Q&A
Are you recommending tough love?
As parents, we should absolutely let kids know that they're loved and praise them when they do well. We also need to set boundaries and not let the kids run the house. We don't want to go back to the days of the authoritarian parent who told the kids what to do all the time, spanked their kids. Taking the middle ground is the best way to go.
What about YouTube and MySpace? Should parents limit their kids' use of those?
Kids shouldn't be spending eight hours a day on these sites.
Are your students narcissistic?
The classic thing that faculty complains about is students who want to take the exam when it's convenient for them rather than when the exam is actually scheduled. A student who failed a class because she didn't show up to class the last half and did really poorly on the exams will say, "But I really tried!" The faculty member has to tell them grades aren't related to trying.
You're part of this generation too. But you sound like a whiny adult.
It does really bother me when older people complain too much about young people. While it's true that young people have a sense of entitlement, the world has become much more competitive. There are a lot of challenges faced by young people that older people did not have to face. Federal grants have dwindled; college tuition has gone up; rent and housing have far outpaced inflation. We should cut young people a little slack.
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