Dave Myers recently recommended a very interesting book about this very subject, called *Generation Me*, by Jean Twenge. She sums it all up nicely and brings some scientific objectivity to it with studies looking at "why today's young Americans are more confident, assertive, entitled - and more miserable than ever before." This came up on TIPS when we were discussing the new findings about these entitled but unhappy students. Of course, I immediately went to bn.com (sorry but I have had too many problems with Amazon) and bought it. It's been a fun, interesting read. I highly recommend it.
Beth Benoit Granite State College Plymouth State University New Hampshire On Nov 20, 2007 5:08 PM, Robert Wildblood <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Placing blame is an interesting sport. Has anyone thought about the > idea that we are dealing with the millennium generation with the > helicopter parents who have never let their children do anything that > they didn't sanction and who have told their children all of their > lives that they are the best child in the world and that they deserve > to be praised, rewarded, given a medal just because they participated > in some activity? They also interfere in their children's education > by telling their child's teacher that "Bobby is special and you just > have to learn how to stimulate him." -- or worse. I don't blame the > students, I blame the parents who have interfered with the learning > process by telling Bobby that he is the best and most important person > in the world and that he doesn't have to try to do anything, people > should just recognize his "specialness." > > > On 20 Nov 2007, at 11:21, Marc Carter wrote: > > > > > Oh, my. Apparently I was wrong; some of us *are* blaming the > > students. > > > > Well, I'm not. Social pressures are powerful. They just are. It's a > > rare individual indeed who can consistently resist it, and I believe > > that the reason that students *can* resist it -- when they can -- > > because of people like us who encourage it. > > > > Blaming students for something over which they have little or no > > control > > doesn't change things. Working to change the situation can change > > things. > > > > But then, I'm a determinist. :) I'm much more rarely angry at > > students > > as a result. > > > > m > > > > Dr. Bob Wildblood > Lecturer in Psychology > Indiana University Kokomo > 2300 S Washington St > PO Box 9003 > Kokomo, IN 46904-9003 > 765-455-9483 > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired, > signifies in the final sense a theft from those who hunger and are not > fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." > Dwight D. Eisenhower > > "The time is always right to do what is right." > Martin Luther King, Jr. > > "Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little > temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety." > Benjamin Franklin, 1775 > > "We are what we pretend to be, so we better be careful what we pretend > to be." > Kurt Vonnegut > > --- > ---
