Entitlement

Originally posted September 18, 2011


Coming of age during the Sexual Revolution sure sounds better than being part of the Entitlement Generation. What a bleak moniker for a bunch of kids who have only their parents to blame.

Somewhere along the way Mom and Dad bought in to the notion that they their kids mustn't be told no, or that they have made a mistake, that they are wrong, did not try hard enough, have not made the team. Loving parents who filled them full of well-intended but crippling false praise to shelter them from life. And what did they get for it? A generation of hapless kids who have no idea how to how to learn from mistakes, to take a hit, recover from a setback or be told they have to try harder.

In hockey rinks around our neighbourhood they stop keeping score if one team is too far ahead. You can unplug the scoreboard if you want but every kid on the ice knows exactly what the score is. The only thing they can't figure out is why their parents are hiding it from them.

And for goodness sake don't fail them! It's much better to move them ahead where they will fall further behind than hold them back until they grasp the material. Failing them is "bad for their self- esteem" ... as though being a 23 year old dunderhead won't be. 

More on the Entitlement Generation form The Globe and Mail's Margaret Wente.