I hear a lot of people blaming it on culture and parents but is it at all the teenager's fault?

But don't you think that much of the "awful" comes from them (and peers) having the confidence they're right?

*chuckles* probably. But it seems to work for most of us. It's a phase we pass through on the way to being the people we will ultimately become (i.e dead:P)

I think Monster has got it right; it's about how cool it is to show that narcissism....and yeah i remember the Flake ad.....right down to the lizard on the phone :)

There is an advert doing the rounds at the moment for a Mobile phone network, where this young hip guy is wandering around the place and the world is molding itself to him as he goes (in the way that his network will mold to his needs as they arise, with add-ons and bolt ons etc etc). It's an incredibly selfish idea that 'nothing should stand in the way of you and your friends' and that the world should always meet you on those terms. But that's just an advertising fad......at some point the ads will change because that's what ads do.