Jagur Justen
Opinions Editor
Edina high school students who have been referred to as “cake eaters” for years, due to their more high class economy. While Orono students do not have a nickname like that, they have a reputation as well. Though students at Orono work hard and are deserving of their achievements, other students in the school might see them as entitled. Entitled means to furnish with proper grounds for seeking or claiming something, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary.
When it is the end of the day at Orono High School, there is a line of parents waiting to pick up their children at the high school lot. Normal, right? Except these are not always parents of high school students. Before the middle school day ends, there are parents parked in the high school loop waiting to pick up their children from the middle school. On top of that, they wait in the teacher parking area. Not to mention, the middle school day ends 10 minutes later than the high school.
When the high school ends, some teachers like to leave soon after the bell. When they are in their cars ready to go, there could be a middle school parent behind them. That parent will not move until their child comes to the car. Referring to the definition, this parent is claiming the spot they are waiting in and refusing to move because it is “their spot.” This sense of entitlement can easily frustrate the teacher wanting to leave.
This type of entitlement parents display could translate in the children as well, due to their parenting styles. This may end up leading the children to have the same type of attitude. These parents use social comparisons to pressure their students to succeed academically, according to professor emerita for psychological science at the University of California Irvine Ellen Greenberger, et.al.
Students will go as far to complain about their grades and pester their teachers to make corrections and see if there were errors in their grading. They also tend not to look at the teacher’s perspective, according to associate professor of sociology at Miami University Stephen Lippmann, et.al. This is also true at Orono. Students and/or parents often email the teachers if the child receives a grade that they are not satisfied with.
One could hope that this entitlement is a facade and behind it is a great sense of gratitude hidden away by social expectations. Displaying this gratitude may help lead to satisfaction in the student’s or parent’s life to acquire a more positive outlook on certain aspects in life, according to graduate students of psychology and neuroscience at the University of Colorado Boulder Brianna L. Robustelli and Mark A. Whisman.
The majority of the Orono school district consists of affluent families. Children who are part of these families grow in wealth and are used to either getting what they want or are disciplined to work and be persistent for what they want. Due to this nurturing, the students will gain a sense of privilege, no matter how they were raised. It is typical of someone who is wealthy to gain a sense of entitlement–they are able to do what they think is right often because they think those who will try and tell them otherwise are on a lower level of wealth. In order to better this attitude, students need to become self-aware of how their actions affect others.
Everyone needs to learn how to balance entitlement and gratitude. One needs to know what they are entitled to, but almost always have gratitude in life.