I would have much rather been taught the truths in life and society, than to have been ignorant and found that my whole beliefs in life were a lie. I don't see how telling your kid he's special but also telling him the truth can't be possible.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

To tell your child that they're special isn't a lie. To tell them that they'll grow up to be dictator of the entire world is a lie, but just to provide them with optimism for the real world isn't harming them, I actually think that makes them work harder for those things. If they were told their entire lives that no one can really make it and that life is a shit hole, then they're not going try to make it any different.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

I sense a bit of a false dichotomy in your post: either you tell your child they're special, or you tell them that they're a useless pawn in a world run by kings and queens. I think neither is accurate. I think you should just be honest with your child. Anything worth achieving requires hard work, and after that hard work is completed, you can tell them they're special for having gone through it. Because they are.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

You're completely right. I see no purpose in pampering your child their entire life, but honestly it annoys me when people are criticizing parents for telling their child they're special. I'm not saying you shouldn't give your child a dose of reality, but it's not a horrible crime just to tell your child they're special. Like that high school graduation speech that was in the news. I had no problem with what he said, but it's interesting how critical he was of parents who simply told their children they were special, especially if they hadn't worked for it. Most people who supported him because he was getting rid of PC crap and telling the children the cold truth. That's what I was getting at. Telling your child that you love them or they're special or that they're going to be successful in life isn't an attempt to be politically correct, it's a form of parenting. It's good to not be pampered every minute of the day, but if a parent chooses to do so why should it even matter? The child will eventually grow up anyway and will be expected to understand the real world. Before he gets there, it's fine to live in a fake wonderland because that's pretty much what home is.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

My whole life my mom has been telling me, "Life isn't fair; get used to it." She doesn't say it to me EVERY day, but I hear it at least once or twice a month. But, at the same time, she's always telling me to make use of my talents and go after what I love to REALLY do something with my life. She doesn't tell me I'm entitled to everything I want just because I exist, but at the same time she doesn't beat down my dreams. Political correctness has nothing to do with it, she just never wanted me to turn into one of those snobby bitches who thinks the world owes them something and to be slapped in the face with the cold hard truth when I'm finally out in the real world on my own. Everything I get, I get through working my tail fin off, and I know that everything isn't going to go my way just because I want it to, but when it does - and it's always nice when it does - it has more to do with how hard I worked for it than it does with me being "special" enough to get that thing. There's nothing wrong with telling them they're special, as you said, just as long as they don't feel the whole world will see them exactly as their parents do and they'll have to work hard for what they want.

by Anonymous 11 years ago

Yeah. But, it does turn some of them nasty little pricks.

by Anonymous 11 years ago