Schadenfreude is defined as pleasure derived from another person’s misfortune.
The college admissions scandal has all the elements of schadenfreude as we condemn Hollywood A-Listers doing all they can to plough their children’s way towards success.
Schadenfreude builds to a crescendo with self-righteous heckling as fake SCU rower Olympia Jade is dropped by Sephora and other brands to the glee of tabloids around the world.
“Serves her right for being a fake,” is the average sentiment of fickle fans who feel duped. Were they really so naive as to think that the whole concept of being a Youtube influencer and Instagram queen wasn’t superficial in the first place?
As for the parents, we condemn them for the way they’ve raised their children and the values they’ve instilled. Of course, it’s easy for most parents to do. After all, we would like to believe that if we had $500,000 at our disposal we would spend the money getting children tutors and immersing them in an educational experience rather than lie and cheat for them.
We know that we would give up our lives in a heart beat if it were necessary, but we wouldn’t commit fraud. Or would we? And that’s what makes the college admissions scandal unfolding in the United States particularly titillating. Sure, it examines the entitlement of the nation’s elite and the inequality of the education system, but it also delves into how far parents would go for their children. For some, it’s all the way to jail.
For others, it’s to the other side of the world.
Ask most Greek migrants with children to tell you what prompted them to leave their homeland for better life Down Under, and they’d probably say – “Το έκανα για τα παιδιά” (I did it for the children).
They probably would have stuck it out being underpaid and unemployed in a land of unpredictability, but they wanted better prospects for their kids.
So they grabbed the opportunity, packed their belongings and moved to ξενιτιά (foreign lands).
And rather than be told that uprooting themselves may have been taking it too far, they’re looked upon with respect for giving up friends, family and all the things they loved so their kids could have it easy – or at least easier than they would have otherwise.
This, of course, begs one question: Where should you draw the line when it comes to helping your kids? A good rule of thumb is to do only what is legally possible. But what’s legal isn’t always what is moral.
Every day as parents we face a myriad of decisions about what is best for our children.
As good parents, we should question the morals and ethics of our decisions, knowing that our children are watching us every step of the way and learning by our example.
But there’s no denying that if we had the opportunity of waving around a magic wand, we would want to create a life strewn with roses for our children. We’d zap them into a picture-perfect world of happiness and beauty. We’d all like that magic wand, right? Billions of dollars could be as good as a magic wand in the hands of parents of kids like Olivia Jade. In her case, she seemingly had everything except for an Ivy League education, which she probably could have had with a bit of studying.
But now, they’ve actually destroyed their daughter and her ‘career’ as a highly successful Influencer is left in tatters.
And that just goes to show that our kids won’t be successful if we give everything to them on a silver platter.
They are fragile like butterflies that emerge from the chrysalises with soft wings and bodies that haven’t been hardened by life yet. They need to climb and hang so their wings can expand properly. Too much help can doom them just like too much wealth can doom us.
Schadenfreude.