Mr. Everett Piper, President of Oklahoma Wesleyan University recently wrote a letter to his students titled “This is not a daycare, it is a university”. The letter was prompted by a student complaining to him that a recent sermon delivered in the university chapel made he and his fellow students “uncomfortable” by saying they needed to take responsibility, etc., etc., etc.
I won’t attempt to reproduce President Piper’s entire letter here, but simply paraphrase his points.
Universities are, or should be, places of higher learning. Places where one can finish maturing, hone skills, and grow into responsible adults. They are not intended to be safe zones for illegal aliens. They are not supposed to set up “cry zones” where students can hold hands, hug each other, and lament anything that has happened to upset them. They are not intended to be day care centers for cry babies. Administrators and professors should not tremble in fear of upsetting or offending a student, or group of students.
What has happened to our culture where we have 18-28-year-olds that are so sensitive they are unable to cope with even remote disappointments? Have these young adults been so coddled by parents and educators that they are not able to stand up to even the mildest reproach or set back? When did personal responsibility get replaced by entitlement?
We are not born with entitlements to anything. With luck, we are born into a loving family environment that will teach us and nurture us, but it isn’t guaranteed. Parents should also note that nurturing is not the same as giving a child anything they may desire. Sometimes the adults must say no. Sometimes the adults must practice what has been called “tough love” and even apply discipline.
How much of this current generation are so thin-skinned and self-absorbed that they can’t cope with the real world? Have we become so politically correct that there is no longer any concept of right and wrong? Have we created an artificial world for these young people where reality doesn’t exist?
Thank God there is at least one college president that has a grip on reality.
Lynn and Danny: Quite right. Everyone has set backs and disappointments and each person has to learn to cope with those. I see many of the young set totally unable, or unwilling, to deal with any condition or event that doesn’t play to their liking.
Yes, we were taught a work ethic and personal responsibility. Many people seem to have missed the point that government can’t provide anything that they haven’t first taken from someone else. Where do these “kids” think free education, free health care, or any other entitlement comes from? Neither can they be shielded from disappointments in life. As Danny says, they have to learn to “man-up” and face reality.
Lynn, obviously you taught your kids well or your grandson wouldn’t know the difference. More parents should do as well.
Entitlement is a word developed and manifested by those who feel that hard work and hardship belong to us older folks, who by the way; made it possible with blood, sweat and tears for those who complain now to have a better life. Honestly, who knows what the next up and coming generation will think. My grandson who is not in that group knows the difference and he is only 13. I can only hope there are more like him coming up in the world. Thanks Ken.
The “Entitlement Generation” should “man-up” and learn from “The Greatest Generation” that instinctively knew about work and hardship and self-sacrifice for others.
Thanks, Carol. We can only hope there are more of them.
Thanks for this post – I missed this headline. Glad to see someone in academia gets it