CREDIT: This story was first seen in The Telegraph
A boarding school headteacher has warned that children are being “mollycoddled” and are not prepared to put in the effort required in the world of work, The Telegraph reports.
Douglas Robb, 47, sparked a backlash from former pupils after accusing the so-called Snowflake generation of having an “underlying sense of entitlement”.
Writing in a blog on the website of the £33,960-a-year Gresham’s School in Holt, Norfolk, Mr Robb said he was worried that some young people lacked “grit” and “look down their noses” at certain jobs.
In a post entitled “Developing grit, and a grateful attitude to work”, he wrote: “A generation has come of age where many more individuals perceive themselves to be ‘one in a million’.”
Mr Robb added: “Grit is not a new idea, nor even a new buzzword. Grit remains, however, something that schools and parents seem to have failed to engender in large swathes of young people.”
His blog went on: “Among this generation there is an underlying sense of entitlement. I don’t blame them.
“They have been advertised to since birth; they have had credit and loans on a plate; they have been overly molly-coddled; and they have been overwhelmed by a strange combination of fictional sit-com characters, reality TV and social media stars, who paint a picture of perfection to be achieved.
“They have even been encouraged by governments to believe that they deserve ‘more’ than their parents and grandparents had (capitalism, after all, requires consumers to always want to have ‘more’).
“More than what? More than the jobs that people too often now look down their noses at, for a start: working unsociable hours in fast food restaurants or in a shop; working in physically demanding roles harvesting crops or packaging produce; or working in essential roles receiving abuse from members of the public, as a police officer, nurse, benefits assessor, or parking attendant.”
Mr Robb became head of Gresham’s in 2014. The school’s former pupils include tycoon Sir James Dyson, actress Olivia Colman and composer Benjamin Britten.
The school occupies several sites in the Georgian town of Holt. It was founded in 1555 by Sir John Gresham, who later became Lord Mayor of London.
Mr Robb wrote that he felt deflated when giving a job interview to a newly qualified teacher, who asked him: “Why should I come and work for you?”
He said: “My lasting impression was of an ‘entitled’ candidate who was looking for some further guarantee or incentive before committing to getting stuck in to furthering their career.
“It’s difficult to explain exactly why I felt so irked but I couldn’t help but think that something has been lost. There used to be a real sense of pride associated with doing ‘an honest day’s work’, whatever the role might have been.
“That some youngsters now approach job interviews in the same way as they might approach buying a luxury holiday concerns me. Some expect to be given a ‘one-in-a-million’ job, despite being one of millions of applicants, many of whom are not yet fit for the work place!
“As well as a clutch of impressive grades or a degree from university, young people need to show they are capable of adding value to an employer’s organisation through hard work, commitment, passion and determination.”
He added later in the blog: “I would encourage young people to be grateful for the work opportunities they are given and to throw themselves into each task and take pride in working to the best of their ability.”
Former Gresham’s pupil Rebecca Lawrence, 23, who now works for the civil service, said: “These assertions left me feeling uncomfortable. Negative stereotypes of millennials are two a penny and you don’t have to look far to find them.”
In a response on the website Medium, she wrote: “It’s disheartening for anyone to hear, whether it’s their head teacher or one they’re linked with.
“I feel like he’s in a Gresham’s bubble, maybe children at his school are more privileged and so are more entitled, but he shouldn’t generalise our generation from a few.”
Miss Lawrence, who added the school from 2007 until 2011, added: “It was quite personal to me, as growing up I had a lot of jobs in restaurants and cafes to finance unpaid internships.
“I’ve never written a blog before but it didn’t sit right with me that this head teacher, someone who should be a role model, is standing up in front of pupils having said that.”
Defending his opinions, Mr Robb said: “Generalisation is a necessary part of life if we are to be able to discuss trends that seem to be more prevalent among a particular group of people.
“We must, of course, always be able to see individuals for who they are, whether they seem to conform to a generalisation or not.
“It is now well documented that employers have noticed a trend where young people seem ill-prepared for the requirements of the working day, despite boasting an impressive academic education and, I believe, it is valuable for educators and governments to be informed about this in order to better prepare or equip young people for work.”
He continued: “We try as a school not to molly coddle our students – for instance we choose to welcome competitive sports fixtures, just as we encourage students to develop the ability to manage their own learning as they mature, and to have their opinions challenged through debating societies and other forums.
“Giving students the opportunities to experience these sorts of tests of spirit and resilience is what we mean when we say that emphasis should be placed on encouraging grit.
“I don’t think all students should leave school thinking that their one-in-a-million job is going to present itself straight away; it is probably fewer than one-in-a-million who leave school and immediately find a job that pays the bills and that they would term their dream job.
“It takes hard work and determination for most of us to secure a job in which we are truly satisfied.”
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