The entitlement problem is not just about allowances and money and cell phones and “stuff.” It’s tentacles reach into virtually every aspect of our children’s lives.
It impacts their education where they feel they should not have to work for their grades, or that someone should do their homework for them, or that they, rather than the teacher, should decide what they want to learn.
It impacts their relationships where they think parents should work out their fights or conflicts with other kids and that they should be able to do anything they want with anyone they choose and have everything that any of their friends have.
It impacts their health and their safety because they feel entitled to eat what they want (or not eat what they don’t want), go to bed when they feel like it, and do what other kids are doing whether it’s safe or not.
It impacts their ability to set goals, because when one is entitled, who needs goals? And it impacts their ability to adopt and commit to values because when entitlement is the predominating false value, it chokes out all the true ones.
It impacts their ability to work, and to earn, and to care for things, because within their entitlement attitude, they should never really need to do any of those things.
It impacts their pride, their sense of accomplishment, and their self esteem, because those are things that come from working, earning, choosing and owning.
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