Self Absorbed Generation

Sally Kalson gets it right with this article from your Pittsburgh Post-Gazoo

I've noticed this trend over the last few years. I noticed it when I was in college, but it certainly was not as bad as it is today. Don't some call it Generation Me? With the advent on myspace and facebook (for full-disclosure, I do have a Facebook account), I think it's only gotten worse. And no one calls anyone else to task on it because it's become the standard. it's kind of sickening.

Does anyone in the current college generation have any idea that there is a war going on in Irag? Or are they too concerned about Anna Nicole or Paris or who knows what else. It bothers me, but how do you change a generation?


Collegians too special for their own good
Mister Rogers saw it coming: Today's students self-centered
Friday, March 02, 2007
By Sally Kalson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Fred Rogers saw it coming and knew it could be a problem.

A group of psychologists released a study this week that found today's college students are more self-centered and narcissistic than those of previous generations. In part, the researchers pointed to overindulgent adults for raising children to believe they are "special" no matter what they do.

Mister Rogers, of course, wrote the seminal song on this subject in 1967 -- the lyrics say "You are my friend, you are special."

The researchers didn't blame Mister Rogers in any way. But the late, great pioneer of developmentally appropriate children's television could see his message of love and acceptance being misinterpreted by a more indulgent society to mean "You are so special, you can do no wrong."

Mister Rogers knew children could do wrong, said Hedda Sharapan, director of early childhood initiatives for Family Communications Inc., the producer of the "Mister Rogers, Neighborhood" series.

Indeed, Ms. Sharapan noted, Mister Rogers had always emphasized that loving adults had to set limits and boundaries to teach children right and wrong, self-control and empathy. Yet somehow, the larger context was getting lost in the fast-evolving, three-second sound bite, self-esteem-touting culture of instant gratification.

"Fred saw that things were changing in society, for many reasons," Ms. Sharapan said. "He was concerned about how people were misinterpreting the message. One day in the studio, he said, 'I wish from the very beginning I had said it this way: You are special and so is everyone else in this world.'

"It takes a lot of energy to say no to a child and stick to it," she continued. "Children need to know they're loved no matter what, but you also have to show with real conviction that certain things are not acceptable. That's the part that got lost. The pendulum swings."

Now it has swung too far for the good of society, not to mention young people themselves, according to the findings of lead author Jean Twenge, a professor at San Diego State University, and four other researchers.

They looked at responses to the standardized Narcissistic Personality Inventory, given to 16,475 college students across the country from 1982 to 2006. The results showed that students' NPI scores have risen steadily, to the point that two-thirds of current students ranked above the 1982 average.

This may not be all that surprising for a generation whose every move from infancy was immortalized on videotape, whose tiny digital cameras enable the endless snapping and transmitting of self-portraits, whose cyber-culture invites them to post Web pages devoted entirely to themselves.

Yet the trend is harmful, the researchers said, because narcissists are short on empathy, long on aggression when criticized, and obsessed with self-promotion over helping others. They're also more likely to lack emotional warmth and have problems with romantic relationships.

Not everyone is buying the generalities.

Rebecca Welsh, a University of Pittsburgh senior from Maryland, said there may be some truth to the findings, but she also noted that many students are involved in volunteer work.

"I do see students reaching out to help others," said Ms. Welsh, 21.

"You can see some people being vain or pompous in classroom discussions, holding their opinions more highly than others'. But there are students who do community service, too."

Noted Ms. Sharapan, "A lot of students are deeply committed to the environment, are out working for Habitat for Humanity and other causes. I wish the researchers would tell us about them."

And Kiwanis International, which runs service leadership programs for high school and college students, released a statement praising the large numbers of young people who are "prime examples of social awareness, civic engagement and community service."

The statement noted that the Corporation for National & Community Service found volunteerism among college students increased by 20 percent from 2002 to 2005.

It also cited a 2005 survey by the Higher Education Research Institute that found feelings of social and civic responsibility among new college freshmen at the highest level in 25 years.

Nevertheless, people who work with college students on campus say it's hard not to notice the trend toward self-involvement.

"A lot of faculty and staff in higher education are talking about what they see as a sense of entitlement in today's students," said David Hornyak, director of advising for the Honors College at Pitt and a graduate student in applied psychology.

"Where did this sense of entitlement come from? Part of it is a general service orientation," where students think of education as a commodity and teachers as the service providers.

"A professor here was talking to a student who wasn't attending his classes," he said. "The student told him 'I paid for this class, and if I don't want to come it's none of your business.' To him, it was just something he entered into under a contract."

As for student volunteerism, Mr. Hornyak questioned how much of it was heartfelt rather than perfunctory.

The tendency of the so-called "millennial generation" to believe in its own exceptionality may be giving young people a warped self-image, he continued.

"If you've ever watched an 'American Idol' audition, it's amazing the number of young people who truly can't sing but yet are crushed when someone like Simon gives them a reality check.

"This study indicates that students just automatically assume they'll succeed without any frame of reference. They lack critical thinking and self-reflection."

He believes that those traits can be learned. "Maybe students just haven't been given the opportunity to do that," he said.

Maybe not.

Ashleigh Pedersen, 24, a graduate assistant in the fiction writing program at Pitt, said today's students are "more used to being told their work is OK even if it isn't."

"We're encouraged not to say 'This is wrong,'" she said. "The hope is they'll feel more open to going on and not feel shut down."

Does it work?

"I go back and forth on that," she said. "There really is such a thing as bad grammar."

(Sally Kalson can be reached at skalson@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1610. )