Actually this thread is not only about "whether the kids are more demanding or not" but also discusses the reasons behind this issue and how parents are responsible to a great extent for such behavior in kids.

Your thread is justified. It gives the scope for discussing from both parent angle and the child angle.

Almost everyone is speakingonly from the parental angle.

Children always look towards parents for a word of appreciation and a pat on the shoulder. Parents should appreciate the children in open and rebuke and chide in private. In some parents there is a wrong belief, that children if appreciated, will reduce their life span. What a wrong belief !!!

I know of this belief where parents dont appreciate children because they feel it will give them a swollen head , but actually they are only damaging their egs. Children grow up with a feeling of insecurity and lack of self confidence and by the time they are into their teens it is too late to correct this..

Mere parenting is not everything. Just the knowledge in the parents' " that ther own beliefs and views should not be thrusted on the tender hearts" would go a long way.

That always happens, parents want to fulfil their unffulfilled wishes through their children whether the children want it or not - one can see such things happening ariund us in most households with regard to education, marriage etc ..

Yes. It's true . I have seen a promising young teenager's career was nipped in the bud, because she was forced to marry to satisfy the last wish of a Nanny who is on the deathbed.. Then the inevitable happened. Even her husband did not allow the girl to resume her studies.

The thread should be 'are the parents more demanding'. I know of a family with twin daughters who were constantly pressurized by their parents to excel in everything they undertook and would be severely criticized in front of outsiders also. Eventually they sought love outside and one fine day ran away and got married, while they were still in college. After many years the parents reconciled with them. The daughters are very happily married but the parents are cribbing today also.