The Entitlement Generation

This may just be a U.S. thing, but might as well post away.

So my wife teaches high school and I teach at my university. A major thing we've noticed and been saying for years is that it's becoming apparent that "kids these days" are increasingly demanding what they feel they're entitled to. This includes freebies, breaks, special consideration, a lot of your fucking time 1 on 1, etc. Well, it's a trend, but I think I found a crown for this fucking movement...

Kids sue their mom for not getting birthday money and "care packages". Here's a the LINK

and if you don't like following links, I am putting the story in a spoiler

Spoiler: Show

Not sending your son a birthday gift and refusing to buy your daughter a homecoming dress may not be ideal parenting, but it’s not enough to sue over, according to a state appeals court. In a unanimous ruling, the First District Appellate Court of Illinois has upheld the dismissal of what it calls a “bad mothering” lawsuit a pair of Barrington Hills siblings filed against their mom.

The 2009 lawsuit sought more $50,000 plus unspecified punitive damages from Kimberly A. Garrity, who was accused of “a course of conduct which has caused both the intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress” to her children, Steven A. Miner, 23, and Kathryn Miner, 20, court documents state.

The conduct, the suit claimed, began after Garrity and her former husband, also named Steven A. Miner, divorced in 1995, when the children were 7 and 4, respectively.

Among the claims are that Garrity sometimes didn’t include gifts in cards sent to her children; played favorites with her children; told her son, then 7, during a car ride that she would take him to the police station if he didn’t buckle his seat belt; did not send him care packages until his sixth semester away at college, and then only at her ex-husband’s prompting; changed her surname, thus “causing attention” at her daughter’s school events; and refused to buy Kathryn a homecoming dress.

On that same homecoming in 2007, the lawsuit states, Garrity provided her daughter an automobile, but contacted her at midnight and told her to bring it back.

In upholding a Cook County judge’s decision throwing out the lawsuit, the appellate court stated that while Garrity’s actions may have been “unpleasant and perhaps insensitive,” they do not meet the legal standards of intentional infliction of emotional distress.

“At its worst, it reflects behavior that is sometimes erratic, sometimes spiteful, sometimes less than generous or fully sensitive to the material and emotional needs of her children,” Justice Joseph Gordon wrote in the 33-page ruling. “But by no means does the nature and quality of this conduct fall outside ‘all possible bounds of decency.’”

Steven Miner, citing his attorneys’ wishes, declined to comment on the lawsuit when reached at home Sunday. Kathryn Miner could not be reached.

Neither Garrity nor her attorney, Shelley Smith, could be reached for comment Sunday.

One word; workers compensation :).

It's not just the U.S. mj, its the same here in Australia. Most of it has got to do with the generous welfare system we have here. All you have to do is flash you Centerlink card and you seem to be entitled to concessions for almost everything. On a relevant note the education system here a joke too. Kids with "learning" difficulties are eligible for readers and writers , even in the school certificate!!!1!11 I suffered poorly in Maths and didn't even bother for anything I was entitled, if the school certificate is to be taken seriously then having someone writing or reading the answers to me isn't going to do anything. Besides, to pass the school certificate here, all you have to do is write your name in the top hand corner. It's piss easy!

Most of the suing we get here is to do with Workers vs Businesses Citizens vs Government/council. Very rarely do you see a case of a child suing their parents.

If the claims below are the worst that the woman's child could manage, they were remarkably lucky. Many children wouldn't receive a birthday or holiday card at all. Some parents negligently allow children to remain unbuckled and liable to be ejected during an auto accident. Others kick your ass out once you've reached the age of eighteen and certainly wouldn't pay for the expense of college tuition.

"Among the claims are that Garrity sometimes didn’t include gifts in cards sent to her children; played favorites with her children; told her son, then 7, during a car ride that she would take him to the police station if he didn’t buckle his seat belt; did not send him care packages until his sixth semester away at college, and then only at her ex-husband’s prompting; changed her surname, thus “causing attention” at her daughter’s school events; and refused to buy Kathryn a homecoming dress."

As for the topic, I have definitely noticed an increase of entitlement, both within my own generation and those that have come after us. Life as an average child in the United States entails the constant reinforcement that you are a special snowflake, parents are discouraged from forms of punishment that would have a measurable impact on behavior, and the conveniences of modernity reveal a remarkable lack of adaptability by individuals who have never gone without them.

On a societal scale, the entire atmosphere of this nation, up until the recent recession and economic slump, has been one of insatiable expansion and growth, with quality of life and other markers increasing across the board. We've become complacent and dependent on that growth, and suddenly the rug of prosperity has been ripped out from under our feet. People are kicking and screaming for the government to swoop down as a savior, and many are finding themselves without work, suddenly unable to afford their homes or even the basic necessities. Unfortunately, they lack the skills and experience required to stand up on their own, due to the nanny state that has blossomed like an ugly sore in recent decades.

I don't think nanny state quite covers it though. Our government doesn't do that much for its citizens compared to other nations, but I believe the average U.S. yute expect to be more catered to than any other in the world. It's because we dive straight down and lower the bar to accommodate the bottom. Not in just financial aspects, but on educational and moral grounds as well. It doesn't take much to feel "advanced" or "accomplished" in this country, thus the higher tendency for entitlement. That's my thought on the causes.