Issue #52
In this issue:
I talk
and talk and talk, and I haven't taught people in 50 years what my father
taught by example in one week.
Mario Cuomo
One generation
plants trees, and the next enjoys the shade.
Unknown
I take a
very practical view of raising children. I put a sign in each of their
rooms: Checkout Time is 18 years.
Erma Bombeck
Answer your
questions, but question your answers.
Eric Chester
Teenagers
are people who act like babies if they're not treated like adults.
MAD Magazine
There are
two great injustices that can befall a child. One is to punish him for
something he didn't do. The other is to let him get away with doing something
he knows is wrong.
Robert Gardner
There is
nothing wrong with today's teenager that twenty years won't cure.
Author Unknown
All the kids
today have cars and are spoiled, it seems. When I was a kid, you were
lucky if you had a bike.
James Cagney, 1977
When I was
seven, I told my friend Timmy Barker that I would give him a million dollars
if he ate an earthworm. He ate the worm, but I never gave him the million
dollars. As of last week, all I had given him was $9,840.
Jack
Handey—Author of Deep Thoughts
See
Eric in Action!
Click
for a video preview of Eric's
dynamic, insightful presentation style.
Links of Note...
The answers are just a few clicks away...
Getting
Them to Give a Damn: How to Get Your Front Line to Care About Your Bottom
Line
the
new book by Eric Chester reveals the management techniques that
leading-edge employers are using to get these quirky, book-smart, and
streetwise employees—Eric calls them 'kidployees'—to contribute
in innovative and entrepreneurial ways.
Available now. Order your copy today! -more-
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Poor, Deprived, Spoiled Rotten Kids!
I've got to come clean.
There's an internal battle raging inside of me. There's the side that can’t help but compare all this generation has in the way of material possessions with what I had growing up. At times I am tempted to quickly dismiss the youth of today as completely and totally overindulged. After all, statistics prove this to be the most affluent young generation in history, annually pumping more than $400 billion into our nation's economy and influencing the spending of hundreds of billions beyond that. One has to blush at the list of top-selling Christmas gifts for kids this year. Where you and I may have had to work-up the nerve to ask Santa for a new Barbie, Tonka truck, or Rock'em-Sock'em Robots, the list of most requested gifts this year for youth includes the X-Box 360, video IPod, and even a credit card-sized digital camera, each gift costing more than I paid for my first car! Stroll through your local mall and you’ll see youngsters sporting hundred-dollar athletic shoes, wearing pricey brand-named designer clothing, and talking endlessly on razor-thin cell phones. I see this and cannot help but shake my head and mutter...
"Spoiled-rotten kids today..."
Just as that thought begins to permanently etch itself in my brain, I see a headline or hear a story that chills me to the bone and I quickly find myself thinking how extraordinarily difficult it must be for a kid to grow up in today's world. School shootings, terrorist alerts, steroid-using athletic role models, character-assassinating political campaigns waged on prime time television, X-rated words and images infiltrating every conceivable type of media, etc. Holy buckets! Compared to these kinds of daily events, my adolescent years were nothing but lollipops and rainbows. I see this and cannot help but shake my head and mutter...
"Poor, deprived kids today."
As you can see, I am in perpetual conflict. Is Generation Why deprived or spoiled rotten?
I guess the answer is a resounding ‘yes’… ‘no’… ‘maybe’… and ‘it all depends which kid you’re talking about and in what context.’ After all, there’s a preponderance of evidence to argue any of these responses and many others. Thus, my internal battle rages on.
And if you’re still reading, then I am not alone. Perhaps this battle is one that also rages inside of you. And that’s a good thing. Because it means that you are in touch with the nature of Generation Why and you are trying to comprehend how and why they may think, feel, and act the way that they do. It means you understand today’s youth are being influenced by a world that is dramatically different from the one that we grew up in; the challenges they face are also much different from those you and I encountered in days gone by and you’re wondering how to connect with them.
It also means that you really, truly, give a hoot.
I believe
that this confusion is a good thing. It keeps you dialed-in. It keeps
you on-edge. It keeps you from getting complacent in your instructional
methodologies. Most of all, it keeps you balanced in your approach; miles
ahead of those who’ve formed iron-clad conclusions (most likely erroneous
ones) about today’s youth and are totally misconnecting with them.
Experience has shown time and again that those who enjoy the greatest
success in leading, teaching, and influencing Gen Whys are those who never
stop asking the difficult questions and who refuse to blindly accept the
simple answers and most convenient definitions. Don’t confuse them
with the calm and unfretted sort who act as if they’ve got it all
figured out. The most effective educators are never 100% certain about
the attitudes, values, and beliefs of today’s students. They continually
struggle with how best to connect with them, so they continually adjust
their course just as a captain adjusts his sails to account for the changing
winds to bring a ship home safely.
Are they deprived or spoiled? Capable or unprepared? Energetic or apathetic?
Look to answer the questions, but always question your answers.
Embrace the battle that rages within. As mentioned, it’s a good thing.
As the father of two and a stepfather of two Gen Whys now aged 20 to 25, I reflect on their teenage years when Christmas shopping for them was a laborious task that brought this internal battle to the forefront of my mind. Like every parent, I wanted to give my kids the latest and greatest gift that would make that particular Christmas the one they would never forget. As I picked up the wrapping paper and bows, I’d usually find myself feeling anxious wondering if my kids realized how lucky they were and wondering if I had given too much and if they really appreciated it.
Attached is a poem I wrote in 1999 to reflect my thoughts and feelings. Since then, I have had many requests for it. I share it with you now and hope that you enjoy the true spirit of the holiday season.
 |
Click
to view the poem or right click to download. |
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