In a way, I would have to say yes.
Keep in mind, this is just a theory, but let me explain it:
I
am 35. I grew up on the tail end of "NOT everyone is a winner". My
track and field day- 10 kids ran the race and only the top 3 got
ribbons. 70% of the kids lost. You knew you werent always going to win
and you dealt with it because it was normal. My son's track and field- 5
kids run the race and all of them get a ribbon. There are no losers,
only winners. These poor kids arent learning what its going to take to
succeed in life because they never had to fight to be the best.
Competition is looked at as a bad thing, so kids are just doing the
minimum, yet they are still thinking that they are on top of the world
because thats what they've always been told.
In my "day" (God, I
sound old! LOL!) there were tryouts for Little League. Now every kid
plays. Sports teams get "Participation" trophies. Everyone is a winner
because we dont want anyone to get their feelings hurt. Kids dont learn
how to deal with rejection because they never get the joy of
experiencing it. Suddenly, they are competing to get a job or get into a
certain college, and they lose. They dont know how to cope with it,
and they snap.
Look at the recent shooting- Arizona, Colorado,
Oregon, Connecticut. One thing they all have in common- young males
under the age of 30 that grew up in a society that told them they were
winners no matter what. Or at least winners until they got out into the
real world. If they werent wrapped too tight to begin with, what did
those rejections do to their minds? Did we set our next generation up
for failure? If we did, what can we do about it?
Again, this is just my theory, but it does seem to fit.
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