The Entitled Generation

Freda Lewkowica lives and teaches in Montreal.  She thinks her students have been blighted.

globeandmail.com.

This is a "Lost Generation" of children because so much has been lost. The following description is the gift that the baby boomers, as parents and grandparents, have bequeathed.

• Patience? These new students have no patience.
• Truth? Dishonesty is rampant and while it includes plagiarism and
  the traditional copying of a friend's homework or the old excuse of "I
  gave my homework to you, Miss," it has also evolved more creatively.
• Frustration? My students have no tolerance for frustration.
  They either surrender or rage.
• Manners? Unfortunately, many of my students don't understand what I
  mean by manners or rudeness.
• Sensitivity? These children cannot tolerate criticism. Any judgment
  of their work-habits, or behaviour or attitude is a criminal offence.
• Silence? Shhhh? They don't understand silence. Quiet and
  stillness are not parts of their vocabulary.
• Respect? There are no boundaries any more. Adults are treated in the same way that their peers are treated: badly.
• Argumentative? Oh, boy! They argue about marks.
• Lack of focus? It is difficult to get and keep students' attention.
• Coarse language? This is a real problem that few want to address.

Go read her whole exposition.  With examples.

Comments

[Doug Johnson]

Children love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders, and love to chatter in place of exercise… They contradict their parents, talk before company, gobble up their food, and tyrannize their teachers. Socrates

[Bronwyn G]

Socrates was great. A real legend.

However, he never had children and didn't know what it was like to be a parent.

Perhaps Xanthippe was a single mother. Sorry for the trash talk here.

Honestly, that is no excuse for the behaviours some of the children display. And it doesn't seem to be a minority, is it?

I'll go read the article and then discuss it more in depth!

[Bronwyn G]

I still can't believe that a young student would lie about chemotherapy; or for that matter write a letter to her teacher about how to improve her personality. That is beyond rude and crossing what lines I don't want to know.

Hate to be a guest author in that school. Hope it isn't widespread!