In 1998 Tom Brokaw wrote an amazing book titled The Greatest Generation that told the story of men and women who grew up during the depression, fought in the Second World War and returned home to build America. In the flyleaf we read, "This generation was united not only by a common purpose, but also by common values - duty, honor, economy, courage, service, love of family and country, and, above all, responsibility for oneself." My father was of that generation, and each of these describes him perfectly.
I can't help but wonder what will be written about the generation currently coming of age. When the Builder Generation was 18, 19, 20 years old they were charging the battlefields of such places as Normandy and Iwo Jima. Today, universities must offer persons in that age group "safe spaces" where they can run to in case they hear something that makes them uncomfortable. Whereas the Greatest Generation valued taking responsibility for themselves, many in today's generation depends on everyone else taking responsibility for them.
Everyone gets a participation trophy. Everyone gets a smiley face on their school work. Schools must be careful about issuing any punishments or risk being sued. Helicopter parents stand watch over their children to make sure no one says or does anything to hurt their feelings or damage their self-esteem. Such parents seem to forget that some of our greatest lessons are learned through failure.
Now we have the case of wealthy parents paying bribes to get their children accepted into some of the top universities in the nation. While other young people worked hard to earn the scores and honors that might qualify them for admission to those schools, the wealthy elite just bribed the necessary people to get their children admitted.
The problem with helicopter parents is that they raise snowflakes, and snowflakes melt in the heat. Trying to protect their children from ever making a mistake or being disappointed almost guarantees problems later in their lives. We are already seeing a generation that often seems unwilling to grow up and assume the responsibilities of being an adult. They become dependent on everyone else taking care of their problems and will struggle to make it in the real world.
As I listen to some of the young persons recently elected to Congress talk about the benefits of socialism I hear the whimpering cries of persons who have no sense of personal responsibility: free healthcare, free college tuition, free money for anyone who can't work or doesn't want to work. These young people either do not understand that socialism has never worked anywhere it's been tried, and no one still believes it can work except in university classrooms, or they have another agenda that promises great harm to our nation. However, their demands are a natural, logical extension of being raised with participation trophies and smiley faces.
Christian families are not immune to this problem. We can be just as over-protective of our children as any other family. We need to help our children understand that being a Christian does not protect us from the problems facing all persons, that we can make mistakes and even fail at some of the things we attempt, and that we have a responsibility to rise above those failures to become better persons. We must teach our children the values that helped shape the Greatest Generation if we want them to be responsible adults.
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