Reply #17: And in my teaching career, I saw spoiled bratty students

[Lydia Leftcoast]

actually seek out authority figures, as if they felt out of control and thought they needed someon to take charge.

Two of my snarkiest students quit school to join the Marines. (I enjoyed imagining how their drill instructor would react the first time they mouthed off.)

Others would subject themselves to brutal regimens for a sport.

Still others would become rigid, uptight religious fanatics.

In fact, this is part of my theory about why right-wing churches have such a hold over people. They've taken in all the former spoiled brats who never got any guidance on how to live as a responsible and ethical member of society and given them a few simple rules to follow.