Blame It on Mr. Rogers

[Venividi]

Todays WSJ had an article titled "Blame It on Mr. Rogers: Why

Young Adults Feel So Entitled".

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB118358476840657463.html

 

A couple of excerpts:

...as usual, students were making a pilgrimage to his [Mr. Chance']office, asking for the extra points needed to lift their grades to A's.

 

"They felt so entitled," he recalls, "and it just hit me. We can blame Mr. Rogers."

 

Fred Rogers, the late TV icon, told several generations of children that they were "special" just for being whoever they were. He meant well, and he was a sterling role model in many ways. But what often got lost in his self-esteem-building patter was the idea that being special comes from working hard and having high expectations for yourself.

 

American students often view lower grades as a reason to "hit you up for an A because they came to class and feel they worked hard," says Prof. Chance. He wishes more parents would offer kids this perspective: "The world owes you nothing. You have to work and compete. If you want to be special, you'll have to prove it."

 

 

[fgoodwin]

Interesting -- thanx for posting it.

[Hunt]

I say baloney. While Mr. Rogers certainly taught that everyone is special, he also taught and modelled making moral choices. I think you can much better blame the entitlement attitude on the me-first, greed-fueled atmosphere created by Madison Avenue and consumer culture. In fact, I think the attitude that the world owes you nothing (and the corollary, that you don't anybody anything) that and you have to compete to get what's yours is just another manifestation of the same thing. The opposite--something that Mr. Rogers also modelled--is altruism.

[evmori]

Mr. Rogers never said anyone was entitled to anything. Being special doesn't mean you deserve anything you want.

 

Talk about spinning something out of control!

 

Prof. Chance is way out of line! Maybe we should look at the parents who gave their kids anything they wanted instead of actually being a parent which is what they needed!

 

Ed Mori

1 Peter 4:10

[Gonzo1]

Raise your children - spoil your grandchildren

 

Spoil your children - raise your grandchildren

 

Whatever your kids want, make 'em earn it. If they're old enough, make 'em buy it.

 

 

 

[Hunt]

I would like to teach my children that the way to succeed in life is to "work hard and play by the rules." Unfortunately, what I read in the paper every day suggests that the way to succeed in life is to gain the favor of powerful and rich people, who can protect you from the impact of the rules, and who can help you to get ahead even if you don't work very hard. The best I can tell the kids is that working hard and playing by the rules is the honorable way to act, even if it may not lead to the greatest levels of worldly success.

[mtm25653]

"even if it may not lead to the greatest levels of worldly success"

 

My goal in life is not to raise my children to have to greatest levels of worldly success. It is to raise them to be honorable men who do the right thing, who serve others, and who are true to their own beliefs.

[t158sm]

Hunt:

I don't have to read it in the paper, I see it where I work every day.