Today's youth are more self-centered and narcissistic than ever before. This doesn't surprise me when you look at how society breeds narcissism. Reality television and people's obsession with celebrity/entertainment news feed the epidemic of narcissism in our times.
I visited my alma mater this past weekend. While I had a great time and enjoyed myself, being among such a compact group of young adults in close quarters (i.e. bar/pub) was very eye opening, to say the least.
I remember trying to get through the crowded bar at college. You had to be assertive if you wanted to get anywhere. Tapping people on the shoulder and saying excuse me was necessary if you wanted to move through the crowd. Unfortunately, today it appears young adults don't even bother with the pleasantries of excusing themselves anymore. No, they simply "push" their way through and I don't mean this lightly. They full on body check the people that are in their way in order to get where they want to go.
I've been to my share of crowded bars in Chicago, but I have never seen anything like what I saw this weekend. These college students have such a sense of entitlement and are so oblivious to those around them that they would literally push their way through two people who were embraced and crying in a hug. I'm not saying this happened, but this is what it was like. The lack of regard or respect for anyone was totally absent.
It now appears, college students aren't even afraid to admit their narcissistic. In fact, they seem quite proud of it. Here's a link to an article furthering my point on how narcissistic the younger generation has become:
http://narcissismblog.com/2009/04/20/the-narcissism-epidemic-in-newsweek/