As is the case these days, Youth Entitlement continues to find itself in the headlines of major news publications… this week in the Wall Street Journal.

First – Stephens: To the Class of 2012 offers quite a hard-hitting letter to graduating college Seniors.

Allow me to be the first one not to congratulate you. Through exertions that—let’s be honest—were probably less than heroic, most of you have spent the last few years getting inflated grades in useless subjects in order to obtain a debased degree. Now you’re entering a lousy economy, courtesy of the very president whom you, as freshmen, voted for with such enthusiasm. Please spare us the self-pity about how tough it is to look for a job while living with your parents. They’re the ones who spent a fortune on your education only to get you back— return-to-sender, forwarding address unknown.

Take a minute to link and read. It’s a bit tough, but worth pondering. Especially as a parent. Then check out Arthur Brook’s, “America and the Value of ‘Earned Success‘”… not specifically “youth”, but such good stuff! Here’s a brief snippet (but take the time to read his entire article)

In the end, I concluded, what set the United States apart from Spain was the difference between earned success and learned helplessness.

Earned success means defining your future as you see fit and achieving that success on the basis of merit and hard work. It allows you to measure your life’s “profit” however you want, be it in money, making beautiful music, or helping people learn English. Earned success is at the root of American exceptionalism.

The link between earned success and life satisfaction is well established by researchers. The University of Chicago’s General Social Survey, for example, reveals that people who say they feel “very successful” or “completely successful” in their work lives are twice as likely to say they are very happy than people who feel “somewhat successful.” It doesn’t matter if they earn more or less income; the differences persist.

The opposite of earned success is “learned helplessness,” a term coined by Martin Seligman, the eminent psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. It refers to what happens if rewards and punishments are not tied to merit: People simply give up and stop trying to succeed.

Adrdressing this issues of entitlement is critical to the well-being of our nation. Not to over-dramatize, but seriously ….

And for the latest Youth Entitlement in the news… well in the wings of the news (as it is yet to air), Cleaning House on Fox & Friends. Since the spot was taped, we don’t have the interview itself, so here’s a little behind the scenes:

Sweet JoAnna met us at the door, then…

introduced us to Steve Gutenberg. Super nice guy! This is the “green room”. Interesting fact – when I worked for the Quayles, more often than not the “green” rooms were actually green. Not any more. This was a nice room with a view.

We cornered John Stossel and grabbed a pic… yes I was true to form, embarrassing my kids at every turn  (which I continued to do throughout the day – singing along with the radio during a cab ride then later at Mary Poppins. I like to do it loud so they are really annoyed :)

Now if I had my gigantor Sharpee pen, I would change his sign to read “Yes Kids Can”, but that’s another story.

Next, make-up was applied to this non-make-up person. My sister would be proud to know that I didn’t even protest … at least until hairspray entered the picture.

On the set at the back, we watched the end of the live portion.

This is what I saw on the back wall when I sat on the couch… totally surreal to see our MOATblog stuff as a cool segment piece.

My wonderful teen photographer did a terrific job documenting from the wings.

Then we all posed. “FLASH!!”… (Pardon my college “flash”-back)

As soon as we got back the hotel, I did some Karate Kid action, except this time it wasn’t wax. Make-up on … Make-up off!

Ahhhh…..

I’ll let you know as soon as I do when the piece will air. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate all of your wonderful words of support, your FB shares, your Pinterest Pins … your friendship.

Thanks for walking the road with me.

-Kay

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