Friday, March 27, 2009

From Kerplunk, this is so true

Building up kids' self esteem by praising everything they do and spoiling them rotten has ruined them.

Much has been written about narcissistic boomers raising spoiled, self-indulgent children. And why not? More than any other generation, boomers rode the crest of the American experience. They flourished during a time when middle class jobs were plentiful and well paid. Healthcare, education, and housing were affordable. Sun tans were healthy, energy was cheap, credit was abundant, ecological systems were not noticeably collapsing, and everyone thought the party would go on forever. Being the model of self-indulgence themselves, the boomers assuaged their guilt by showering their nippers with toys. Cars, clothes, computers, flat screens, iPods, cell phones, Wiis; the millennials got whatever they wanted (whether they worked for it or not), all the while being told how wonderful they were.

2 comments:

blogstrop said...

Boomers copping it again! Might as well have a go at 4WDs too.
It's not true, as my kids will tell you. Their first jobs as kids paid zero, they got through uni despite long & horrible commutes right across the city on inadequate public transport. One earns good money but has to rough it on near continuous field work, the second scored a cushy "brainwork" number while the third is still commuting to uni.
Two considered military careers but were not acceptable for reasons best known to the Army. The third considered Police work but will probably do better in Science.

kae said...

Hi Blogstrop

I'm not sure it's the boomers's kids that are the problem really.

But what Kerplunk said is happening now with kids. It started about 15-20 years ago.

I met one of the spoilt brats at work. She moved herself and her tutors (she was a tutor leader, not an academic), into a vacant room and conducted a raucous meeting of the tutors in the room, disturbing the manager of the student centre in her office next door. When she was asked about a booking for the room she said that she'd organised it with me.

Untrue.

She told me later that she didn't understand the whole kerfuffle, and thought it was just a storm in a teacup. She had also caused problems before by taking over rooms she wasn't booked into and disrupting other classes.

She was a fashion plate, given everything by her parents and she really thought she was special and the rules didn't apply to her.

It's a symptom.