WASHINGTON — Parents who think they鈥檙e being helpful may be fostering an overblown sense of entitlement in their children.
“There are a couple of signs and symptoms,” says the founder of 聽. Amy McCready. “These (signs)聽apply to younger kids and older kids.”
Behavior parents should look out for that McCready says聽could signal聽a sense of entitlement in children include the following:
- Acting helpless;
- Not taking “no” for an answer;
- Expecting parents to accomplish tasks they are capable of doing;
- Repeatedly expecting to be rescued, i.e.聽with the delivery聽of聽homework, lunchboxes, books or sports gear.
McCready, who is the author of the book “The ‘Me, Me, Me’ Epidemic 鈥� A Step By Step Guide to Raising Capable, Grateful Kids in an Over-Entitled World,“聽says parents may be perpetuating needy or entitled behavior in children by “over-parenting.”
Red flags for parental behavior include the following:
- Overpraising children;
- Overindulging children;
- Jumping through hoops trying to make children perfectly happy;
- Repeated rescues for聽emergencies created by a child’s negligence.
McCready says聽parents can聽avoid being too helpful in a counterproductive way by聽holding children responsible for things such as performing聽family chores聽and accomplishing school responsibilities.
In聽age-appropriate situations, McCready advises聽parents to back off on聽enabling.
鈥淧utting kids in charge is going to go a long way,鈥� McCready says.
