How Did Kids Get So Entitled: A Newfound (Possible) Perspective

First week back at school, I was assigned to write a paper about feminism. How does this correlate to entitled kids? To be frank, it probably doesn't (It's one of those days. Be prepared for some crazy tangents here because I'm tired and lack of focus is REAL. Just ignore anything in parenthesis, including this, if you only wanna hear the serious stuff.). However, in my research for the paper, I ended up finding a book called Women and the Future of the Family that put a few things into perspective for me. It was written almost 20 years ago, so I wasn't sure how some of the content would compare to today, but along the way I found an interesting cause and effect chain that I thought would be worth sharing...

1. Women seek equal rights, independence, and individualism.

This goes back to WWI and WWII. Men went off to war, so women starting working their jobs. Then, when the men got back from war, women still wanted to be in the workplace, but weren't treated equally, so they started a movement to change that. It has since escalated to a point that I ashamed to witness with all the anti-men garbage that feminists throw out, but that's a matter for another time (and now I can have a more knowledgeable discussion about it because I wrote a paper about it, so we can have a nice conversation).

2. America becomes a more individual-focused society where women are working for themselves.

Although, this also led to an increased need for both parents to work outside the home as prices rose for basic things like housing and necessities, whereas wages make it difficult to keep up with expenses. 

3. Women aren't home to teach their kids and protect them from the dangers of the outside world.

This is also dangerous because of the rise of advertised violence and sexuality in the media over the past few decades, especially with the feminist movement talking about sexual abuse and discrimination and the whole #MeToo movement. The introduction of the Internet fueled this outside world exposure as well, as now children have access to an excess of information that is less likely to be monitored when parents are working outside the home. This leads to a whole other plethora of problems: cyber-bullying, social media, the links to depression, anxiety, and potentially suicide... but I'm not going there right now (maybe next time).

4. Children learn from watching their parents.

Hmmm, who'd have thought...
Seriously though. Kids see what you do and copy it. So be an example. *drops mic (Maybe on purpose, maybe because I'm clumsy. Who's to say? Not you.)

5. Kids embrace individualism and become entitled. 

This has led to a more disrespectful younger generation, which has then impacted the rest of society as well. Instead of working for what's best for everyone, society has taught kids to look out for #1. Slogans like "have it your way" aren't helping any (yeah, that one's aimed at you Burger King). Sure, they're good for business, but they're also teaching people that it's more important to get what you want than to consider the people around you. At this point you should be shaking your head in disdain... (though don't tell me if it's aimed at me or at what society is teaching us, because I don't need that bash to my self-esteem). 

Now, the book I mentioned earlier only got to about step 3, because at that point the now clear trend with Gen Z kids wasn't visible yet. But if you think about it, it kinda makes sense.

Even just within my own family, I can kind of see this trend. My mom was a stay-at-home mom until I was about 14. My sister, 12 at the time, and I had both been extremely sheltered from a lot of the craziness of the outside world, such as the rising levels of publicized violence and brutality, greater disrespect, and the general changing nature of society that has been occurring over the past several years. So, my sister and I held onto what we'd learned, and proceeded to remain sheltered for the next few years to come.

However...

My other sister, 9 back then, and brother, 6, had not experienced having mom home all the time for as long as I (obviously). So, they were introduced to this new lifestyle at a younger age. While I think of my childhood as being mostly the sheltered homeschool life where both parents were home a decent amount of the time, my youngest siblings think of childhood as mom and dad both working all the time, or at least it feels that way sometimes. As with all families, each kid also has less restrictions and more freedoms than the last. But, because my mom started working, there was a huge shift in the levels of restrictions and freedoms allowed. With no parents home a good portion of the day, there's less censored content. So while growing up I would watch the classic Disney or Nickelodeon TV shows and movies, my siblings are growing up watching various YouTubers, Netflix series, and violent movies than I would have ever been allowed to watch. They are still censored some, but the standard has changed so much that my brother was watching PG-13 movies at like 8 and an occasional R rated one nowadays, and he's 11. I might've been killed if I'd done that, yet he can with Dad's permission. I couldn't even watch Psych until late high school, and once I started, all of my siblings were allowed to also (but don't worry, I'm not bitter, I promise). 

Sure, every family has changing standards based on the number of children they have, but the change is a lot greater and more pronounced when both parents work outside the home instead of having one at home. And the increased exposure to violence and adult content at younger ages has become a normal part of society. I personally hate that, but you're subject to your own opinion. 

So, can we do something about this? You tell me. I'm just kind of a mind that tears things apart and says, "This is the way it is." I'll probably be contemplating the possible changes and further repercussions as I continue to ponder these things, but if you have any thoughts to share on this issue, go for it.

Hope you enjoyed this without getting too confused by my train of thought! :)

Also, sidenote: I'm well aware that there are various other factors that have contributed to these changes in society, and I am by no means blaming the feminist movement or working mothers for these trends. It's merely a correlation I noticed. (I'm a psychology major, I know how this works. Correlation doesn't equal causation.) Okay, I'm done for now.