1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Are American kids spoiled?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Dick Whitman, Jun 29, 2012.

  1. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    I read Elizabeth Kolbert's piece in the New Yorker last night and found it both enlightening and, as a parent, terrifying.

    Looks like it's starting to get some legs today:

    http://shine.yahoo.com/parenting/easy-answer-why-american-kids-34-spoiled-rotten-192300981.html

    I suppose one can dismiss it as some variation of, "Get off my lawn, kids!" except this time she's comparing across cultures, not generations.

    The idea in the New Yorker piece was that American children don't know how to do simple tasks like their laundry or taking out the garbage because parents either don't trust them or don't feel like dealing with the battle that ensues every time.

    I found it great food for thought as a parent. The original piece:

    http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2012/07/02/120702crbo_books_kolbert

    And the follow-up question: If this is so, how do you, as a parent, deal with it/nip it in the bud? Or do you just throw your hands up?
     
  2. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    Previous students never had the current pressure of standardized testing.

    And I would imagine that many of our grandfathers could not wash clothes or cook. Were they spoiled?
     
  3. Dick Whitman

    Dick Whitman Well-Known Member

    Yeah, the piece definitely talks about that.
     
  4. joe

    joe Active Member

    My grandpa never learned to drive. He was definitely spoiled because grandma drove his old butt around. Of course, he's been dead about 15 years now, and he was 93 when he died.
     
  5. Hokie_pokie

    Hokie_pokie Well-Known Member

    It's not really that difficult to avoid raising a child to be a spoiled, selfish prick if you're willing to work at parenting.

    My children hate to clean their rooms. They hate to put away the clean dishes after the dishwasher is done. Heck, they even bitch when I ask one of them to walk the dog.

    And while my natural reaction would be to avoid the confrontation, I fortunately live with a woman who is bound and determined that our kids are not going to be a couple of rotten shitheads.

    So we make them contribute to the household -- they help clean bathrooms, they even help cook meals sometimes. And when they complain, my wife and I point out how ridiculous it is that they think a 12-year-old and nearly 15-year-old can't do their little part. That usually shuts them right up.

    The arguments suck a lot of times, and they're both still pretty damn pampered compared to how I had it with my father. But at least they're not total freeloaders.
     
  6. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Yes, they're spoiled...

    Now there is a difference between being spoiled and being a spoiled brat.

    We had a pizza party at this place with a ton of bounce castles for my oldest son and one of the moms called my wife and said, "My son only eats hot dogs."

    My wife said, "Well, this place only serves pizza."

    "Well, my son only eats hot dogs. He wants to go to the party, but I don't think it would be fair for him to go if there is nothing for him to eat."

    "Well, there will be cake and ice cream there."

    That wasn't good enough.... I told my wife she should have said, "Fuck you and your kid." Fortunately, she's nicer than I am... We actually went to Dairy Queen and bought the little fucker a hot dog, but it ended up not being an issue because he ate before he came.

    The husband was this beaten-down type who clearly knew his wife was a bitch but would never do anything about it. There's only one word out there to describe the mother.

    I wanted to punt the little brat across the room. This kid thinks the world revolves around him. Things like waiting your turn, saying things like "Please and Thank You" are clearly things he was never taught.

    We had 20 kids there and 15 of them were nice, polite, knew how to share and wait their turns... A few were not bad kids, but a bit anti-social, which is fine at 5-6 years old. One was a bit of a bully, but nothing too bad.

    Take me to a little league game or a school function and after 20 minutes of mingling with or watchin the other parents, it's pretty damn easy to spot which one is going to have the kid who is a spoiled brat.
     
  7. Brian

    Brian Well-Known Member

    You know what people 100 years ago dreamed about?

    To be so rich that their worst problem would be they spoiled their children too much.
     
  8. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    I have two boys, 6 and 4. Are they spoiled? Yes... Do they act bratty? Rarely, but if they do, it's stopped immediately and they're punished.

    They have chores. It's not much, but they are expected to make their beds, get dressed quickly, brush their teeth and put their clothes in the hamper. They are also expected to bring their dishes to the sink after they eat and put wrappers in the garbage.

    We don't ask much, but we're constantly stunned at the number of other parents who act like we must be drill instructors to get the boys to do simple shit like that.
     
  9. JackReacher

    JackReacher Well-Known Member

    Kids are fucking terrible.
     
  10. young-gun11

    young-gun11 Member

    Not mine. Angels. Little perfect angels. /bluefont
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 1, 2015
  11. +1
     
  12. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=202919&catid=185868&aid=338666&aparam=202919

    This works wonders.
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page