Jonah Goldberg on the sad state of the American educational system:

A study earlier this year titled "Egos Inflating Over Time," led by Jean Twenge of San Diego State University, found that — you guessed it (Good for you!) — egos are inflating over time. They concluded that America's youth are the most self-absorbed since we began testing.

Confirmation of Twenge's findings abound. CBS' 60 Minutes profiled the so-called Generation Y, which is so fond of itself that employers cannot keep up. These new employees demand to be told how wonderful they are. They want to hear that nobody has ever photocopied better. They want a gold star for getting coffee. This demonstrates that our new educational regimen is showing real-world results. Teach a kid that merely having a pulse is a major accomplishment, and he'll carry that lesson for the rest of his life. Teach him how to do trigonometry, and he'll forget it before his Xbox even warms up.

I think that this post is relevant in that regard.

True self esteem has to come from accomplishment, and from yourself. You can't get it from other people. That's why they call it "self" esteem.

Mr. Rogers had a television show for pre-school children. His philosophy was that all children are valuable, because they have potential, but also for other reasons. He was also impossible to hate when he was alive. Now that he's gone, his legacy irritates people who believe the opposite: That even if you're a child, you're worthless until and unless you accomplish something. Mr. Rogers never said that achievement doesn't matter; all he said is that you're justified in caring about your life no matter who you are. There is more wisdom in his grave than there is Jonah Goldberg's childish blog.

It's also interesting that Fred Rogers was decades ahead of his time on copyright law. When the television industry sued VCR makers and tried to extract royalties, he went to Washington to explain that it was just fine if people taped his copyrighted show.

He was also impossible to hate when he was alive.

Well, I didn't hate him, but he always came across as a closet child molester to me.

Now that he's gone, his legacy irritates people who believe the opposite: That even if you're a child, you're worthless until and unless you accomplish something.

What a mindless straw man. I've never met anyone who believes this.

Again, I'll consider the source.

I had a friend who worked with juvenile criminals and his opinion was that they have an overabundance of self-worth and ego. I don't know if it was fed to them through the school system or what but they certainly thought things were owed them and they could do no wrong.

I had a friend who worked with juvenile criminals and his opinion was that they have an overabundance of self-worth and ego.

Amazingly enough, in many cases their own parents told them the complete opposite.

Amazingly enough, in many cases their own parents told them the complete opposite.

And you know that...how?

A teacher friend believes there are two types of teachers, both embittered. One is the failed professional who had to settle for a teaching career and the other is the desperate idealist who is surprised to find that the students won't kiss her/his backside because of what a wonderful, giving person they are.

His corollary to this is that the "self esteem" movement is actually revenge motivated. Inflate the little S*B's ego to enormous proportions then loose them into the REAL WORLD and watch the fun.

I'm such a good boy! =D

And you know that...how?

rjschwarz is not the only one who has talked to teachers who work with juvenile delinquents. While it is true that may of the delinquents talk big, many of their parents think of them as basically worthless. One example that was mentioned was the parents who said that their son (who was about 10) was such a "little sh!t" that they wanted to skip his birthday. They were going save it for some year that he deserved it --- which as far they knew, might never happen.

It's just common sense, Rand. There are parents who see their children as lowlifes and failures and wish that they could send them back. They may not tell you that, but their kids know full well. Would a child of such parents admit right away, "yeah, Mom and Dad are right, I really am worthless"? No, often they go to the opposite extreme and act superior.

It seems to me that if they're studying self-esteem or whatever the rubbish is called, they know how to distinguish the real thing from overcompensation in the face of parental oppression.

But that assumption would undercut Mr. Harris' position and undermine his self-esteem, so let's just pretend I didn't say it.

It seems to me that if they're studying self-esteem or whatever the rubbish is called, they know how to distinguish the real thing from overcompensation in the face of parental oppression.

Sure, they --- sympathetic teachers --- know how to distinguish it. You guys talk as if it's all one and the same.

And it's not exactly parental oppression that's the problem. It's parental contempt and incompetence. Oppressive parents might still show certain kinds of concern.