Sounds interesting -- No link though.

Sorry Gail, link fixed, Thanks!

Yes, and in the same newspaper:

"The Price of Privelege"
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/18/style/thomas-s-gilbert-jr-the-price-of-privilege.html

Adversity can breed character. Of course, a lot of times it doesn't, either (the stories may be the exception that proves the rule).

When kids are particularly fortunate, they are best served by parents who try to keep them grounded in the real world rather than totally isolated, and at least talk to them about the world's less fortunate and involve them in volunteer, social justice issues, etc. I do think that most schools are trying to get kids to think about the larger world and larger issues too, which never happened when I was a middle schooler.

Thanks for posting that article kswl.
It really is food for thought.

It's interesting. Reminds me of something I read awhile back, IIRC, that depression among the Mexicans who struggle and fight and risk everything to get into this country is almost unheard of, but is common for their children....

In so many ways, each of us are children of privilege, the gifts from our ancestors who each worked and struggled and helped us get to where we are and be who we are. We are where we belong, and we need only remember that our obligation to them is to take what they've given us and build upon it to create something even better.

Thank you for posting KSWL. It is indeed food for thought. My children were so fortunate to grow up in a home where they had everything they needed (though certainly not everything they wanted). It was so important for us to impart a sense of thankfulness for all their blessings and empathy for those that were less fortunate. It was always eye opening when they were involved with Habitat for Humanity projects and they saw with their own eyes the struggle that many endured.

I agree with Annie that we are privileged because of the struggles of our ancestors. My paternal ancestors came here from Germany in the mid seventeen hundreds and dug a shelter out on the side of a hill. I was blessed to have an ancestor that researched and wrote a family history up through my DF's generation.

It makes sense that first generations aren't depressed as the day to day struggle for survival wouldn't allow a lot of time for depression or thoughts of "woe is me".

What strikes me from the article too is the question of motivation. This is probably because I am coming up against this with my 16 year old. He is smart and a hard worker. He currently does some of the landscape maintenance at our church, just 8-12 hours a week. Sometimes, this type of work is not a lot of fun. My hope is this would motivate him for future schooling so that he would not have to do that kind of work forever. Right now, he enjoys doing it and watching his savings account grow. I assume that life will just have to teach him otherwise eventually the limits of this type of work. He also cleans horse stalls for a neighbor and again, he just enjoys using his body doing the work and he likes getting that spending cash too. As noted in the article, you cannot manufacture necessity and you also cannot manufacture motivation either.

Agree with all the sentiments expressed by posters above!

The question of motivation is interesting; we have two highly motivated kids and one who hasn't an ambitious bone in his body. But he is absolutely charming and happy and wonderful to be around, very intelligent, kind....but no drive. For a parent, seeing no drive is very nerve wracking.