Is child behavior better or worse than it was years ago?

Child behavior has changed a lot and it's not getting any better, in the contrary, it's getting worse everyday. The responsible of their behavior is the parents. Some of them are afraid of disciplining their children and when the children know that he got power over the parents they disrespect them by calling them names and doing other things that can embarass the parents. When you let the kids do whatever they want, you don't love them because later on they will end up in jail or dead. I know that spanking is not a solution but sometimes they need it.