Many Americans have lived an idyllic life. We have had no war reaching our soil, have a solid economy and have sufficient credit or income to purchase almost any item we want immediately. This is truly a materialistic, instant-gratification culture. Most adults, like their children, want whatever they desire. This creates a lifestyle that too often places them on the edge of insolvency. These incessant purchasers scramble to maintain their spending lifestyle. Their offspring are left on their own to enter a fantasy world of video games, Harry Potter magic, Facebook, and instant gratification of their own wants.
These youngsters are not being taught reality, moral values, skills, and rules necessary to be successful in the real business world. The parent’s belief in providing goods is more important than teaching them the skills necessary to function in the future. Modern children are victims of permissive, materialistic parenting that has been a dismal failure in preparing children for adulthood.
Their youngsters are usually oblivious to their parent’s fight to stay above water so as not to drown in debt. These children are not normally aware of the parents’ serious discussion about finances. In the children’s lives, money does grow on trees. Their parents use plastic cards and miraculously, everything they want is obtained with the ease of signing their name.
In our children’s heads, there is no urgent motivation to mature into adulthood as they believe everything will be similar tomorrow. Their parents will be there to care for them. These parents do little to enlighten their children that, eventually, they will not be able to provide for their future. Children should learn the skills needed to be independent and self-reliant to become adults and start the process of advancing on their chosen employment path.
Without parents preparing their children to be independent, they will be dependent on them or the government. Our children are living in a delusional world. Since they never witnessed their parents’ beginning climb up the economic ladder to create a successful life, they have no idea about what it took. Nor do the average parents share their initial stories of the hardship of starting their journey to financial security.
Many youngsters never saw their parent’s actual working place. Some might have visited their parent’s office on a special “bring your child to work day.” These occasions are more a show-and-tell experience not a normal workday. These unfortunate young people have little to aspire to and almost no drive to get there. These youngsters grow into young adults without realizing the tenacity and perseverance that was and still is required to maintain and advance to more demanding and higher-paying positions.
The lack of real-world knowledge has a significant impact on these youngsters’ education. They have no academic goals to achieve since there is no reason for them to become independent from their family. Too many are in school only because their parents insist on it, and too many act out as if they see no reason to be there.
These students pass the time in school more as a social event rather than a learning experience. They do not feel they have to gain the tools to be an excellent learner. They do not realize that they need knowledge in order to open all possible options for their own future. Most do not realize the implications of being dependent on others for their needs and wants. Their autonomy to make their own decisions, choices and opportunities is limited.
Worst of all, most modern young people will have few experiences to learn the elation one feels when accomplishing something meaningful after putting your heart and soul into it. Their school experience, more often than not, was not challenging as the child’s self-esteem was more important than their honest mastery of academic skills and relevant knowledge. Grade inflation can mask a poor education but does not do anything to promote a viable and excellent professional candidate for a productive and stimulating life. The person is paralyzed in a life of just getting by, never to reach their potential.
One of the most important lessons that modern parents and our public school system have not established clearly is that nothing worthwhile in life is done without focus and effort. Inner satisfaction comes from concentrated hard work to complete the project and is never as easy as was first thought. The satisfaction of creating something valuable is derived by realizing that they did it. Whatever the end product, the more ingenuity, perseverance, and creativity expended, the more unbelievable and amazed the individual feels that he accomplished what he set out to do. This feeling of gratification is addictive and leads to other positive deeds and successes.
Depending on others: family, friends and especially on “free government handouts” that promise everything, leads to mediocrity and a self-enslaved soul.
Domenick Maglio, PhD. is a columnist carried by various newspapers and blogs, an author of several books and owner/director of Wider Horizons School, a college prep program. Dr. Maglio is an author of weekly newspaper articles, INVASION WITHIN and the latest book entitled, IN CHARGE PARENTING In a PC World. You can see many of Dr. Maglio’s articles at www.drmaglioblogspot.com.
