ABC/Chicago: A Hit-Piece on an Entire Generation

I think we found the John Stoessel (and that's not a good thing):

The Entitlement Generation By Rob Johnson

December 4, 2005 - For years, every generation of twenty-somethings has had nicknames. Generation X and Y come to mind. But the latest phenomenon is well-educated, well-financed and not eager to pay dues. Employers, sociologists and even the media have dubbed them "the entitlement generation."

They are images of desire, and they are everywhere. And many times they are expensive. In a world of instant communication and instant gratification, having it all can't wait. In the working world these people are known as the entitlement generation.
"Yes, there's an entitlement generation we are seeing a little bit more of," said Debbie Bougdanos.

Bougdanos would know. She works at the world renowned advertising firm Leo Burnett and is in charge of recruiting for the creative department. Plenty of portfolios come across her desk. Many of the applicants think they are ready for the prime assignments, but she says, most assuredly, they are not.

"If I sense any of that attitude that arrogance, that expectation, that entitlement, that is an immediate turnoff," Bougdanos said.

The truth of the matter is, members of the entitlement generation exist at just about every college or university out there.

...

Perhaps the most interesting part of putting this story together is the unwillingness of any of these people to go on camera to talk about it. Of the dozens of people contacted for this story, everybody knew someone who fit the description. But those people were either too embarrassed to admit to it or were in denial that they part of the entitlement generation at all.

We even reached out to some parents, but they too did not wish to participate in this project.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=special_coverage&id=3690767

middle-aged men who want their war--as long as their children don't fight and their taxes don't pay for it.

They want their bloated stock portfolios and don't give a damn if mercury poisons vaccines, if people lose their livelihoods or if soldiers die to make that happen.

the people graduating college now have a hellova uphill battle ahead of them - trying to get on the career track when networked boomers are calling the kettle "spoiled".

Yours is the best definition I have ever seen (so far):

middle-aged men who want their war--as long as their children don't fight and their taxes don't pay for it.

They want their bloated stock portfolios and don't give a damn if mercury poisons vaccines, if people lose their livelihoods or if soldiers die to make that happen.

described in the OP is actually the second entitlement generation.

Re "Actually, the "Entitlement Generation" consists of the pasty, pudgy middle-aged men who want their war--as long as their children don't fight and their taxes don't pay for it."

So these are the children those pasty-faced dads don't want to see fight and die in Bush war. In other words, they are second-generation chickenhawks whose parents could afford to send them to college. Therefore they weren't faced with a choice between enlisting and working at McDonald's, unlike some of their less affluent (and probably Democratic) compatriots. I have a feeling these "entitled" kids are in for a VERY rude awakening when the economy tanks in about a year or so...

:eyes:

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few skills, little to no experience and big egos; how true it is I don't know

the telltale sign for me that this is a bullshit hit-piece:

"But those people were either too embarrassed to admit to it or were in denial that they part of the entitlement generation at all."

There's been this growing mentality for the past 20-odd years that all kids need to be treated like winners. Little league teams not keeping score to avoid "losers", trophies for every kid no matter how well (or how poorly) they did, a total reluctance to correct bad performance because the child's self esteem was deemed more important than his results. This type of behavior HAS had an impact on many kids of the current generation. I see it all the time when I hand back F's to kids who then complain "But I did my best!", or when I have to throw some mouthy 18 year old out of my classroom because he thinks his inexperienced opinions are equal to my degrees, experience, and position as a college professor and he DEMANDS equal time to refute or correct me. As a small business owner, I also get to deal with these kids straight out of college, and as the article says, many of them flat out refuse to start out with the grunt work. They demand not only responsibility, but a freedom from oversight that's typically reserved for only our most senior employees who have a proven track record of delivering results.

There IS a generational problem here, and many in academia are well aware of it. It's also well known to both psychologists and can be laid squarely at the feet of the 80's yuppies who raised them this way. Not all kids of this generation have this problem...in fact I'd say that most don't, but there are a HUGE number of kids who do. I don't know what the solution is for them either...they're either going to have to grow up and adapt to the real world real quick, or life is going to be very hard on them.

I had a student last semester who exemplified this problem perfectly. She was a 17 year old freshman who had spent her entire life in a yuppified private academy which believed that self-esteem was more important than actual learning. This was reinforced by a family who told her throughout her life that whatever she did was fine, as long as she did "her best". When I gave her an F at the end of the semester, she literally broke into heaving sobs and had to be escorted out of my classroom. It was apparently the first time in her life that she'd actually FAILED at something. When she came into my office the next day, she DEMANDED that I improve her grade. Did she offer to do extra credit work? Did she want to make up or redo some of her assignments? Did she offer sex like other students have done in the past? No, no, and no (and I've never taken a student up on that offer, btw). She DEMANDED that I improve her grade because she tried "hard" and "did the best that she could do". According to her entire worldview, that should have been enough.

What do you say to people like that?

they need a bit more attention than your average bear. You teach college, so you can be a little harsher about it than I can.

Having been a 5-th grade teacher, I see the situation a bit differently. The modern parenting you're seeing is a response to the damage done through authoritarian parenting (don't question). I admit that the pendulum has swung a bit far in the other direction, but the general goal is a swing toward authoritative parenting (and teaching). It's the hardest type of leadership to pull off, but the most rewarding for all involved.

Effort should figure into the equation. There are measurable ways to figure effort (and second chances) into a scoring system, and it does give kids of lower academic ability a fighting chance. Self-esteem should figure into teaching (children, at least), but maybe not as much through grades as through encouragement.

As for your student, I would create a rubric with each major assignment and present it to the class along with the assignment. The scoring system basically says: this is what you need to do to get an "A". If they start grade-grubbing, pull out the rubric.

I've never taught at the elementary level, and I'm sure the rules are different, but at the college level I am entrusted to ensure that my students know the material. The grading is rather black and white...if they know the material, they pass. If they don't, they fail. There's no room for consideration of self esteem or effort.

I do give my students flexibility in their assignments so they can determine their own final grades and efforts. When giving them an assignment, it usually includes "Do X for a grade of C", "Do Y for a grade of B", "Do Z for a grade of A", "Do Z+K for extra credit". The problem is that many students assume that it's sufficient to complete only the C level work, and I don't assign D's. If they do the C level work incorrectly, they simply fail the assignment. I teach logic, so most of my assignments are actually pass/fail...a C is passing, and the grades above that are assigned based on the amount and quality of extra effort the students are willing to complete.

... our current culture, reflected EVERYWHERE ads, movies, games shows, reality tv, you name it - that you are either a winner or a loser - well no wonder some losers attempt to finesse their way into the winners circle.

Our culture is so ridiculous, everything is "extreme", everyone is "heroic", it's quite comical and probably psychologically destructive.

you deserve it, have it your way, the customer is always right (and students became "customers").

"Life isn't fair, young lady. You'll have to work even harder, and maybe it will actually require paying attention. Now, get out of my office!"
The Professor

even open a door! We have co-eds that are too entitled to flush a toliet. I had an entire class of seniors and grad students who all flunked their mid-term and I had to cancel two lectures to review every question and give it to them again.

to prepare".

status and wealth. I can't even go to clubs anymore in Chicago because so many people are out flaunting themselves it's sick. There is one club with 35 VIP tables! How the hell are you a VIP if everyone else is?

Allows people to feel distant from one another and stick their noses up in the air, that's all.

First we were the slackers, then after we invented and singlehandedly built the internet, we became something else, now we're the "entitlement generation" because we want to be recognized as capable people?

Are you saying that 20 somethings (the people being called the entitlement generation) *singlehandlely* built the internet?

Oh my goodness. Not even close. I hope I misunderstood you.

:silly:

I just meant that 20-somethings made significant contributions to the tech boom of the '90's.

Hyperbole: it's not just for breakfast anymore.

Articles like the OP totally bug me.... I'm 20-something and most of my friends are hardworking, smart, productive members of society.

I tend to think of the affluent baby boomers whose parents went to college on the GI Bill & got VA home loans, whose own parents paid their way through college, but are spending their own kids' college money on expensive trips and luxury cars (or maybe I'm just thinking of my mom and her husband?), who use our federal highways and hire illegals as nannies and pay them peanuts, but who don't want to spend a freaking dime in taxes to help out anybody else.

People just out of school have always thought it would be easier than it is.

But really, it is unfair to trash a whole generation. There are people like this in every age group, including the vaunted "greatest generation".

I know all my life I have despised being tagged a "boomer" because I felt like I had nothing in common with that generation. I think this generational-typing is a form of stereotyping

I think every generation has been accused of this. It's like my college fraternity where when I joined they boasted about not hazing. When I joined the hazing was actually mild but it got worse and worse every semester under the guise of "they don't have it half as bad as we had it" when in fact they had it twice as bad.

Think back when you didn't know anything and when you started your career. Did you not think you could take on the world?

It is indeed unfortunate that these kids are being viewed this way. I don't blame them one bit for not talking about it.

A boring, non-sensical news story on a boring Sunday night...pretty much sums up what I saw.

Johnson's been a reporter for the channel for years...must be his teen-agers were giving him grief and he did this report to get even. Honestly, it was that stupid and inane.

Being a "baby-boomer" (and I've always hated that term)...I grew up with this kind of mindset. Supposedly my generation was the Entitlement one...yet when I get to be 65, the last thing I'll be depending on for my final years will be entitlement programs.

I swear, he should have ended the report by demanding everyone watching go up and clean their rooms.

everything sucks!"

Every generation says it, since tens of thousands of years ago. Everyone has a glorified version of the past that they like to remember and they like to blame all of the debt they ran up in it on their children.

Makes sense.

We older folks suck. We've collectively let this nation turn into a shithole. If I were a young person today, I would have much contempt for the generations who "had it all" but let it fall into the hands of the Neo-Cons.

Yes, SOME of the affluent university students I work with have an unrealistic view of daily life. Maids and nannies have done everything for them all of their lives. It's tough to have to put up your own plate and toss out your own garbage when all of your life you've been taught that this is "beneath you." But they catch on fairly quickly for the most part. They learn that they are no better than others.

The majority of students I know are good kids, polite, hardworking, concerned about social issues. I know more than a few who are going to Haiti and other areas during Winter Break. My own college-aged daughter was invited to visit South Africa for a college trip ( medical training) and would love to go but we don't have the $$$$.

I think the story is much more colorful and hopeful than the one told here.

"If I were a young person today, I would have much contempt for the generations who "had it all" but let it fall into the hands of the Neo-Cons."

The most "entitled" leaning students at this particular university are the 50-somethings, returning to seminary. They are absolutely the most spoiled human beings I have met in a long time.

Peace to you this fine day! :)

Seminary?!

:rofl: :hi:

Not much humility in that group. I bite my tongue a LOT. :P

Next year I turn sixty. I am part of the first group of boomers. We now pass the torch on to you younger then us. Make a better world for yourselves.

College grads of today began thinking seriously about their future at a time when 20 somethings were making millions in the tech industry. The message given at the time was that you can be highly successful at any age as long as you "just do it". It's not about entitlement, it's about drive, competition, and in many cases, greed...not exactly uncommon in a capitalist society.