 18 years old because they all profile as sociopaths. Whether that’s true or not, I don’t know.

To me, that’s a scary thought either way, though.

When you look at it, I think the roughest age for kids is probably 11 to 15. They’re essentially shrill little hormone bombs that have no idea how to deal with what they’re feeling.

That’s no excuse for what they did to that bus monitor, though.

I think one of the problems is that kids today are a bunch of entitled pains in the – well, you know where.

I know people tend to look back at their own childhood with rose colored glasses – but I honestly don’t remember acting that way. Mostly because my parents would have never allowed me to act that way.

I don’t actually remember being spanked as a child. I knew it was a possibility, though, and I acted accordingly. I did get swatted with the flyswatter by my grandma a time or two – and I’m sure I deserved it a lot more than it happened.

So, yeah, I did get some form of corporal punishment. And, guess what, I’m still standing.

I think one of the reasons kids are so out of control now is that they know their parents can’t touch them. There’s nothing to instill fear in them – so they act like the monsters that instill fear in those around them.

I know that’s a simplistic argument. There are actually other reasons that kids today are such a mess – but I honestly think that’s the biggest one.

Now, I’m not a proponent of beating your child senseless – but a good swift swat on the behind never hurt anyone.

The other reason I think kids are such a mess is their parents. Yeah, I said it.

It used to be that parents would go to parent teacher conferences and if they got a bad report on their child they would return home and discipline that child.

That’s not how it is now.

Parents actually take the word of the child over the teacher – saying their kid would never lie.

Here’s a tip, your kid lies. That’s what kids do. You might not want to believe that is behavior your child would engage in, but they do. Get over it.

Parents treat teachers like babysitters and don’t give them the respect they deserve. That’s the simple truth.

I think the third problem with kids today is that they don’t have to strive for anything. I mean, these kids are playing games in which no one wins and no one loses. Even the last place team is getting a trophy – whether they earned it or not.

If kids don’t learn to strive for something, they’ll never accomplish anything. If they always win, then why try to actually win?

What we’re doing is creating a generation that expects everything to be handed to them.

They have parents that buy them iPhones, iPads and Wii video game consoles – without ever working a day to pay for them.

I don’t know about anyone else, but I had a job when I was 14 years old and I worked 20 hours a week (sometimes more) throughout high school. If I wanted a video game system – I had to buy one for myself.

My parents helped me through college and with school clothes, etc., but they also expected me to pull my own weight.

That helped cultivate something in me that kids today don’t have: a work ethic.

I know, especially given today’s job market, that it’s harder for teenagers to get part-time jobs. They could be doing something else besides sitting in Starbucks and complaining about how their mom won’t buy them a car, though, and how she just doesn't understand the struggles of the modern teen.

Because, you know what? I don't believe the modern teen is struggling all that much.

Is it just me, or is this something wrong with the kids today? What do you think?