Headteacher slams snowflake millennials as ‘entitled, spoilt and molly-coddled’ – and they AREN’T happy
Ex-students have hit out at the head of a £34,000-a-year boarding school, who said the current generation all perceived themselves as 'one in a million'
A HEADTEACHER has come under fire for slamming snowflake millennials as "entitled, spoilt and molly-coddled".
Douglas Robb, of prestigious Gresham’s in upmarket Holt, Norfolk, sparked outrage by criticising millennials for lacking "grit" in a latest blog on the school’s website.
He said: “A generation has come of age where many more individuals perceive themselves to be ‘one in a million’."
He says the snowflake generation - the term associated with those born between the early 1980s to early 2000s - had an "underlying sense of entitlement".
But furious ex-students have hit back saying as a role-model of young people he should not be "jumping on the bandwagon" to criticise them.
Former Gresham’s student, Rebecca Lawrence - who attended the school between 2007 and 2011 - said: "These assertions left me feeling uncomfortable.
"Negative stereotypes of millennials are two a penny and you don’t have to look far to find them.
"It's disheartening for anyone to hear, whether it's their head teacher or one they're linked with.
"I feel like he's in a Gresham's bubble, maybe children at his school are more privileged and so are more entitled, but he shouldn't generalise our generation from a few."
Ms Lawrence, 23, who now works for the Civil Service in London, said: "It was quite personal to me, as growing up I had a lot of jobs in restaurants and cafes to finance unpaid internships."
Formerly a resident of Itteringham, not far from the school, she added: "I've never written a blog before but it didn't sit right with me that this head teacher, someone who should be a role model, is standing up in front of pupils having said that."
Defending his comments in his blog Mr Robb goes on to say it’s not their fault – blaming the Government for encouraging them to ";believe that they deserve more than their parents and grandparents" and slamming reality TV.
He said: “They have been advertised since birth; they have had credit and loans on a plate; they have been overly molly-coddled; and they have been overwhelmed by a strange combination of fictional sit-com characters, reality TV and social media stars, who paint a picture of perfection to be achieved.”
Gresham’s, founded in 1555, is currently rated in the top 30 independent boarding schools in England with around 800 pupils aged three to 18.
Former pupils include Broadchurch actress Olivia Colman and inventor Sir James Dyson.
Mr Robb has been head since 2015.
His post was sparked by an interview he was conducting in which he was asked by the candidate "why should I come and work for you?"
Mr Robb said he was worried some youngsters expect to land a one-in-a-million job, lack "grit" and look down their noses at certain vocations.
One of Britain's most famous 'self-made' entrepreneurs, vacuum king Sir James Dyson, was educated at Gresham's.
Now 70, with an estimated £1.7 billion fortune, he was born in Cromer, Norfolk, ten miles down the road from the school.
He was educated at Gresham's from 1956 to 1965, and excelled at long distance running, recalling: "I was quite good at it, not because I was physically good, but because I had more determination. I learnt determination from it."
He went on to study furniture and interior design at the Royal College of Art from 1966 to 1970) before moving into engineering and the rest is history.
Defending his comments in the blog Mr Robb said generalising a group of people like millennials was a 'necessary part of life' allowing people to 'discuss trends'.
He said: "It is now well documented that employers have noticed a trend where young people seem ill-prepared for the requirements of the working day, despite boasting an impressive academic education and, I believe, it is valuable for educators and governments to be informed about this in order to better prepare or equip young people for work."
He said as a school they don't molly-coddle students welcoming competitive sports fixtures and debates. He added: "Giving students the opportunities to experience these sorts of tests of spirit and resilience is what we mean when we say that emphasis should be placed on encouraging grit."
Commenting on social media site The Mardler, Phil Right wrote: "Every generation thinks the next one is spoilt, molly-coddled and entitled. How worrying that a head teacher isn't sufficiently aware to realise that such comments are commonplace and worthless."
But Son Na backed the head, posting: "Sad to say but true, when we were growing up it was the norm to go pea and bean picking to get extra money to buy things.
"Most want things now which leads to more credit and the fallout from this."
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