I can tell some of you have not spent much time on college campuses recently.
Be that as it may, generalities are pretty worthless when explaining the behavior of specific people.
First to be clear about what you are saying, because it is easy to misinterpret on the internet; and, second, for discussion, I want to address your comments.
I think from your first sentence you are saying that college students are not as described in the interviews referenced nor as in some's own posts here. So I take it you are saying their attitudes haven't changed and that they aren't spoiled or don't have communication problems because they are more interested in their phones.
You second sentence about generalities being pretty worthless when explaining the behavior of specific people, I am unclear about. Actually, it seems we are talking about student-athletes in general not specific ones.
So I am unclear about your second statement.
Anyway, I am sure things have changed. It only makes sense. As you can have more and more given to you, more and more to attain, you expect more. You see people on tv, the internet social pages having 15 minutes of fame and you have 8 yo
kids whose parents live from paycheck to paycheck getting $100 KD tennis shoes, kids playing in football, basketball, softball, soccer, baseball and usually a child will play in at least three AND they get regular uniforms for each of these and it is just a sport to get them interested, learn to play with others, get exercise, become more coordinated......but instead of t-shirts with a number and a pair of their own shorts, in basketball they have TWO DIFFERENT FULL UNIFORMS; in baseball full uniforms with two different color shirts, in FOOTBALL full uniforms with jackets. NOW, I know their are things you need in football and baseball to be safe but you don't need what is being spent on these kids. AND they can't get the ball over the plate, can't get the basketball in the basket..it's craziness. A BIG waste of money and resources BUT personally I blame my generation......the baby boomers....we gave too much to our kids, didn't spend as much time with them as we should have and it has gotten worse with each generation. NOW, does that mean every individual....NO, but it does mean we have effected some negative societal changes. NOW, every kid has a cellphone and a tablet and spend all their times (when not at their games) on these. They go to games and expect coke and candy afterwards, if they go to college sports or high school or go to the movies, they expect cokes, hot dogs, candy and the reason they do is because we have given it to them. THEY believe they will play at OU. AND I am not talking about the kids whose parents take their teams to tournaments and spend even more time and money nor the ones that go further and get into AAU leagues.
WHAT was one thing Vivi said she was thankful for when they spent Thanksgiving in the Bahamas, that there was no
cell reception so she could get to know her teammates. Now not just student-athletes have cell phones and tablets and all these things and they are not the only ones expecting so much, but when you are "known" on campus in anyway, then you do expect more. They also do get more attention. Their professors know them, they hang-out together on campus so other students know them, they have scholarships and stipends, so don't have to worry about many of the things many students do. They also have a counselor and a doctor and tutors. By the same token, they spend a lot of time on their sport, but it is what they want to do. So maybe some do feel entitled and aren't as much fun to coach as in the past, it can only be expected.
I imagine the "looking in your eyes" story which MsPS mentioned is probably true of many students, whether athletes or not. I love my cellphone but I hate it too. It is not just the younger people who are using electronics and disconnecting from society and becoming more abrupt, less kind, more abrasive while on these electronics. Electronics are a double-edged sword.
Finally, you don't have to be on campus to interact with young women and men of that age. I mean they are out in society. Personally, I usually have good interactions, but I am just smiling at the supermarket or they are waiting on me somewhere; I am not teaching them, raising them, living with them. I also do not believe EVERY student is not as much fun to coach as those in the past, but still that does not mean that they would be as much fun to coach as those in the past whose appreciation of the opportunities were more because they weren't as available, weren't as expected. It's human nature.
