We are constantly comparing generations and making arguments as to which one is the best. Informally, there are certain segments of people who are referred to as snowflakes, thus coining the term, the snowflake generation. In a nutshell, these are people who are constantly offended by other people’s views and opinions. Considering this portrays them as vulnerable, people automatically hurl more comments which may be deemed as hurtful or insulting.
Whilst we definitely do not justify hurtful comments, one can argue that we have taken sensitivity to a whole new level, where you constantly need to pay attention to ensure that no one’s feelings are hurt due to a generic opinion. We may have brought this upon us ourselves when considering that we are forcing everyone to believe that he is special and entitled.
Perhaps it would be more realistic to raise children from their formative years to believe that in reality they are entitled to nothing. When people are brought up to believe that they deserve things which they have not worked for, we are creating a society which is destined for failure.
One of the main issues lies in the fact that from a very young age, we are influencing children to believe that there is no such thing as losing. We give participation medals to those that come last, simply so that they do not feel bad about it. Is that right? Many argue that this is the wrong approach and children, even from a very young age need to understand that you will lose at times and it does not feel good. In reality, failure is important as it can teach us a lot. Some argue that one does indeed learn more from failure than success.
When they grow up, this is indeed what they will face. Not everything will go according to plan and one will face disappointments. On a constant basis, we are challenged to do better and in certain cases this has to be achieved the hard way, by receiving feedback which may not be positive. If we lure children under the impression that people will be nice to them and that everything is going to be all right, we are automatically giving them a false sense of security, which leads them to bigger disappointments.
We may have gone remarkably soft. What is your view on this? Let us know in the comments section below.
