I had the great fortune to meet civil rights pioneer Dr. Benjamin Mays about a year before he passed away. At age 94, he was a guest on The 700 Club in the mid 80s (I was the show’s producer), and I’ve never forgotten a part of that interview. Pat asked him what was wrong “with today’s youth,” and his answer surprised everybody. “Parents,” Dr. Mays said, “are afraid to let their children experience the things that helped shape their own character.” Here was a man who had been through hell talking about shielding children from pain. Character. What an interesting word.

I thought of this today, because Chez Pazienza has posted an insightful journey into essentially the same question. Chez feels that the baby-faced David Archuleta is going to win American Idol this year, because he’s a textbook heartthrob for young teenage girls, a group that represents who’s really “in charge” in the marketing world of the west.

All adults have to do, is take back the world from their kids.

Don’t pretend that you don’t know what I’m talking about, because it’s become impossible to ignore: A generation of parents who spoil their children rotten — hubristically buying into the notion that their specific spawn is somehow special and deserving of society’s deference — combined with the technology that gives every computer or text savvy kid a voice, whether he or she deserves one or not, has conspired to hijack a good portion of what we see and hear. It’s a Wiki world, one in which a vocal majority can literally rewrite the rules and twist reality to suit its needs, and right now, the ‘tweens are the most vocal — and what they need, apparently, are crappy, overproduced, Disneyfied Stepford Teens to scream for and sing along to.

This is why Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers are all but inescapable right now — and why David Archuleta is next.

I don’t know about American Idol. I, gasp, don’t watch it, but I do relate to what Chez is saying, and it takes me back to the studio at CBN that day in 1983.

And I wonder what will happen when a generation awakens to the reality that they aren’t so bloody special after all. Character is refined in the fire of pain, even that which is felt at the receiving end of the word “no.” I agree with Dr. Mays that we do our children a disservice when we protect them from every form of pain that helped shape our own character. In so doing, we leave them weak and defenseless, and a shame to us and them.

Lately, as I’ve cruised cable before bedtime, I’ve come across a reality show where parents choose who will take their son or daughter on an exotic vacation. The other night, two of the guys vying to date this beautiful young woman actually waxed their eyebrows (ack!). It’s probably just a generational thing, but it was curious that neither could “keep it in their pants” in previous relationships. Eyebrows, yes. Faithfulness, no.

A couple of really special guys.

BTW, Chez has now “published” his journey out of a heroin nightmare, and it’s fascinating reading. You can buy a download at his website, Deus Exmalcontent.

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