You cannot only blame teenangers for this in a retail store. I have known grown women also tear up stores. However, teenagers figure that this is the one time they do not have to clean anything up. I am usally a very polite shopper, until one of the clerks give me a hard time. There are some stores where the employees believe they are better than the people shopping there. As soon as that idea is percieved by some shoppers, they will not think twice to throw clothes around that an employee just folded.
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Name : Ash, City : MIDLAND, State : TX Country : United States, Most of the jobs I've had over the years have been in retail, and I have to tell you I don't notice a huge difference in the way that teenagers and adults act when they are out of their home environments. Adults just as often pull things off the shelves and do not put them back, open packages and pull out the contents then stuff them back into the box (or not) and toss the item wherever. If I had to choose one side or the other, I would say the adults are worse, because the teenagers seldom try to work the system. I can't tell you how many times I have had grown men and women try to return clothing/shoes/jewelry after it had been worn for whatever function it was purchased for. Or want money back for an item they purchased a year prior because they 'just don't want it anymore.' I also notice the number of adults caught shoplifing is far beyond the number of teenagers caught. Parents stuffing items into their child's stroller or diaper bag was a common practice. The teenagers may be lound and inconsiderate, but so are the adults. The difference is, the teenagers learn from their parents how to get a lot worse.
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Name : Tom-O32468, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : 'Spritual in my own right.', Age : 34, City : West Hills, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Health Care, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, I am a teenager and I have never, nor have any of my friends, gone through a store and torn it apart and then left. Some teenagers, like individuals in every other age group, go into stores and try on clothes and put it back poorly, and go into stores and open food and eat it in the store. Just because you have had an experience with some teenagers does not mean all of us are bad. I am not denying that some teenagers are bad, but I have worked in retail and have experienced 40 year old women doing similar things.
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Name : Sean28274, City : Honolulu, State : HI Country : United States, As a high school teacher, I have noticed that two of the reasons that teenagers don't pick up after themselves are that: 1.) No one ever taught them that it was necessary or 2.) Other people constantly telling them what to do makes them do the exact opposite. So which way do you go? Its a lose-lose situation. Chalk it up to hormones!
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Name : H-Mac, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 24, City : New Orleans, State : LA Country : United States, Occupation : teacher, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, Most teenagers feel that they are allowed to do this because they are allowed to get away with such things at home. I mostly deals with the types of parenting one receives. If you are allowed to leave a huge mess around the house, knowing a parent or someone will clean up after you, it just reinforces the idea that someone else will always clean up after you, no matter where you are. Myself, for one, hate it when people leave messes, and usually clean up an area in a store if someone screwed around with things and made a mess of a display. Sadly enough, I;'m in the minority. Basically, it comes down to the parenting.
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Name : Jared, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 17, City : Somewhere in, State : ME Country : United States, Occupation : School, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Upper middle class, I too have worked in retail related fields for many years. My general thoughts is that, unfortunately, a few bad apples spoil the overall picture. At the same time, these kids have grown up with a culture of immediate gratification, and while they may not intend to create havoc - sometimes there are those that may consider it normal. You and I both are not so much past that age, but as with every generation it seemed different when we were younger - and maybe it was.
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Name : Lauren, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 31, City : Melbourne, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Marketing, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, it comes down entirely to maturity. just as young children will leave a mess behind them, many teens do the same. this is because they are still not fully developped mentally, and lack the maturity to think about their actions. its not that they feel they have the right to make a mess, its just that they dont realize that they are making things difficult for someone else. Also, id like to say that the question here sounds more like an attack than a real question, and if it is, you have obviously missed the entire point of this forum
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Name : eric25189, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 22, City : vancouver, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : IT & Networking, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, Teenagers know very well that the behavior you describe is unacceptable. The problem as I see it is an almost total lack of respect for both people and property. You can see it in the way teachers are treated by students and parents by their children. You at your age would likely not see how young people have changed over the years but believe me, they have.
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Name : Ernest,, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Baptist, Age : 73, City : Campbell River, State : WA Country : Canada, Occupation : retired, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, I think teenagers act that way because they have grown up thinking that they are not responsible for their actions. As parents we are no longer allowed to discipline our children without someone makeing an issue of it. Society as a whole has determined that we are not responsible. It's always someone else's fault. We sue McDonalds when we spill our coffee, which we prefer hot of course. We blame the city for not fixing sidewalks, when we should have been watching where we were walking. Kids get these messages loud & clear.
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Name : Angela, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Sinclair, State : WY Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, I am a teenager, and I personally have never done, or seen anyone else with the exception of much younger children do anything like that. I do not believe many teenagers feel they have the right do anything like that at all. Perhaps there are some who just don't care. There is a large difference between believing something is OK, and just being completely apathetic to it. I can certainly understand however why one wouldn't care at all. It's not my store, so why should I care? That probably sounds pretty selfish, and perhaps it is, but my philosophy is I do virtually nothing unless there is something in it for me. I find compassion, generosity and remorse to be perfectly useless unless they are being used to achieve a specific goal. Apparently, most humans are endowed with a feeling of accomplishment and/or well-being upon acts of selflessness. This, to me, is a completely alien phenomenon, along with emotion, sociality and faith.
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Name : Glass, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 19, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : IT Consultant, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, When I was a kid it was not uncommon to be scolded by strangers if I misbehaved. Walking home from school we were shooed away from store fronts and not allowed to cut across private property. After a trip to the mall with friends, my 15-year-old son tried to complain about security guards following them around. I told him he 'fit the profile.' I used to work in retail and it was well known that the rowdy behavior and mess created by unsupervised teens was a frequently a distraction for shoplifting. We countered by speaking to them as if they were adults. If they ignored us we hovered. When we hovered they behaved. I don't supervise my son's every move like I needed to when he was little. However, I need a little help. Kids do what they can get away with. Don't let them get away with it.
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Name : Jan, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Christian, Age : 52, City : Norman, State : OK Country : United States, Occupation : Writer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, In short - Puberty. Chances are the teens you witnessed committing these acts of vandalism were in the presence of other teens, all of whom were either giving or given a show of independence and courage and all of whom were under the influence of one of natures strongest motivational, metamorphic and multipurpose drugs - HORMONES, which are responsible for everything from breasts, beards and other adult physical features to behavior patterns such as domineering, aggressiveness, permisivness, passivity, leaders and followers, success and failure, survival or extinction all of which will hopefully result in a baby more likely to compete and win in the race to survive.
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Name : Sam N Clay, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Relaxed Searching Agnostic, Age : 44, City : Denver, State : CO Country : United States, Occupation : Graphic Arts and Multimedia, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The short answer: That's what their parents taught them. The long answer: Thanks to the 'experts' who have controlled the conventional wisdom on child-rearing since about 1983, we have succeeded in this country in raising almost three full generations of narcisistic, egomaniacal little sociopaths who have been taught almost from birth that everything they do is permissible, as long as it makes them 'feel good about themselves.' They have never heard the word 'no', they have never been refused anything, they have never had to face the consequences of their actions, their parents (or their nannies, au pairs, etc.) have cleaned up after them every day of their lives, and they have never, ever, ever ever, (GOD FORBID!!!!!!) been punished for misbehaving, as this might hurt their precious little self-esteemie-weemies. As a result, they stop maturing emotionally somewhere in the vicinity of 'toddler', and continue reacting to the world the way a spoiled two-year-old would, well into their late teens. By now shopkeepers know better than to expect them to clean up their messes, as, should the shop owner press the issue, Mummsy and Diddy-widdy are likely to leap to Junior's defense and sue the shop owner for 'harassing' their precious widdle darling; and the average small business person can't afford to keep defending him/herself in court, even if he/she wins every time.
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Name : Ann, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Animist, Age : 39, City : Kansas City, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : Executive Assistant, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, ?????? This is just the sort of stupid sterotype that makes me not go in some stores(and I am a very good patron). I have never shoplifted. I don't open boxes in stores. I don't eat food in grocery stores before I pay. I don't yell to a friend across the room when we're shopping I walk over. I don't insult clerks, though they quite commonly insult me by watching with eagle eyes while not even pretending to just be waiting to see if I need help. I've seen more middle aged ladies act in outrageous ways flipping through clothes then just letting them hit the floor and not pick them up something I've never seen a teen girl I know do though I've seen strangers do it no more often than adults(not my mom so maybe it's just home life teachings)
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Name : Ashley, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Pasco, State : WA Country : United States, Social class : Upper middle class, It's the lack of discipline. I've been a music teacher for the past 17 years, and the level of discipline at home is just getting lower everyday. It's everybody's fault, we try to be 'modern' and 'understanding', we keep moving the acceptability level of what's 'proper'. Before we know it, you don't even know where the original level was.
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Name : David, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 31, City : Toronto, State : NA Country : Canada, Occupation : Industry Analyst and Music Teacher, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 
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