This Lisa Gottileb article has the descriptor "Why the obsession with our kids' happiness may be dooming them to unhappy adults." As a teacher for four years, I saw this phenomenon first hand. I called it "helplessness," but the ideas are similar. Some students had everything they could ever want--cars, money, vacations, parents that rent beach houses, paid tuition to a prestigous private school, friends, etc.--and still seemed melancholy.
Now, I understand that teenagers are going to be moody and melancholy at times. Duh. But what bothred me is that some of these kids seemed ill-equiped to deal with the future. They were so used to mommy and dadddy taking care of everything that they didn't have organization skills, or a sense of self, or any direction.
Couple this with the dependency on technology, and it seems some members of future generations may be doomed for disaster.
Read the engaging, controversial, and brillant article about stopping the babying of our youth here.