This is messed up right here...
It’s called “The Magic Circle Game,” and many of our children have likely played it in school. The game works like this: Each day one child is given a badge that says, “I am great.” Then, the other children take turns praising the “great” child and, eventually, these compliments are written down and given to the child.
On the surface, this simple game may not seem damaging. Every child needs to feel valued, right?
But upon close inspection, and despite its intentions, this game is actually doing more harm than good. This game and others like it came about as part of the self-esteem movement—a philosophy that began in the late 1970’s.
Experts say it was started because educators were becoming increasingly aware that many of their students were dealing with stressful circumstances outside of school and they needed something positive to build their sense of self.
The self-esteem movement was assumed to be so effective that the children of the movement would be the first fruits of a better, more positive and productive society.
Their assumption may be wrong.
Two recent articles have revealed some important information on the children of the self-esteem age—children who are currently growing up or are already adults.
The first, published in the Wall Street Journal, titled “The Most Praised Generation
Goes to Work,” sheds light on how these self-esteem children are doing as young adults. The author, Jeffrey Zaslow, reports that both bosses and professors are feeling the need to lavish more praise on young adults, particularly 20-somethings, or else they would “wither under an unfamiliarly compliment deficit.”
He adds that a lot of today’s young adults tend to feel insecure if they’re not regularly stroked or complimented. What’s more, corporations are going so far as to hire consultants to teach managers how to compliment employees using e–mail and prize packages for simply doing little more than showing up to work.
