Hector Casanova color illustration of colorful baby and mounds of toys in a stroller being pushed by pale mother. (Kansas City Star 1999, MCT Campus)
December 12, 2011
Karina Yap
Growing up, our needs and wants from our birth until we come to an age where we can fend for ourselves are paid for by our parents. The first 16 to 18 years of our lives are all paid out by our parents. With that, we should all be grateful and to our parents and all the things that we have. Unfortunately, we’re not always appreciative for what we have and find ourselves wanting more. There are parents that know their limits and don’t give in to every single one of their child’s requests and then there are parents that will grant their child with everything they desire. Those children with parents that overindulge them are dubbed “spoiled.”
Being spoiled has different definitions. However in high school, being spoiled is seen as someone who doesn’t even have their permit and gets a brand new car from their parents if they ask for it or someone who has more than 30 pairs of shoes and still get more because they know they can. Being spoiled doesn’t only pertain to receiving a plethora of material things from parents but it can also be seen as not being expected to do your own laundry and wash the dishes or not being expected to be accountable for their actions.
Our parents have the best intentions for their us and it is their job to support us for the first years of our lives, but when parents spoil their children repeatedly it causes a negative effect in the long run. Being given everything you want does sound like a dream come true, however it enables us to learn how to be satisfied with what we have. Not being given chores or not receiving consequences for our faults also sounds appealing, but then it causes lack of responsibility and work ethics. Being teenagers, we are only a few years from becoming an adult. It is almost vital that we have a sense of responsibility especially when we get jobs. Its also important that we are content with our possessions considerably since we are growing up in a suffering economy.
