Saturday, September 8, 2007
WSJ.com : Don't Suffer the Little Children
I am a father and a grandfather with another grandchild about to arrive. i found Tony Woodlief's editorial in the WSJ Opinion section to be very good advice. (hat tip to The Instapundit)
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I have always found it interesting that every child seems born with the inherent idea that things should be "fair", despite all evidence in life to the contrary. Shouldn't evolution have bred this expectation out of us already? Of course, usually what kids mean when they say something isn't fair is that they aren't getting their way, which of course applies directly to the human predilection towards selfishness. I think it is a more important message to teach our children to deal with disappointment, as well as to be compassionate to others who have less than they do. But as far as entitlement goes - you should have a reasonable expectation to be allowed to breathe and not be physically harmed in anyway by others, but beyond that you're on your own to fight for you place in the world using your innate talents and intelligence. I expressed this view in a college course once and was met with outrage and disbelief by every other member of the class, and I expewct to encounter even more resistance now that I am a parent, but I am sick of tiptoeing around in our current society of coddled little babies who aren't expected to take responsibility for their actions or earn what they want. there is a quote in the article about parents who "not only fail to punish bad behavior but snarl at anyone who rebukes their precious darlings" which I appreciated having personally had some experience with people like this recently. Fortunately I was raised to stand up for myself and my family in the face of such behavior, unfortunately I think I will be faced with many such situations in the future as my children get older and start school and socializing. Hopefully I will be lucky enough to meet more parents who share Tony Woodlief's opinions.
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