I think young children are not going to understand gratitude because they have no concept yet of what it even means. They are only just learning about the world and the people in it and what is expected of them.

However, once the kids become teens it's time for them to start understanding the concept of sacrifice and commitment. Therefore they should start understanding what their parents do for them, and be grateful.

I believe the root of that problem comes from giving our kids too much! They have so much these days, they can't even play with all the toys they have, and so they mean nothing, when you have everything. It takes the joy and fun right out of receiving gifts.

We think we are doing our kids a favor, but spoiling them is no favor. It ruins their idea of value and gratitude. And then when they get older, they still think they should have everything they want, or they throw a fit. They grow up thinking the world owes it to them to make them happy. Just think how that plays out when they get to be teenagers and adults. What will they do to get their way? It also teaches them to be irresponsible because everything is handed to them. It's our responsibility not to spoil them. Notice they don't appreciate it anyway and then they get to the point where they expect certain things and if they don't get it then the parent wonders why they throw a fit. That's what they were taught. It also takes the fun right out of "hoping" and dreaming of things they want.

I think the biggest and worst mistake parents make today, is to substitute toys, for attention and love. Also, not spending quality time with their children, when they do have time, and I know that's limited, but we can make time, instead of letting the computer babysit our children. Spoiling children is not loving them. They need the guidelines, rules, and boundaries, more than anything. I've raised four.

It is actually boundaries that makes life fun, instead of having everything we want all the time. I believe it takes the joy right out of life for kids. I know when I was a child and my parents were poor and we only got toys once a year on Christmas or our birthday, how joyful a time it was and how thankful, my sister and I, were. We didn't have nor experience parents not being parents, when I was my age. The kids trusted and respected their parents and knew they were loved.

When I was 8 years old I never heard children screaming at the top of their lungs in the toy department, demanding their mom or dad buy them the toy they picked out. Right there, that shows that parents are not doing their job and disciplining their children the way they should. Children should never throw a fit in the store. Mine never did and I know lots of others, whose children didn't. The children had respect for their parents because of their boundaries and they always knew that mom and dad knew best. Oh we asked, but not very often because we were poor and we knew what the answer would be and we didn't want to burden our parents. I was a child and I instinctively knew that. I would only ask one time on very rare occasion and when Mom said no, I didn't question it. I just said "Okay."

Kids' behaviour largely depends on parents themselves as they copy what they see. They learn from them. Also, kids are naturally supposed to be unruly to various extent & don't understand the meaning of being thankful. Someone's over-expecting if she wants a 8 year old kid to be thankful for whatever reason; in fact, it's the responsibility of parents to teach & fix their behaviour so they turn out as good being when they grow up.

I've given a few views but to simply answer your post, take some things away for quite a while and then maybe they'll be more grateful when they get them back. Kids these days just have way too much and they don't even know what to do with it. They leave their toys laying in the floor because they've got too many and they lose interest. It takes the fun right out of giving children special things and then you notice they don't even take care of them because they don't appreciate them and they've got so much they become bored and restless. Some parents, need to stop buying their kid's love, by giving them money without even earning it or too many "things". Give a teenage boy or girl a car for free and they won't take care of it, guaranteed, because it means nothing to them, they didn't have to sacrifice or scuffle to buy it with their own money, so it means nothing...they think, 'so what, if I go out and wreck it or trash it up?' But let that teenager buy a car with his or her own money, and you'll see them out in the driveway polishing it, keeping it clean and babying it. Then it means something, and it gives them great pride that they earned it themselves. This generation has their heads screwed on backwards.

I've never seen anything like this generation. I think when parents start being parents again, all that will change. Even the kids are mixed up and they act more like the parent than the parent does. They demand what they want. This is totally messed up. They have no respect. And that's because they weren't taught respect and discipline.

My view is that the world is going to be in a lot of trouble when the current generation are running it. My daughter is so self-entitled it’s unbelievable - and she’s very typical of her peer group.
There’s very little sense of selflessness with them, it’s all me me me. I don’t think that the online influencer craze is helping one bit either. Everything is so instantaneous, no waiting, no patience needed, you just get what you want - usually by post the following day.

Kids do need to learn that they have to be aware of what they have and what others may not have. At least once a week we used to ask our kids, what are you thankful for. We do that as a family, gathered together on Thanksgiving day as well.

A parent chooses for a child to exist while a child gets no say in the matter. Therefore, caring for the child's fundamental physiological and emotional needs is the parent's responsibility; kids needn't be grateful for that. However, kids should be grateful for anything additional they're given (i.e. toys, computers, sporting equipment) because that shit's discretionary.

Kids do need to be thankful and it’s up to us parents to teach them manners and respect (and discipline in a loving way).

Parents role is to teach them to behave and be thankful
Education

Remind them Christmas is coming and if they want to be on the nice list they better be grateful

Being childless I don’t really have a dog in this fight, but I’m chiming in anyway.

The mothers believing children don’t need to be thankful are doing a disservice to them. They will have challenging times ahead of them as adults and live with a sense of entitlement and ungratefulness. Essentially, the mothers are creating monsters. Perhaps they will understand when they are need of their child’s help one day but the child doesn’t owe them anything.

I believe parents are responsible for instilling all values they wish to see in their kids. I remember my mother saying to me [i]"what do we say?"[/i] when I did not respond with a [i]thank you[/i] after receiving something nice. I saw it often in the movies as well where kids are asked "what do we say?" I believe that's one way of instilling it, the other way is through storytelling but I truly believe it is the responsibility of parents to teach such things.

Graciousness is a positive trait in all people of all ages and positive traits need to be cultivated they do not pop up out of thin air after a person has been spoiled rotten for their entire life.

I think every generation has had this same discussion about kids.

Well they only learn what you show them

Lax patenting is the root of the problem with society these days. Kids should always be thankful. Thankful they have clothes, food, a house to live in, games to play, etc. Society breaks down when people think they are entitled to get what they want.

i think they should be thankful but they rarely are. I dont recall being that thankful when i was a kid, but thinking back now i had a LOT to be thankful for. I took it for granted.

don't spoil them in the first place, teach them about the less fortunate, teach them to be thankfull for what they have.

The people with ungrateful kids need to look in the mirror when they ask who raised them that way.

It starts with respect .

If you always give , they learn to always take.

Earning things is a good place to start.

There are a lot of kids and people in general who take for granted their environment etc. And as someone with a rare health condition I find many take their health for granted. At the same time, there are a lot of parents who aren’t that great, too