Not beyond what makes them products of their culture. Exposure to technology, the Web and social networks during their developmental stage has definitely set them apart from other generations. But I would guess that the world title for careless and irresponsible is still being held by the baby boomers who came of age in the 60s. Not that I believe all boomers were careless and irresponsible, just that it was incredibly fashionable to do so.
Ignorant? Maybe. Ignorant of what, exactly, seems to be the question. Certainly pop culture and “pop discourse,” if you will, has degraded into quantity over quality. It takes less effort (and ironically more hours) to play a video game than read a book. But, Harry Potter, as an example, is probably the most widely read adolescent book series in history.
I do think they are more sexualized and prone to violence thanks to the influence of internet and the evolution of video games in the last 10 years or so. They’re also much more sedentary for the same reason.
But, I’d also say the majority of kids are pretty good, wanting to learn, wanting to do something good for their community or whatever other ideal captures their imagination. It’s just that when we have poor behavior or poor judgement, it’s more extreme than it used to be. If their minds aren’t as robust as “they used to be” I’d chalk it up to the fragmenting of attention spans owing to all the media and communications gadgets, networks and crap that demand our attention.