Capitalism, Self-Esteem, and (Mis)Education

Lunchtime is always a good time for a little blogging.

Check out this great piece on the problems of American higher education and how they manifest in our daily lives at the micro and macro levels.

As someone who works in higher ed, I couldn't agree more with the points Astore raises. I would, however, go a step further in adding that the problems he identifies are exacerbated by a sense of entitlement that virtually all of the undergraduate students I work with possess.

This sense of entitlement is not all about money and privilege, though those students that do come from more affluent, privileged backgrounds enact the behaviors Astore discusses in a more heightened manner. Rather, the sense of entitlement today's college students possess is one they have learned through years of always being told they are special and brilliant. Parents bathe their children in unnecessary and unearned praises from the moment their child is born, the first usually being a presentation of a medal of honor for having a good bowel movement. We praise too much, and teach too little.

These students have never been allowed to fail; instead their helicopter parents divert them from all possible dangers and swoop in to save the day in the rare occurence that pits them face-to-face with the possibility of failure.

With have become consumed with valuing and promoting self-esteem at the cost of virtually everything else. But the way we have constructed self-esteem produces people that are anything but self-confident and self-assured.

Real self-esteem comes from expereinces that must involve failure. It is defined by how we cope with and adapt to failure. We learn who we are not when everything is going just the way we want it, but when things are anything but desirable. We build confidence from the lessons we learn in our mistakes, disappointments, and even utter failures.

By not allowing children to risk and fail, we shield them from experiences that actually might build character and serve as teachable moments. By promoting and building self-esteem in the manner we have, we make it impossible for children to become adults that can be expected to be anything but a grown-up version of a 3 year-old stomping her/his feet and throwing a fit when they don't get their way.