Originally
posted by
ZEN:
"In her 2006 book, Generation Me, Twenge notes that self-esteem in children began rising sharply around 1980, and hasn’t stopped since. By 1999, according to one survey, 91 percent of teens described themselves as responsible, 74 percent as physically attractive, and 79 percent as very intelligent. (More than 40 percent of teens also expected that they would be earning $75,000 a year or more by age 30; the median salary made by a 30-year-old was $27,000 that year.) Twenge attributes the shift to broad changes in parenting styles and teaching methods, in response to the growing belief that children should always feel good about themselves, no matter what. As the years have passed, efforts to boost self-esteem—and to decouple it from performance—have become widespread."
- Disagree with Twenge here. I like to associate self esteem with the music industry (it makes sense). 80's music to 90's grunge music to 2000's fluffty emo music. There hasn't been happy music since the 60's. Just because the hippy parents told their kids they could be anything, doesn't mean that after age 10 they realized that life was there to crush their little dreams. If they still don't get it, then good. Just makes more room for the rest of us to succeed.
In regards to this: You are absolutely right. It's actually unfortunate most people don't listen to The Beatles as much anymore.
Also, as a teen, I knew I wasn't responsible(and I didn't understand why other kids thought they were) and I knew I wasn't physically attractive. But I did know I was smarter than everyone else around me(at the time, this is probably just book smarts). But, that's probably because I am on the Asperger's spectrum. However, I will be making more than $75k/year by age 30. Hell, my fiance is starting at $86k/year and she is 26.
