VERY Wise Word (directed at teenagers, but applicable to us all)

[jayne]

Northland College (NZ) principal John Tapene has offered the following words from a judge who regularly deals with youth.


"Always we hear the cry from teenagers 'What can we do, where can we go?'

... My answer is, "Go home, mow the lawn, wash the windows, learn to cook, build a raft, get a job, visit the sick, study your lessons, and after you've finished, read a book."

"Your town does not owe you recreational facilities and your parents do not owe you fun. The world does not owe you a living, you owe the world something. You owe it your time, energy and talent so that no one will be at war, in poverty or sick and lonely again."

"In other words, grow up, stop being a cry baby, get out of your dream world and develop a backbone, not a wishbone. Start behaving like a responsible person. You are important and you are needed. It's too late to sit around and wait for somebody to do something someday. Someday is now and that somebody is you..."

[Boo]

I immediately shared it with my email friends. A couple might not be my friends after reading this, though.

Thanks,

[MercyChild]

Harsh but true! I liked it. Thanks for sharing

[Youssarian]

YES.

Is this whole sense of entitlement thing new? I know that every generation says the younger one is worse than the last. However I wonder if this entitlement thing is unique to this youngest one.

[jayne]

YES.

Is this whole sense of entitlement thing new? I know that every generation says the younger one is worse than the last. However I wonder if this entitlement thing is unique to this youngest one.

To me, this sense if "the world owes me" isn't unique to young teenagers of today. It's always been around to some degree, but began to worsen post Great Depression and especially post WW II. Particularly, in the 1980's when people were making money on the stock market hand over fist and technology began to explode into everyone's homes, we became a lazy and complacent people.

It's just that today, with all of the instant gratification we have - getting what we want when we want just isn't enough anymore.

And unfortunately, many of those 21 and younger have been raised in a world where this is the norm.

[Boo]

To me, this sense if "the world owes me" isn't unique to young teenagers of today. It's always been around to some degree, but began to worsen post Great Depression and especially post WW II. Particularly, in the 1980's when people were making money on the stock market hand over fist and technology began to explode into everyone's homes, we became a lazy and complacent people.

It's just that today, with all of the instant gratification we have - getting what we want when we want just isn't enough anymore.

And unfortunately, many of those 21 and younger have been raised in a world where this is the norm.

I missed the world you are referring to. My young life was nothing like the world owing me anything. I guess that is a problem with being raised in the "flyover states" in the 50's and 60's. Apparently the great depression and the after-affects of WWII hadn't hit us as yet.

[Dani H]

YES.

Is this whole sense of entitlement thing new? I know that every generation says the younger one is worse than the last. However I wonder if this entitlement thing is unique to this youngest one.

It's not so much entitlement as it is childish thinking.