Plato described a balance of reason, spirit, and desire. . .
That balance is increasingly difficult to achieve in a culture of steroid-induced narcissism, where every kid gets an A+, every player is a winner, and everyone not only has the right to dream but is entitled to have that dream come true: to be the American Idol, the YouTube phenom, a bright star in a world of dimly-lit pseudo-celebrities (if Paris Hilton can be a celebrity then why not I?). Who needs reason when the only thing that stands in the way of success is the desire to achieve and the spirit to shamelessly self-promote?I am certainly not going to take a position on whether modern parenting is causing the rise in incidents of this type. I will say that many of these incidents appear to be caused by serious mental illness, or even physiological defects (such as brain tumors) and that violence is not a new phenomenon.
Still, considering how these aspects of modern parenting is a frequent topic among childfree people, I thought this was worth posting here. Forgive the plug to my school paper!
The assumption that focusing on 'self esteem' helps kids does need questioning. It doesn't seem to be based on solid psychological ground. Whether or not the outcome is as dire as the author states, it could very well have negative consequences when children face rejection in the real world.
Technorati Tag: childfree
No comments:
Post a Comment