Materialistic Kids

[Adam's Apple]

Here's an article most parents can identify with.

Material Kids
By Tom Purcell, The Cagle Post
3/3/2008

Look at the average suburban kid. He or she is outfitted with more technical gadgets and trendy, fashionable clothing than a model in Abercrombie & Fitch. Many of these kids appear to get whatever it is they demand their guilt-riddled parents buy for them.

Peer pressure puts kids in a competitive race to own the latest, the coolest and the most expensive junk with the hopes of impressing the other kids and fitting in. The survey finds that the kids most influenced by commercial pressures suffer more mental-health issues.

for full article:
http://www.caglepost.com/column/.Tom+Purcell/5617/Material+Kids.html

 

[midcan5]

Damn, I can so relate to that piece, my first bike was my first love. I had a speedometer too, mounted to look like a Tachometer. We were poor so that bike was everything. I used to take every piece of it apart to clean and oil. Later, for over 20 years I averaged 5 to 7k miles yearly commuting and weekend riding. I still have three bikes. But our children had probably everything I never had and I wouldn't call them spoiled or materialistic at all. There's more to it than just having a better life.

 

[Shattered]

That's what they make paper routes for.. You want it, you earn the money for it...

 

[BrianH]

That's the problem with alot of kids (not all) these days. They get whatever they want and whenever they want, and when they don't, they freak out and don't know how to handle it.

I see kids in school that don't do work because there's no reward attatched.
The expect something in return for everything they do.

While a good business quality, you've got to have an education.

I wonder what the exact statistics are of materialistic kids? It would be interesting to see how many families qualify for this type of thing? Anyone have any sources for this? Let me know if you do.

 

[midcan5]

That's what they make paper routes for.. You want it, you earn the money for it...

Not sure where you live but that's no longer an option in most places. Adults deliver papers in cars, because of need and because the area is no longer supportive of a single person walking or bike riding. But there are jobs in fast food and shore areas with better pay than we had, so that is still a good thing.

The kids I see are probably no different than most kids ever were except many on the lower rungs think education is waste. Both Upper and lower class work and they know it all cause they know it all. Actually the upper class kids do slightly better because of connections, appearance and often the ability to get there from here. The problem for some at the bottom is making the next step up the food chain. But I still think parents or parent are the key item when it comes to values etc.

http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp

 

[Paulie]

Not sure where you live but that's no longer an option in most places. Adults deliver papers in cars, because of need and because the area is no longer supportive of a single person walking or bike riding. But there are jobs in fast food and shore areas with better pay than we had, so that is still a good thing.

The kids I see are probably no different than most kids ever were except many on the lower rungs think education is waste. Both Upper and lower class work and they know it all cause they know it all. Actually the upper class kids do slightly better because of connections, appearance and often the ability to get there from here. The problem for some at the bottom is making the next step up the food chain. But I still think parents or parent are the key item when it comes to values etc.

http://www.childstats.gov/americaschildren/index.asp

I would assume she didn't literally mean an actual paper route. The point of her post was if you want something, and you're old enough to perform some kind of work for money, then you earn what you want ON YOUR OWN.

 

[Shattered]

I would assume she didn't literally mean an actual paper route. The point of her post was if you want something, and you're old enough to perform some kind of work for money, then you earn what you want ON YOUR OWN.

That's precisely what I meant.