maybe not true for all of us but by 2008 i was done developing. 0-12 is basically when you are created as a person -- molded by your environment. crime may have been higher back then but it was a much better environment to be raised in. society has waned quite a bit since then. public schools have waned a lot. all of our institutions. nobody feels like they can speak candidly or help another person without risking being taken to trial. yes, xkcd make a comic where he makes fun of people who say that things have gotten worse. but the crazy, unbelievable reality is that xkcd was wrong shock horror!
Ah yes, the financial crisis that was literally feared as the end of western capitalism was the most prosperous time ever.