Won't you be my neighbor?

When it comes to offering up things to blame, I'd like to think that I'm pretty good at it. Whether I'm blaming the toaster for burning my toast in spite of it being my fault setting it too high, or whether I'm blaming the weather for my not getting work done. However, there are often people who are much better (for worse) at pinning the blame. For instance, Hitler was pretty good at blaming the Jews (I know, it's horrible, but it's true). Also, Jamie Foxx is good at blaming alcohol, and Fox is good at blaming democrats. But the most interesting blaming by far I have seen of late, is one I read in an article the other day.

The article talks of a professor at University of Louisiana who decided that the reason today's youth feel so entitled is the fault of one man: Mr. Rodgers.

Yes, I know, it is pretty mortifying to think that such a beacon of hope and inspiration for the nation's youth could be dubbed a negative influence in the long run. If you're wondering where I stand on this issue, here is my response:

Fred Rogers meant well,
And probably helped children
More than anything

First off, I'd like to emphasize that the morals preached in Mr. Rodgers's show were all very positive. Second, I'd like to point that chances are parents had a much greater on their children's morals than a television character ever did. And any influence he did have probably was simply a positive influence on self-esteem, because honestly- simply a telling a child that he or she is special will not make them believe it. They would have to actually accomplish something to make them feel special. And if that's the case, there's a good chance they're not the type to feel entitled. Well, maybe they will- but in any case, someone who has accomplished enough to have a sense of entitlement (no offense, really), probably wouldn't be gong to University of Louisiana in the first place. So in that context, I personally would assign the sense of entitlement to the easiest thing to blame anything on: poor parenting. So leave Mr. Rodgers out of this, and find out what percentage of your students actually ever watched the show before jumping to such an outrageous conclusion.

Source: http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB118358476840657463.html