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    Physics Professor Kurt Weisenfeld of Georgia Tech University succinctly describes an insidious and debilitating epidemic infecting our societies current generation of youth. The symptoms are easily identifiable. Weisenfeld illustrates one of the primary symptoms, entitlement, perfectly in his article stating “What alarms me is their indifference toward grades as an indication of personal effort and performance”. Weisenfeld’s article is a critical commentary on the attitude of entitlement in the college environment. The effects of this work ethic are not limited to college term papers and math quizzes. These are our future doctors, engineers, and teachers.
   
    We have all seen this phenomena rapidly spreading throughout society. But to what can we trace this outbreak? This epidemic? The breeding ground is actually quite diverse. Preschool through elementary school, Little League, gymnastics, and yes it could even be occurring in your neighborhood. These are the petri dishes of this epidemic. The source: the Helicopter Parent.
       
    The Helicopter Parent is someone we have all seen, in fact, they are usually hard not to notice as they are usually causing a scene at their children’s school, athletic events and birthday parties. Their primary parenting objective is to make sure that their child is spared from even a hint of disappointment, shielded from experiencing failure, and making sure that whatever situation or activity their child is involved in is “fair”. The
Helicopter Parent is under the illusion that this will produce a person who is ready to take on the world and fulfill all of their dreams. Unfortunately, the results of this parenting strategy are usually dismal if not disastrous.
   
    Regrettably, the Helicopter Parent seems to be quite prolific and are quite adept at insidiously infiltrating school PTA’s and sports organizations. The result is that we now rarely recognize the individuals and teams who are truly the “best” because of hard work and natural talent or ability. Everyone gets a trophy for exhibiting a modicum of “effort” (which many times demonstrates itself as sitting in the outfield picking grass). In effect, we have disregarded and downplayed the significance of hard work, talent, and actual achievement; opting instead to reward everyone who simply puts in the effort to show up. Essentially, we have made everyone losers. This is where our children learn that you will get the reward and recognition regardless of effort or ability.
   
    A glaring oversight of this method of parenting is that it fails to take into account reality. Reality is that in most of life’s circumstances in order to experience success you must work for it, and many times you will experience failure, disappointment, and unfairness. One of the most crucial things we must teach our children is not how to accept failure but how hard one must work to overcome it and succeed, how we must learn to rise above our disappointments. Children must be taught that we will not always get what we think is fair, but to fight for what is right.
   
    Unfortunately, this is not a uncalculated parenting mishap that has occurred. This is a meticulously cultivated environment being created that is producing individuals who believe that they should succeed simply because they exist! A very disturbing trend for our society as author and Professor Kurt Weisenfeld warns us that “our country will be forced to take them seriously later, when the stakes are much higher. They must recognize that their attitude is not only self-destructive but socially destructive.”