It must be someone else’s fault
This seems to be a common theme these days - so many people are not prepared to take ownership for their own actions.
Probably the most frustrating circumstances under which I see this problem is dealing with parents of the students I teach. It is becoming more and more common for parents to defend their child’s actions, even when those actions would seem indefensible. An example that comes to mind is stealing lunches from school bags. “It’s not as if she stole something valuable, it was only some fruit and a sandwich” explained the parent who was vehemently against any form of punishment for the child concerned. No ownership of actions there.
Someone offered their explanation for this behaviour the other day. The fact that young parents today represent the first generation where both parents are forced to work to maintain a reasonable lifestyle was the apparent reason. Whether this is true or not I cannot say. What I can say is that just because both parents work, there is no reason that a child should not be held accountable for their actions. Until parents wake up to this we will continue to see people looking out for number one and ignoring the effect of their actions on others.
It seems I am getting old and cranky.
“You can’t coach that”
