“Spare the rod and spoil the child.”
Whether you take this literally or not, it is not merely a “saying.” Modern permissive and indulgent parenting may not credit this, but never saying no to a child, never putting a limit on what you will do for them, and never making them pay a price for antisocial behavior, will actually spoil that child.
A spoiled child isn’t merely a kid who’s not sufficiently grateful for a treasure trove of Christmas presents. Truly spoiled children grow up into narcissistic and exploitative adults. They remain “spoiled children,” but they’re old enough to do bigger damage in the world. A child who never experienced consequences for breaking the rules, stealing what wasn’t hers, or defying legal or social conventions, will become an adult who exploits others, parasitizes her friends, and breaks the law without a care.
We’ve got at least two generations of spoiled children—Millennials and Gen Z—under our belts in America now. The obvious rise in narcissistic, abusive, attention-seeking behavior on every screen and device we look at shows it. Many of these children-in-adult-bodies aren’t ever going to grow up. No, they’re not going to “get a real world lesson when they get into the workforce,” because they’re now the bosses of the workplace. We’re stuck with this.
