As a millennial, I’m used to older generations slamming mine for being entitled and coddled. While it’s certainly not true across the board, I know that helicopter parenting emerged in the 1980s and plenty of millennials did grow up like the kids in this story, never having to work for what they got. What bothers me is that these same older generations refuse to admit that “coddled” is passive: someone had to do the coddling, and who do you think it was?!

When I was a TA for a major university, I was stunned by the number of students who expected an A for minimal effort. One never came to class or turned in work and actually physically threatened me and the professor for not giving her an A. She took it all the way to the department chair, who thankfully was on our side. Had she had a wealthy parent, I wonder if it would have turned out differently.