thanks for the tip, once finished I’ll let you know how I feel about it, being a GenMe’er myself

Apart from the Amazon blog is there perhaps another blog out there where the author writes? I can’t seem to find any, in any case if you’d get to meet her, tell her she should start one, that would be great!

I am quite prepared to accept that this trend exists, at least among the culturally visible/culturally powerful. Whether it is dominant numerically, I have no way to know. I’m not even sure whether I could claim that “my” teenage acquaintances are free of that trend. I do know that many of them place a high value on kindness, caring and concern for others – which would intuitively tend to correlate negatively with narcissism.

But the interesting questions, to me, are ones like these. How pervasive is the narcissist trend numerically? Is there a significant population that is *not* caught up in that trend? What causal factors might be implicated in their ability to resist or ignore the trend? Is there a basis for discerning an actual counter-trend? If there is such a counter-trend, does it appear it possesses the basis for long-term viability? Could it come to supplant the dominant trend? Might that be encouraged? Is this something that should become a policy focus? Why or why not?

Inquiring minds want to know,
-Steve

P.S. And for “narcissism” also substitute any other disturbing trend among teens which appears presently dominant but might not be irrevocably so.

http://vinu.wordpress.com/2007/05/08/festivities-and-mental-health/

“I’ve been running around the country interviewing teens and this is the first book on generations that i’ve found that hits the mark dead-on. Eerily so. Much of it is quite bothersome. Twenge does an amazing job at outlining how our schools have become completely useless at educating because it’s more important to make students feel good than to be critical of their work. When i was in Iowa, i had a mother explain to me that teachers couldn’t give bad grades to rich students at the local high school because the country club moms would pressure the schools to fire such overly critical teachers.”

I don’t think I need to read the book to react to the above paragraph and your example about teachers not being able to give bad greades to rich students…

pete

But there’s also this disgusting sentiment out there (not here) that if only those uppity lower classes would accept their fate instead of agitating against it everything would be so much smoother and easier. Violently insisting on the respect one deserves is self-destructive. But that’s frequently how deterrence works–mutually assured destruction. Any time you find yourself tempted to tell some group that they think too highly of themselves, you can’t be surprised if the group in question interprets this as an attack and they act even more arrogant and self-righteous. The only way to teach humility is to act with humility.

I realize that no one here, least of all Dannah Boyd, intends to make it easier to oppress lower classes. Indeed, it can be argued persuasively that assertiveness and entitlement serve doubly to make oppressors more inclined to oppress and the oppressed more easily manipulable. But everyone must realize–if you rally against self-esteem, you will be opposing things a whole lot deeper than rich yuppies spoiling their children.

I’m also not buying that American schools are the primary causal factor here, in that this sort of destructive resentment is on the rise across the globe. The ultimate narcissist is the abusive husband? Nope. The ultimate narcissist is the suicide bomber. Walking up to a room full of civilians and blowing away everyone surrounding you because God is on My Side.

I blame global media for selling a lifestyle that’s out of reach to the vast majority of the world’s people, combined with global competition and technological transformation that makes any progress towards that lifestyle seem fragile, unstable, and only for a few people at the top.

Folks here might also be interested in a 2000 book written by sociologists Barbara Schneider and David Stevenson:

http://www.amazon.com/Ambitious-Generation-Teenagers-Motivated-Directionless/dp/0300082754

Last year the Brown Center on Education Policy (where I used to work) conducted a study examining the link between self-esteem and student achievement.

Here is the URL to last year’s Brown Center Report:

http://www.brookings.edu/gs/brown/bc_report/2006/2006report.htm

- Paul

I find there are contrary currents flowing in education today. NCLB puts performance and achievement above self-esteem.

The other point I think is important… is that self esteem can be built without “dumbing down” the work; “inflating grades”; or “heaping phony praise” on kids. Developing authentic self-esteem and a sense of self-worth is an important part of our work as educators; it is not an “either/or” situation; but a commitment to achievement and self esteem.

Kids know when they are being falsely praise and passed on without working to their ability, etc. They won’t speak it out loud; but they know. Phony praise and inflated grades don’t really build self-esteem.

pete