But I want it!

Sometimes when I interview young people in the midst of their emotional crises, and I toss out a question about their parents, they will say something like, "They gave me everything I wanted." What could a child want? I ask myself and sometimes them. It must be pretty hard to be a kid of today's media and be bombarded with advertisements. It must be tough to be a kid and taught to believe that your immature, temporary cravings are more important than your parents right to set limits and disciple you. Poor young people. They are just as victimized by getting what they think is their heart's desire as their poorly skilled parents who want to believe they are doing the right thing by giving it. I have come to believe that those two little words "I want" are most damaging to the individual psyche as well as to relationships. But in this "culture of the individual" as I have heard the times of today called, the right to get what we want is a commonly held belief, and childhood is only the beginning.