Most of this falls squarely on the parents. Why shouldn't those kids act that way when they have never had ANY expectations put on them. They've never had to learn the concept of earning anything - it's all expectations.
Way too many people believe that getting a car at 16 is now a rite of passage that parents are responsible for - not something you get a job for, save for, insure and maintain as part of learning to handle money and be responsible for something major. Too many parents feel like they're failing if they don't just give it all up, and of course give something 'cool'.
My daughter got a car - a '92 Tercel free from her aunt - for her 16th b day. I agreed to the gift, but she had to get a job and save $1,000 before she drove it a single mile. That's because the first $650 went to insurance, what was left over was maintenance and gas, and she had to agree to resave the thousand or more before the next insurance bill came in. There was some complaining, but after watching some of her friends fall into car payments at 17 and smash up or abuse cars their parents just gave them, both of us think it was the right thing to do.
