Today’s Youth: Time For a Change Since the beginning of time, children have always enjoyed the little things in life. Playing outdoors, friends and sports have always been the main forms of entertainment. However, in more recent years, children have found new ways of spending their free time, and it is changing the future of our youth. Parents spoil their kids, material possessions are more important than making friends, and the internet has lead to anti-socialism and cyberbullying. All parents want what is best for their children. Every parents used to have their own rules and consequences. If their kid would not finish their homework, then they would not be allowed to go play outside. They used to use negative reinforcement. Nowadays, in most cases, parents use positive reinforcement. If their kid gets an ‘A‘ on their exam, then they get paid some money. Since parents started to use positive reinforcement, kids now expect things from their parents that they don’t always deserve. The satisfaction of getting an ‘A’ or learning something new is not longer enough. All kids want is money or material items to make them happy rather than education. Education is no longer the most important thing for children. Parents are too easy on their kids, therefore they get controlled by them. They get tired of arguing, so they let them win. Today’s youth are literally spoiled. I remember really wanting a barbie when I was younger. I had to wait until Christmas to get it since the only occasions I would get gifts were for Christmas and my birthday. Kids today can just walk in a store with their parents, see a toy they want, and cry until their parents give in. Parents spoiling their kids is something that needs to change. But what happens outside the house can also have a big impact on a kid’s life. Education is a important path in people‘s lives, since most of us have or will be in school for about 1/4 of our life. Why do we go to school? Most of us will say to get an education and get a job in the future. We now wonder what kids today would answer to that question. Smart is not how most kids want to be perceived. Instead of being popular because they are smart, they will be made fun of and called a nerd. They would rather be considered popular than smart. To be popular, they need to be fashionable to get the attention, and own the newest technologies. Daniel G., a 15 year old from Brookline, Massachusetts, explains that some children are too focused on what they own and that it is their lives. They have to measure up if they don’t want to be an outsider (In Christopher 1). Materialistic values can have big impacts on people. As Kasser explains, people more focused on material possessions report less self-actualization and vitality and more depression than the ones less focused on them (72). Those values can also have an impact on physical health. As Kasser points out, the persons that believe the most important things are possessions, popularity, and good looks have tendency to have more headaches, backaches, sore muscles and sore throats than others who don’t focus as much on those values (71). The most valuable things in life are not materialistic. People need to realize that possessing items will not truly make them happy. Children realize quick enough that they will be respected by others for what they own. When at school, all kids want to do is be seen as the ‘cool people’, however books and the library are no longer popular. Technology has obviously brought good things to today’s world. Television and radios are greats ways to keep our self entertained and learn the news. Computers and cellphones are great devices to keep in touch with friends and family. Technology also