50 years ago Jo Frost would have had to choose a different career path. Of course there have always been naughty children but never such a general disrespect for the authority of adults. ‘No’ would have been final, and the child might throw a strop once, but never again. Because his bawling would never come to fruition. In the mind of the adult, there was never any doubt who should be in control in their relationship, something curiously absent on the minds of modern day adults.
Today we have an altogether different method of dealing with our children. ‘Oh here darling, don’t bother me whilst I’m taking my boring lower-middle class office job home with me, play with this expensive piece of consumer rubbish that will a) kill your intellect before its even begun, and b) contribute to a global economy that is completely unsustainable and will eventually lead to the downfall of mankind.
Happy Days.
The Red Threat 
I’d be tempted to say Max that it is more about increasing respect for children as human beings with their own self-identities which need to be carefully fostered and supported. In a world in which access to information is so easy, especially for young people, it’s inevitable that young people are going to desire increasing power over their own lives. In ‘the past’ children were often treated as objects within a household with little opportunity for self-expression!
Although, as a ‘teacher’ i do agree that some parents do need to make their kids be nice sometimes! Games consoles and smart phones are a major problem I completely agree. Even simply in terms of the amount of time children spend on them when they should be thinking or sleeping!
On the other hand, I do rather like Call of Duty…