Parents of Today, Part Two!

So I went to work today in a good mood, ready to be falsely chipper and with an open mind towards whatever hijinks my campers would get around to (like screaming like they were getting chased by an ax murderer when, in reality, their friend accidentally stepped on their toe). Unfortunately, I was snapped out of my good mood when one of my co-workers started talking to me. I wasn't upset by her talking to me, we're friends, that wasn't it. I was a little peeved because one of her campers, a little boy, got an iPod Touch for his birthday.

And yes, he actually did get it, because I saw it with my own eyes. Had a note that said to make sure he didn't lose it and everything. All I can think of is, "Why would you send a child to a summer camp with an iPod Touch?" What the heck do they need an iPod Touch for? I'm pretty sure there isn't an app for teaching your kid how to tie their shoelaces. Do you want them to be antisocial and attached to technology from early childhood?

This incident sparked another memory in the back of my mind. This one didn't really bother me until I thought about it about an hour later, because that's when it sunk in. I babysit a few kids every now and then, and there are these two little boys that I babysit often. Their parents are nice, they're cute, yadda yadda yadda. They're my most regular clients, and I like babysitting for them since the boys are really well-behaved.

However, one day, I was babysitting them. We had about an hour until it was time for them to go to bed, and I asked them if they wanted to play a board game, since I saw a box for Monopoly in their living room. They got pretty excited and we decided on Monopoly. I take out the box, start setting it up, when one of the boys (the smaller one, he's going into grade two. His brother's going into grade four.) tells me that they don't play it on the actual board. That's when the older boy brings out an iPad. At first, I think, it's their parent's iPad, no big. We play some Monopoly and then they get ready for bed. I decide to look for their dog, since I hadn't seen her for a while. I checked their parent's room, where I see an iPad on the dresser, charging. It didn't have a case, which was weird, since the iPad we played with had a cracked blue case. I check the room of the older brother later to see if he's sleeping (the previous time I babysat them, I caught him playing pokemon underneath his covers). I see the iPad with a red case on his desk, charging. Now I'm a little weirded out, but I check the younger brother's room to make sure he's sleeping. He is, but I stubbed my toe on something on my way out- the iPad with the cracked blue case, charging on the floor.

My beef is that why would you give two young children iPads? What will they do with them? ._.

That is what has been bothering me today (and for a while, actually).

Really, parents of today?

I work with kids this summer at a summer camp. Normally, I like working with kids. You get to help shape up the future, or at least get a nice update on how the future is going to work out. 

Based on the kids I work with, our planet is doomed. 

Sure, you have the one or two nice ones, but they're the minority in that generation. Most of the kids I work with throw so many temper tantrums I'm surprised they haven't pounded their feet and hands raw. They throw tantrums for the worst things, too. Last week, after we had swim, it was just one other counsellor and I with a dozen girls. We had been able to get all of them to get their towels and shoes after about five minutes of trying. 

Except for one. 

She refused to get her shoes on and to pick up her towel, and I went over to talk to her. She covered her ears and started screaming, so I sat there in silence until she stopped. I waited for her to be able to look at me, since I had dealt with her tantrums before and I knew how to deal with them. After about twenty minutes, I asked her what's wrong, she finally answered, and after another five minutes, she gave me an answer as to why she refused to listen. 

"I didn't know why there was grass on my towel."

People of the internet, there was no grass on her towel. Not one blade. And she's not a toddler or anything, folks. If she was a toddler, three or four, five at the max, I wouldn't have been annoyed, not in the slightest. I mean, it's normal for a toddler to be a little confused. But once a kid gets older, you need to draw the line where they're misbehaving for a reason or misbehaving for the sake of misbehaving. 

I had another kid once who had a thirty minute screaming fit because her mom didn't pack a pirate hat in her bag. Four people tried calming her down, and her only argument made them all walk away on the verge of laughter. 

"I want it! I want it! I want my pirate hat! I wanna wear it! I want it!"

Ladies and gentlemen of the Earth, "ladies" and trolls of the internet, to put it plainly, today's children are spoiled.

When I was younger, if I tried an I want it argument, my parents would have sent me to my room for a few hours or at least had a serious talk with me, and that was getting it off easy when you think of some families, cultures, or religions. Seriously now people, disciplining your child is not illegal. Even if it doesn't sound like such a big deal now, there are some serious problems in the future that you will not be able to avoid if you keep pampering them. 

>_< And that has been what bothered me today.