I think there’s a mixture of things going on here – entitlement for sure, the increase ease of secondary education (everybody comes to college thinking they’re smarter than they are), grade inflation, and a complete devaluation of education in general. They don’t think of education as a process of learning to think and write critically. They view it as an annoying hoop to jump through, a formula they have to learn, and they see it as OUR responsibility to make sure they do well (that’s “our job” in this customer service world). I definitely had significantly more grade complainers at my elite private u as a TA than at my large state schools where I’ve taught. (Basically, I agree anecdotally with the posters who have commented that first generation students tend to be more respectful – sometimes charmingly in awe – of faculty and education generally, since it tends to be prized in their families, not taken for granted.)

Favre?

I just don’t think I need to spend my break time explaining their messes to them. I hope the torrent of e-mails slows for all of you.

It was only at the other school that I came across the type of entitlement you speak about. One student who I (very generously) gave an B+ wrote to me saying that he expected an A in the course. I assumed it was joke until he followed up by calling me at work to complain I did not respond to his request for a grade change. He said because the course was about poor people he didn’t think it should be graded as hard and he took the course because he assumed he would get an A. I told him I was not changing his grade and I assumed that was the end of that.

Several months later he wrote to me that his summer job at a large firm fell through and that he would like to work at my firm (a legal services agency)for the summer at least until “something more important” came through.