Kids not being kids is par for the course at this point of the Generational Saeculum. Here's a taste of what it was like the last time things were like this in the early 1930s:
http://gutenberg.net.au/fsf/BABYLON-REVISITED.html
These kids are going to grow up and be just like the dieing off GI and Silent cuspers. Well, they'll behave and react in similar manners, though the values will be more in accordance with our values. Which means that when they have kids, we'll have a cultural rebellion the level of the 1960s again.
Generational Theory in a nutshell
4 repeating archetypes
Idealist
Nomad
Civic
Artist
Previous & Current Modern Generations
Missionary - Idealist - 1860 - 1882
Lost - Nomad - 1883 - 1900
GI - Civic - 1901 - 1924
Silent - Artist - 1925 - 1942
Boom - Idealist - 1943 - 1960
X - Nomad - 1961 - 1981
Millennial - Civic - 1982 - ~2002 (Unclear at the present where the exact end point is)
Homeland - Artist - ~2003 - ?
There are cusps between each archetype which often blends archetypes. Right now the kids who are "abandoning childhood" are a mix of Civic and Artist archetypes.
Previous Cusps:
1901 - 1905 - Interbellum - they were old enough in the Roaring '20s to be the youngest flappers and dappers around (Nomad traits), but banded together to elect FDR and work in the WPA and CCC to help the country out of the Great Depression (Civic traits).
1922 - 1928 - Greatest - these are those who fought in WWII and went on to establish the ideal (formulated by the previous Idealists) American life (the American Dream) in the 1950s (Civic trait). They helped make America the superpower it is today. The most highly educated group in recent history, and most concerned with manners and traditions (Artist trait). During the Great Depression these were the adorable kids who optimistically believed that *cue music* "The sun'll come out... tomorrow".
1940 - 1945 - War Babies - these are those who began the Civil Rights movement and were the think tanks of what later became known as "the sixties". They turned to education (Artist trait) to avoid being drafted in a war they thought immoral (Idealist trait), and after being Hippies later became Yuppies.
1958 - 1964 - Jonesers - these are those who didn't feel the pressure of the Draft and the Vietnam war and were allowed to have Dance Fever on the disco floor and promoted the ideal of equality for all the minorities (Idealist trait). They are seen as scoring the lowest on test scores of all recent age groups. However this is because they found the educated fields already filled up (by those social climbing Yuppies) so they turned to street smarts (Nomad trait) and more practical, down to earth means of getting what they want.
1978 - 1984 - Y - these are those who can still party like it's 1999 (Nomad trait) but organized the Obama campaign and collectively supported him in the last election (Civic trait). If compared to the Interbellum cusp, they are very similar in attitudes, behaviors, and reactions. Including one very important one: an obsession with returning to a perceived lost childhood or youth.
Current cusp in development: the Civic/Artist cusp is currently somewhere in the elementary schools. These will be the most highly educated members of society and will go on to improve society in the same way the Greatest cusp did by winning WWII and fermenting the American Dream. They will toss away the American Dream, since it's been mangled with to the point that it's no longer functioning. They will replace it with a new definition of what it is to be an American. Currently they've been imbued with a strong sense of manners and traditions. They refer to adults and even to each other by their proper terms (I once heard a kindergartner say: Please pass the crayons, cousin; to his cousin!!!) They get upset if they hear curse words--covering their ears when Rap music comes on and yelling to turn it off--and will often scold adults for using them. Adults currently let the kids get away with doing so because the kids are so "adorable!" when they do it. Which matches up with what happened last time, because the Greatest cuspers were seen as "adorable" as well: Just watch any Shirley Temple films and you'll see what I mean. However this developing trend won't be so adorable when they're 40 - 50, in fact it'll sound condescending, overly formal, and conservative to their children. I know that they do these things as I've had the pleasure of babysitting the toddler and young child crowd... they seriously resemble those old people in the nursing homes who are dying off when they do it. It's very scary!
~Salamon2