What is wrong with our country's parents?
Today, I was reading the NYTimes, and the following headline caught my eye: Child Wants Cellphone; Reception is Mixed. Unable to help myself, I started reading the article. It begins with the testimonial of a woman who bought her 8 year-old daughter a cellphone, after the kid begged for two years. When the article got to statistics stating that, out of 20 million American kids in the 8-12 age group, 6.6 million of those kids have cell phones, I stopped reading and started ranting.
I cannot believe that anyone finds it appropriate to buy such an expensive, maintenance-oriented toy for their children. What is wrong with people? What possible need does an 8 year-old child have for their own personal phone? It makes me sick. When I was younger, and even through my teen years, the ease of my parents at saying "no" infuriated me constantly. Now, I read things like this, and I am so grateful that when I was 8, there were no cell phones in my stocking.
Yes, technology has changed, and this affects expectations on all counts. But I still can't see the rationale in the way parents give their children everything. What kind of adults do these kids grow up to be? They grow up to senselessly burn fossil fuel, to isolate themselves from others with (unnecessarily) big houses in cookie-cutter suburbs, to contribute to a culture of waste that is massive by global standards. These people think nothing of their impact in the world, environmentally or ethically, because they were taught that things would be given, that everything is an entitlement.
Here's a great story my roommate overheard at a coffee shop in Prairie Village:
A woman (Erin calls them Country Club Moms, or CCMs) was telling her fellow CCMs about dropping her son off at day care. Apparently, the son threw a massive temper tantrum upon being dropped off. One of his teachers suggested to his mother that she try bringing a favorite stuffed animal next time, to make the kid feel more at ease. The mother looks at the teacher and says,
"Do you have any kids?"
"No, I don't. I'm a nun," replies the teacher.
"That's what I thought, so you don't know what you're talking about." And scene.
I wonder why the kid was having a temper tantrum in the first place.
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4 comments:
I didn't have a cell phone till I was a freshman in college and only for the cheap long distance. when it broke after two months I bought my own. Parents need to get a life, jesus people, why don't you buy you 10 year old a lexus because that would be practicle too.
with a mom like that, i would have thought the tantrum-kid should have been rejoicing.
can you imagine parading around mrs. nigro's class, cell phone in hand, crayola in the other, gossiping loudly about last night's episode of futurama or whatever today's second graders are into ...
i wouldn't assume the kid will become a fossil fuel guzzler suv driver, but i do think kids that have cell phones when they are 8 will depend on instant gratification in all areas of thier lives as they grow older
oh my brain is sooooooooooo conceptual right now that i can't think of a lighthearted response
Dear Helen,
This cell phone thing also disgusts me. What do you think about the disappearance of land line phones? I think it will be funny when we're all older and no one has one (I sure as heck don't think I'll have one.) Wonder if 4 year olds will have their own mini cell phones or something god awful...
Megan B
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