Entitlement is the greatest problem facing today’s generation and should be fixed by educating parents of the importance of giving criticism to their children and teaching the children greater responsibility and good work habits that may influence their decisions later on in their lives. Major disputes of today’s generation are laziness, disrespectfulness, and self entitlement. Laziness is the quality of being disobliging to work or use energy. Disrespectfulness is the quality of being disrespectful. Self entitlement is when one postulates that they have a conscientious to something. There are many nicknames for today’s generation; for example, the “Me, Me, Me” generation or the millennials.
The “Me, Me, Me” Generation is a generation that concludes that they do not have to perform anything whether at work or at school. Their idea of “at least I showed up” is a mentality that affects our government dramatically. Therefore, a great deal of people in this generation are approaching welfare because they are unemployed dropouts that cannot find a job. Welfare was designed to be for the people who are unemployed because of a major injury, people that cannot find a profession, and people that cannot foster themselves or their family. An example of a thought process from the Me Me Me generation, also known as generation entitlement or generation “E”, is quoted below:
“I got part of a programming degree before the bottom fell out of the tech industry and all of an AS in electrical design that cost me $60k in debt. I got laid off 4 months ago. Because I refused to work 60+ hour weeks, I can’t get my old managers to call me back. As a 5-year industry veteran with no industry references, I can’t get hiring managers to call me back. I’ve gone bankrupt to escape credit cards, but student loans are for life. I have an ER bill I can’t pay, an untreated skin condition I can’t see anyone about, wisdom teeth coming in sideways I can’t get corrected, and asthma I treat with coffee to save the inhaler for emergencies. I live on unemployment in two spare bedrooms in my mother’s double-wide. I’m wiring books in the hopes of one day living on a skill I possess again. And, if I’m very lucky I’ll be able to get a job in the fall working on a janitor crew a friend manages. I AM THE 99%” This is the Generation Entitlement mentality, Generation “E.” Someone else owes them. Someone else should pay off loans they took out. Someone else caused their problems. They didn’t do that. Someone else did that to them.” (Bella)
All the laziness in the quote above are shown in not only their life but in their education in schools. Education in schools is being hindered because children are learning to the standards of the states and not the things they need to learn to be auspicious in life. While students are learning calculus in school, someone in the world is teaching a deaf person sign language. While some student is in school reading Roman Literature, another person in the world is assiduously at work paying off their student loans. While these subjects are significant, so are other things, such as moral or social values; moral values such as being honest and dependable and social values such as learning appropriate speech. Students are learning to do school work but not learning things like responsibility in schools. Teachers teach you to do your homework and encourage you to turn it in but do not address the importance of turning your homework in.
Many students have the attitude that just because they show up to school they should automatically be passed. They showed up, so that should be adequate or suitable. Our “No Child Left Behind” policy is unfavorable because it lets people who do not work diligently advance farther in school than those who work industriously. There are kids graduating High School that cannot even do simple algebra or write grammatically correct sentences. These kids are progressing into the world without the knowledge that is essential for them to succeed in life. They should be able to go into the world and not destroy our economy or school systems by being dilatory. They do not do their work at their job because they do not “feel like it.” They do not try hard enough at school because they don’t understand that school is a privilege. There are people in the world that cannot go to school every day and yet their schools seem to score higher than ours on important tests or homework, and do better academically.
We focus too much on things that are going to affect someone's self esteem like bullying. The world doesn’t care about their self esteem, so why should schools. You are not special to anyone except MAYBE your family. It affects our government because people think that they don’t have to work, therefore everyone is on unemployment and drawing checks because the are all too lethargic to work arduously and work 60 or more hours a week. Not training them for the real world and destroying our economy, by not taking care of this problem, is like saying “I hate America.”
“We watch as America burns from the ground up, focusing on bullying and self-esteem over knowledge, achievement, and success. Acceptance of the status quo is without a doubt akin to saying “I hate America and my children.” (Sense) The world is overcome with greed and not in an exceptional, superior way either (if there is one). Generation “E” demand everything and they want you to administer it to them. They want you to tell them that they are the greatest at what they do . The Me Me Me Generation wants to blame their problems on everyone else.
Entitlement affects the work habits of many people because their belief is that they should not have to complete arduous, demanding jobs or tasks and still get paid. Entitlement gives them the belief that the world owes them something. The truth is the world owes them nothing. Millennials received so many trophies and praises when they were younger that they all think they should be promoted every 2 years regardless of performance. (Washington)
“The entitlement narrative begins in elementary school where kids receive ice cream and a trophy after completing the little league baseball season, and it continues into the library where kids receive an inflatable chair and a certificate just for completing the summer reading list. The system rewards minor achievements and inflates self-esteem, and by middle school, it’s hardly working. Students are automatically passed through sixth, seventh, and eighth grade despite falling behind in math, science, reading, and writing. And at how many robe-sash-medal-filled graduation ceremonies have we heard the phrase, “Give yourselves a pat on the back?” For what? For graduating high school? For attending college? For accruing the largest student debt in history?” (Entitled)
People impel to become infatuated with things that they can’t have but assume that they are entitled to it. They think they are entitled to medicare and are entitled to a good education. They have received so much praise for inconsequential things like winning a basketball game that they believe they are incomparable to anyone else. They expect that ovation and demand you to bestow it to them.
It is said that entitlement started after the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution gave way to more technology to allow us to communicate with each other more frequently and at a quicker time than sending a letter through the mail. It is said that it has progressively got worse since then. Social media chattles such as Facebook are the heart of entitlement mentality. Psychologists have proven that most people use friend requests to make them feel entitled. We live in a world where every 3 seconds a phone is vibrating in someone’s pocket because they have a new friend request or someone complimented on a wall post. They use that to make them feel like someone cares about them. The world doesn’t show them the entitlement that they want so they try to find it in other ways. (Stein)
Entitlement is the greatest predicament facing today’s generation and can be fixed by simply imparting criticism to people. It is a dilemma that affects our education, government, and America as a whole. To solve this complication we can instruct children in moral values. Moral values are something they can always cleave to. We need to direct them to be themselves but to invariably remember to work hard and that the world owes you nothing. However your life turns out, you did that to yourself and no one else is responsible for getting you out of a complicated situation except yourself.

Works Cited
Bella, Peter V. "Occupy Movement Is Generation Entitlement." Washington Times Communities. The Washington Times, 1 Sept. 2012. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
"Dealing With An Angry, Acting-Out Child?" Empowering Parents. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Feb. 2014.
"The Entitled Generation." Turningpointusa.net. N.p., n.d. Web.
"Sense of Entitlement Wrecks Education." Newsmax. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2014.
Stein, Joel. "The New Greatest Generation." time 20 May 2013: 26-34. Print.
Payne, Ruby K.. A framework for understanding poverty. 4th rev. ed. Highlands, Tex.: aha! Process, 2005. Print.