"Mrs Scraggs your son is spoilt." - "No he isn't!" - "Well at least come and see what the steamroller did to him." No.The old jokes aren't always the best but spoilt children in today's society are as much a reason for problems in our schools as any degree of social deprivation. That is certainly no joke.
They receive: mobile phones, IPods, large amounts of pocket money; they possess Gameboys and Play Stations which dull their faculties and interest in life; they have TVs and computers in bedrooms; parents are treated as chauffeurs and are contradicted - even in public. These children are not taught the value of money, their lack of manners gets worse year on year and when they go off the rails the parents will back them up to the hilt against authority of any kind and will even take the blame with school for their child's transgressions.
They have no tasks or chores to do around the house; they triumph in arguments by sulking, shouting or through bad behaviour. Their punishments are sporadic and inconsistent. Morality for its own sake is absent.
Do I speak of every child thus? - Indeed not. Many fit all the criteria; most just a selection;
few are the children for whom little of the above applies.
To quote a former colleague; " Parents you would not wish on a chimp."
The amazing thing is that society has not totally imploded - yet, at least.
LINK: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=466745&in_page_id=1770
