Okay I couldn't help myself. After seeing someone post today about how their 2 year old can operate their cell phone better than they (as an adult) can, I can't keep my big mouth shut....*sigh*. For all of the people who are into the warm, mushy, "let's just give our kids everything they want so they don't have be without" parenting approach, you're not going to like this so prepare to pounce (as you do whenever I post something that differs from your opinion). Let's all take a moment to remember that I'm not telling you that this is what you have to do. I'm simply telling you my opinion on the topic.
Here goes....
Maybe, just maybe, part (and I only say PART) of the reason we are having such an issue with entitled kids coming up is that we feel like they need to grow up NOW. We are giving two year olds that should be playing with sensory toys and learning how to share access to cell phones often enough that they know how to operate them better than some adults. We are not just using electronics as a tool to aid in their teaching process but using it as a babysitter claiming that it's okay because it's an "educational game." The privilege of electronic learning used to be something reserved for kindergarten or first graders as a tool in schooling. Gone are those days. Give the toddler an I Phone, right? Then we wonder why our kids have a hard time functioning in real life situations and using their imaginations.
We're giving five year olds that should be working on learning how to read, how to function in a classroom and respect authority, and dreaming up wonderful things with their imaginations expensive video gaming systems and even more access to cell phones. We're buying them I Pads and tablets. Why? Well it's because they're paying "educational games" and learning technology. Of course it's more important that they learn these things than that they learn basic life skills that they might need later in life. Then we wonder why they have no ability to function around other people in a way that they should.
We're giving ten year olds cell phones because "they need it to stay in touch." Why? What happened to walking down the street to talk to you? What happened to talking to their friends in person instead of through texting? What happened to playing outside? Then we wonder why there is an obesity epidemic and a bullying epidemic. Kids haven't learned how to function in the real world.
We're giving teenagers the same privileges adults should have. They're having cars given to them for graduating high school. Something that was once an expectation is now being rewarded with a car! We're GIVING these kids things that they should be earning. We're giving them privileges as teenagers that they don't have the capability to handle emotionally, mentally or (in some cases) physically and then expecting them to handle them as an adult. They've been raised to never learn how to function in society and then we're expecting them to be able to go out on their own in the world.
Perhaps you can't see the connection in all of this. I find it to be simple. Stop making your kid grow up quickly and teach them the skills they should be learning. Stop trying to please them so they don't throw a fit and start teaching them how to cope with the emotions when they don't get what they want. Stop trying to coddle them and teach them that no one should be able to disagree or say something mean and start teaching them that people have opinions and they will sometimes differ from yours and that's okay. Stop trying to teach them that sticking your nose in an electronic 24/7 is something that has to be done and then getting mad when they don't feel safe talking to you about the important stuff. Teach your kids to be kids while they can.
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