This is one of my biggest pet peeves: parents who complain about "kids these days." The older generation, fine, they're not currently raising any children, so it's a little different, but basically this applies only to parents who currently have kids in the home.
Here's the complaint: "Well, if I said that to my parents, they would have beat my ass," or "I remember when kids had respect for their parents," or "Kids these days really need a good spanking,"or "Every kid now has a cellphone, or a car - I had to work for mine!" and so on. I think you get what I mean.
Basically, parents are complaining that the current generation has a sense of entitlement and a complete lack of discipline.
Now, here's the tricky part... I'm not disagreeing. I worked in retail for a long time - I've seen kids of all ages and backgrounds - and I actually agree that most kids need stricter discipline in their lives. BUT it's ultimately the parents' responsibility to provide that discipline. If you're complaining about "kids these days," and you've got kids, you're essentially criticizing your own job as a parent.
Life changes. Sometimes for good, sometimes for ill. We've got to keep up with those changes. A number of people believe kids would show more respect and be better disciplined if they were physically punished more often (or at all)... Fine, then do that. A number of people believe kids would be smarter and better as individuals if they had less technology (ie, no TV in their bedroom, no phone at a young age, no iPod, etc)... Fine, then do that.
Essentially, this is my message for parents: put your money where your mouth is. If you think you had the ideal childhood, or the ideal parent, or the ideal mix of love/discipline, then replicate that for your child... If you think your parents did a terrible job and you know where they went wrong, then do that for your child.
Stop complaining and do something.
They're your kids: their upbringing is completely up to you.