The Epidemic of Narcissism
I believe we are raising children in a unique time with extremely real challenges. Our children are more technologically literate than their parents. There are countless amount of things that are competing for their attention. Gone are the days when television or radio where the dominant technological forces on the minds of young people. Now we have added cell phones with text messaging, social network sites such as Facebook, the intense world of computer gaming, and the perpetual ear buds that are lodged into a kid's ears.
In addition, our family units are becoming smaller. Copious amount of siblings packed into a small house is a phenomena of the past. Now, we have larger and larger homes with few and few people occupying them. Siblings usually have their own room equipped with a computer, cell phone, iPod, radio, and television. There is no reason for a child to leave his or her personal space.
It seems as if the right of the individual is more important than the collective rights of the community. And we as a society blatantly encourage it. How many times have you heard the marketing slogan, "It is all about YOU."
Narcissism is become an epidemic.
I am not the only one who thinks so. Steve Maich and Lianne George have written a book entitled The Ego Boom: Why the World Really Does Revolve Around You. This morning I heard an interview on CBC Radio with the authors. Very interesting. The following commentary on the book highlights some of the topics discussed on air:
....we all think we’re experts. We are so “special” that we think we know more than others, and this has led to today’s economic meltdown. For example, many young people have bought homes with huge mortgages, not because they could afford to, but because they are “special” and want everyone to see that...
We all want to be seen by others. The result is social media such as Facebook. I use Facebook and sometimes I see a “friend” say “YES, I just washed my hair.” Who cares? [Along a similar vein], the cell phone seems to be the best friend of young people because the phones can be customized with a special ring, a special color, a special type—all special because I’m special. (John Storm, Oxford Learning)
Our world tells our youth that it is all about them. Furthermore, when our future generation is encouraged to spend time with others, they are placed with their peers. The voices of elders is disappearing. Consider this:
My sense is that the way adolescent society has evolved in recent years has increased the potential for...isolation. We have given teens more money, so they can construct their own social and material worlds more easily. We have given them more time to spend among themselves—less time in the company of adults. We have given them e-mail and beepers and, most of all, cellular phones, so that they can fill in all the dead spots in their day—dead spots that might once have been filled with the voices of adults—with the voices of their peers. (Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, pg. 271)
Is it just me, or do we have a problem here? How do we foster a generation of kids who use technology responsibly while socializing with real people in real time who are not just their peer group? And, considering that it is Good Friday, how do we teach our children to have an attitude similar to Christ: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV)
In addition, our family units are becoming smaller. Copious amount of siblings packed into a small house is a phenomena of the past. Now, we have larger and larger homes with few and few people occupying them. Siblings usually have their own room equipped with a computer, cell phone, iPod, radio, and television. There is no reason for a child to leave his or her personal space.
It seems as if the right of the individual is more important than the collective rights of the community. And we as a society blatantly encourage it. How many times have you heard the marketing slogan, "It is all about YOU."
Narcissism is become an epidemic.
I am not the only one who thinks so. Steve Maich and Lianne George have written a book entitled The Ego Boom: Why the World Really Does Revolve Around You. This morning I heard an interview on CBC Radio with the authors. Very interesting. The following commentary on the book highlights some of the topics discussed on air:
....we all think we’re experts. We are so “special” that we think we know more than others, and this has led to today’s economic meltdown. For example, many young people have bought homes with huge mortgages, not because they could afford to, but because they are “special” and want everyone to see that...
We all want to be seen by others. The result is social media such as Facebook. I use Facebook and sometimes I see a “friend” say “YES, I just washed my hair.” Who cares? [Along a similar vein], the cell phone seems to be the best friend of young people because the phones can be customized with a special ring, a special color, a special type—all special because I’m special. (John Storm, Oxford Learning)
Our world tells our youth that it is all about them. Furthermore, when our future generation is encouraged to spend time with others, they are placed with their peers. The voices of elders is disappearing. Consider this:
My sense is that the way adolescent society has evolved in recent years has increased the potential for...isolation. We have given teens more money, so they can construct their own social and material worlds more easily. We have given them more time to spend among themselves—less time in the company of adults. We have given them e-mail and beepers and, most of all, cellular phones, so that they can fill in all the dead spots in their day—dead spots that might once have been filled with the voices of adults—with the voices of their peers. (Malcolm Gladwell, The Tipping Point, pg. 271)
Is it just me, or do we have a problem here? How do we foster a generation of kids who use technology responsibly while socializing with real people in real time who are not just their peer group? And, considering that it is Good Friday, how do we teach our children to have an attitude similar to Christ: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:6-8, NIV)