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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Is it normal for teens to be very shallow? My kids basically just care about 1. how they look 2. working out and eating right 3. their friends and fun activities which to them is mostly shopping and listening to music, theme parks, outings with friends, sports. They both do very well in school but they see it as a job that needs to be done. They are not at all interested in schoolwork. How long does this last if it is normal? They are nearly 17.[/quote]
Sure, a certain degree of this is normal, but what other values have you taught and modeled for them? Did they grow up seeing you reading or hear you and your partner talking about current events? Did you talk to them often about your interests beyond work, parenting, and self-maintenance? Did you ever talk to them about what is most important to you in terms of the kind of people you want them to be?

Did you spend any time with them volunteering? Any fun runs, etc. for charity? Were you part of a religious or humanist community?

If the answer to at least some of the above is yes, that will eventually come through.

If it’s no, then where would they have learned anything different? [/quote]

YES to all of that!! I volunteer every week with an animal charity, dd used to come with me and she lost interest. We've volunteered for Feeding America and other food pantries. Ds used to volunteer a lot with a youth group but also lost interest in that. DH and I both read a lot, talk about current events, volunteered for campaigns, went to marches, have taken them to countless museums everywhere we go, read to them from infanthood until middle school. I think it's pretty obvious it bothers me because we are NOT like that at all! I will say we do eat healthy and both are physically active, but we are not shoppers, into brands, showing off, any of that.[/quote]

Then don't worry too much. Your kids have a background of culture and education to draw on and will become more like you. It's the vapid teens without any good role models that will never grow up.
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