Thank you for the insightful post!
I teach college freshmen and what you expressed is so true - I see it in the classroom every semester. Kids who are just taught how to obey (and not how to have self-discipline and think for themselves) find themselves at a loss when confronted with circumstances requiring critical thinking skills. Kids who do not learn how to rely on themselves will be at the mercy of others later in life, trusting that the 'leaders' they are following will have their best interests at heart. Having observed many millenials coming up for the better part of the last decade, I think this is the root cause of much of the charges of being an "entitled" generation. They have had all (or most) of their thinking done for them, so that is all they know. And it's not their fault. My parents always told me that their job as parents was to put themselves out of a job. It seems that many Boomer and GenX generation parents can not bear to let go of that role. I have a friend who has 2 teens, and she still requires babysitters for them. Wtf? When are those fledglings ever going to learn how to fly if they aren't allowed to leave the nest and try their wings?
You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
Thank you for sharing this. It's so interesting to think about the entitlement issue being potentially rooted in a feeling of helplessness and uncertainty because they literally have never tried to do things on their own. I understand how well intentioned parents fall into this trap, but like you said so well, it's our job to teach them independence, not how to excel at dependence.