The Next Generation: Are they Entitled?

[Lady Lucky]

Greetings all, just another one of my observations on life. So I guess this kid on Jeopardy spelled "emancipation" with an extra "t" and lost 3K. Here is a link if you want to read about it.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/jeopardy-kid-contestant-contender-article-1.1417783

Thomas Hurley III thinks Jeopardy cheated him and stated that spelling doesn't count. So did he get "cheated"? Those have been the rules in Jeopardy for quite some time, since the game show began if I'm not mistaken. Maybe he should have read the rules before he played? I'm sure they made him or his parents sign some sort of waiver before going on the show. Personally I believe that Thomas wasn't cheated. Don't get me wrong, he was damn close; I felt for him, I really did. Do I think he was cheated? No, not at all. So he's upset now (I can understand that) and saying that he was cheated. There's a forum on this, it's different from my point, it talks about venting on all the times we were close but got "no cigar".

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.824349-Ever-Felt-Cheated-Out-Of-Something

So maybe I'm wrong, but it feels like all the kids these days feel that they are entitled. Even if they are close to achieving whatever it is they are competing for. I feel that American society is one of the largest offenders, because we don't want to hurt anyone's feelings. There was another example of how this was sort of behavior is being encouraged.

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/olympics/fourth-place-olympic-medals-miss-podium/story?id=16950407

A fourth place medal in the Olympics... I'm sorry but to me that's just a little much. In this case it's a British man sending pewter medals to all the folks who just didn't make it. No, there should be no consolation for the person that just missed getting the bronze medal. If you didn't make it on the podium it should be fuel for the next Olympics! If you don't make the cut that means you need to change something and strive to be better.
I think this sort of behavior is basically making our kids feel entitled. Hey I didn't an "A" on my report card, but I got a "C". Instead of 20$ doesn't that entitle me to at least 5 dollars?
I feel that kids have it in their head that striving for the best in themselves is not necessary, why bother when "good enough" will do. Has our political correctness gotten out of control?

Anyhow enough ranting, what do you folks think?
By the way this is not a bash against Americans, I am American. I think society in general is moving towards this trend.

 

[Zhukov]

Eaaaarrrggh.

Every generation since the beginning of time has considered the next generation to be stupid, entitled, disrespectful, spoiled etc etc.

You parents generation thought this about your generation. You grandparent's generation thought it about your parent's generation.

Somehow I doubt that it just so happens to be our generation who is right.

It just shows that we're going to be exactly as stupid and scared of the slightest hint of changing attitudes as our great-great-grandparents were.

 

[ShipofFools]

I don't think it's the next generation that changes, it's our generation just getting older.

 

[Moth_Monk]

Way to abuse the meaning of the word entitled. I'm sick of this shit. Why does no one use that word properly any more?

 

[Keoul]

Iunno man, every generation has it's niche of silly people.
It's inevitable, I wouldn't say the WHOLE generation is bad. You're basically discriminating against a certain age group because of the actions of a few, noticeable stupid individuals.

 

[Da Orky Man]

?Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.?

Attributed to Socrates by Plato, 4th century BC.

Every generation thinks the next one is entitled, rude, disrespectful, stupid or any number of things.

 

[OneCatch]

Way to abuse the meaning of the word entitled. I'm sick of this shit. Why does no one use that word properly any more?

I know! People seem to think that they're entitled to use a word any old way!

--------------

More on topic - every generation thinks that the next is rude, entitled, immoral, and lazy. They've found Roman letters complaining about youths messing about in the forum or pissing in the aqueduct or whatever, and even one of the 10 Commandments is not to be rude to parents.
It's as old a phenomena as pointy sticks - it wouldn't surprise me if they found cave paintings representing teenagers behaving badly!

 

[Thaluikhain]

This has been an issue since the Roman Republic. People constantly complain about the youth of-

Wait, hang on, you didn't specify more entitled than the previous one.

So, I guess, I'd say yes. Entitlement and privilege is a serious issue for the next generation, just as it is for all the others.

 

[tomtom94]

It's as old a phenomena as pointy sticks - it wouldn't surprise me if they found cave paintings representing teenagers behaving badly!

If I recall correctly they actually have... kind of makes you wonder.

OT: Not every single thing is evidence that kids will inevitably lose their work ethic and become lazy jobless layabouts and not every single person in any given generation is the same as the rest. For example, I'm sure that children growing up in today's world where computers are so prevalent are going to have a different experience to those of us who grew up when the personal computer was in its infancy (remember when we measured hard drive space in megabytes) but do not confuse that with some sort of moral decline because kids won't know what it's like to have to spend hours waiting for downloads... it's technological progress. Hell, right now the kids who were "ruined" by video games and the 60s/70s/80s (delete as appropriate) are the ones running the world... and, with the exception of politicians still being politicians, last time I checked the world still seems to be going on pretty much as normal.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The issue is that with the continued march of technology, we see the things that in our day were luxuries, and are now commonplace commodities, and think "what entitled brats" when the children of today, who have grown up with these things thinking of them as being mundane and common, are refused one for an arbitrary reason and flip out.

Mobile phones are a good example, in our childhoods a luxury (or non existent) today basic models come for a tenner, and virtually every kid who can talk has one, so if someone is refused a mobile phone, in our mind it isn't a big thing because we lived half our lives without them, in their eyes it's a huge injustice because they are being denied an easily accessible and huge part of their social interactions for no proper reason.

 

[Hero of Lime]

Before I talk about the main question at hand. That kid on Jeopardy would've gotten second place anyway even of he spelled Emancipation correctly, he still won second place, so yeah he and his parents should not be thinking they were cheated out of his victory. So I definitely agree with the OP on this one.

I don't care for the "everyone's a winner" mentality myself. Even as a kid, when I participated in something, and did poorly, yet I still got a prize of some kind, it felt wrong. There is nothing wrong with telling a child who fails that he/she failed, learning from failure can be just as important as succeeding.

Although for kids, it is a bit different, I think a child by definition is supposed to be a bit entitled. By having a child, parents understand that until a certain age, children are entitled the means to survive like food, shelter, clothing, education etc. Are kids entitled? Yes, was I and probably most people ever born entitled as kids? Absolutely.

I think a bigger problem, especially in the U.S. is when an able adult becomes more entitled than the average kid. That is far more dangerous than a whiny kid losing at Jeopardy.

 

[Robot Number V]

Eaaaarrrggh.

Every generation since the beginning of time has considered the next generation to be stupid, entitled, disrespectful, spoiled etc etc.

You parents generation thought this about your generation. You grandparent's generation thought it about your parent's generation.

Somehow I doubt that it just so happens to be our generation who is right.

It just shows that we're going to be exactly as stupid and scared of the slightest hint of changing attitudes as our great-great-grandparents were.

I WOULD like to say that this is the only post this thread needs, as you covered the most important stuff. However, I would like to add a complaint about how the OP took yet another baseball bat to the word "entitled", which has already been beaten and abused so badly that the police had to identify it through it's dental records.

Seriously OP, I dislike the whole "Everyone's a winner no matter what" mentality as much as the next guy, but not every member of "The next generation"[footnote]Whichever generation that is. Apparently it includes both small children AND people competing in the Olympics.[/footnote] is a part of it. I mean, I'm all for a discussion about how much that mentality sucks (or not. I'll be on the "sucks" side of things, but other people are welcome to represent the opposition) but a person's take on this particular way of thinking has, as far as I can tell, nothing to do with what generation that person is from.

I mean, MAYBE it does, but the connection is not apparent and certainly should not be assumed.

PS: Fuck off, captcha. You said "smelly socks", I spelled "smelly socks". Get your shit together.

 

[Rylingo]

?Our youth now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for their elders and love chatter in place of exercise; they no longer rise when elders enter the room; they contradict their parents, chatter before company; gobble up their food and tyrannize their teachers.?

Socrates, 469 BC ? 399 BC

 

[shootthebandit]

You think it just the next generation. Have you ever met an average old (60+) person the youll know what the word entitlement means, they think because they have been alive longer they can get away with anything. Ive been in a few scenarios where ive had to go to a shop or a post office on my lunch break and i ask an old person (who has all day to do this and i only have 30 mins) if i can cut in infront of them because im on a lunch break and its the only chance i have to do/get what i need. They then bring up the "old" card i had one tut at me and say "the youth of today". Im all for treating old people with respect and a bit more patience as old people are a bit slower and more frail but when they are down right obnoxious simply because they are old

 

[shootthebandit]

There's really two different issues here. A single boy who threw a tantrum for not winning Jeopardy and the so-called "everybody wins" mentality. And they aren't related. The Jeopardy kid is a single person. Trying to use them as a brush to tar an entire generation with, well, let's just say I saw the folks on FOX News doing that last night. You probably don't want to be like those people.

The notion that "everybody wins" isn't in and of itself a bad thing in education. Yes, children absolutely should not be getting undeserved praise, but just because children aren't in competition with each other doesn't mean that actually happens. There are piles and piles of research showing that children learn better in collaborative environments, and extrinsic motivation (ex: comparing themselves to others) is generally inferior to intrinsic motivation (wanting to do one's best simply out of the pride and joy of doing one's best, regardless of how that relates to others).

I beg to disagree and heres why. A childs eduction is based on what grade they receive. By making "everyone a winner" the grade system is devalued. So what basis do employers and universities have to take children on from school. Someone says "jimmy, joe and dave done really well on there group project" translated from bullshit to english as "jimmy and joe sat around while dave put all the work in and basically carried them to an excellent grade". Please tell me how that is fair as these kids are now equal going into a job market. Of course schooling should be competitive because its designed to perpare children for the competitive world of work

In england a lot of schools do "coursework" which counts towards thier grade. now this is stupid because whats to stop them getting a parent or sibling to do it for them. Where as an exam under exam conditions shows exactly how a particular student has performed. Trust me pretty much all english people i know told me they fudged their coursework in one way or another. This is the reason why so many people go to university in the UK. This may seem like a good thing but it essentially devalues university

 

[shootthebandit]

There's really two different issues here. A single boy who threw a tantrum for not winning Jeopardy and the so-called "everybody wins" mentality. And they aren't related. The Jeopardy kid is a single person. Trying to use them as a brush to tar an entire generation with, well, let's just say I saw the folks on FOX News doing that last night. You probably don't want to be like those people.

The notion that "everybody wins" isn't in and of itself a bad thing in education. Yes, children absolutely should not be getting undeserved praise, but just because children aren't in competition with each other doesn't mean that actually happens. There are piles and piles of research showing that children learn better in collaborative environments, and extrinsic motivation (ex: comparing themselves to others) is generally inferior to intrinsic motivation (wanting to do one's best simply out of the pride and joy of doing one's best, regardless of how that relates to others).

I beg to disagree and heres why. A childs eduction is based on what grade they receive. By making "everyone a winner" the grade system is devalued. So what basis do employers and universities have to take children on from school. Someone says "jimmy, joe and dave done really well on there group project" translated from bullshit to english as "jimmy and joe sat around while dave put all the work in and basically carried them to an excellent grade". Please tell me how that is fair as these kids are now equal going into a job market. Of course schooling should be competitive because its designed to perpare children for the competitive world of work

In england a lot of schools do "coursework" which counts towards thier grade. now this is stupid because whats to stop them getting a parent or sibling to do it for them. Where as an exam under exam conditions shows exactly how a particular student has performed. Trust me pretty much all english people i know told me they fudged their coursework in one way or another. This is the reason why so many people go to university in the UK. This may seem like a good thing but it essentially devalues university

 

[Sing]

I'm not old enough prove my theory, but I have this feeling that some kids are cocky and claim their rights whenever possible regardless of their generation. Someone older more experienced here who can prove my thesis?

As for Thomas, I feel for the guy. I know rules-is-rules but it's still a 12-year old boy who mispelled a word we´re talking about here. Is it really that much of a deal when he knew the correct answer?

[small]...It feels good to know that I don't have to judge people. I'm way to sympathique for my own good.[/small]

 

[SadakoMoose]

A lot of people are going to say this, but it bares repeating.
The last "generation", however you choose to define a generation, will always believe that the next generation is spoiled/entitled/whatever. This has never changed, as long as we've had written language to express these ideas in the first place. There is literally zero point in doing articles/forum posts/debates regarding this issue as it has not changed in the slightest. It is completely unending, and in a decade, people will have the exact same discussion about how much better music was, how much harder everyone worked, and the like, without any shred of irony or self awareness.
At this point, I am totally burnt out on pop sociology.