Three most important questions you can ask

Although this is geared to parents of teens, this article hits it PERFECTLY.  If I have children, I hope I can raise them to be genuinely curious, not to fear mistakes, and become wiser through the mistakes.

This reminded me of my sister.  A brilliant mind smothered by the expectations of a very educated family background.  I remember her telling me in elementary school she would think about the galaxies and what was going on beyond earth, while her friends were playing during recess.  She was the first in our family who wanted to join the LGBT alliance club at school because she found injustice in treatment of those the LGBT society.  A voracious book reader, true community lover, and just so...brilliant and wonderful.  I hope she still thinks about the galaxies...

Three Most Important Questions

"We have raised a generation that is plagued with insecurity, anxiety and despair....

...this generation of highly accomplished, college-bound students have been robbed of their independence because they have been raised in a petri dish for one purpose only: to attend an elite college that ensures their and their families' economic and social status. Instead of being nurtured towards real curiosity and a genuine sense of citizenship, these millennials are conditioned to think that everything they do is for the purpose of looking good in the eyes of admissions officers and employers: you earn good grades not because they mean you are learning something, but rather because they will help you stand out from your peers when applying to the Ivies. You engage in community service not because you wish genuinely to make a positive difference in the lives of others but rather because that is how you burnish your resume -- service as check-off box. You play sports not because they build character and teamwork and are a whole lot of fun, but because you want to try to get recruited for a college team. You study art or music not because you wish to refine your understanding of human nature, creativity and culture but because it will help you look smarter.

There is little intrinsic value in what you do. The result: Many college students who fall apart under pressure because they cannot conceive of the fact that hard work and learning are positive outcomes in and of themselves. They have no sense of who they are or what is important in their lives. They have spent so much time trying to look good that they do not know what "The Good" (consider Plato here) really is. They are walking ghosts of seeming, not of being."