[youtube=http://youtu.be/_lfxYhtf8o4]
Originally written as a high school graduation speech, this screed against over-coddling rattled both the competitive parenting set and their children. “Contrary to what your U9 soccer trophy suggests, your glowing seventh grade report card, despite every assurance of a certain corpulent purple dinosaur, that nice Mister Rogers and your batty Aunt Sylvia, no matter how often your maternal caped crusader has swooped in to save you… you’re nothing special,” taunted David McCullough Jr., a popular English teacher at Wellesley High School, before going on to the usual platitudes about following your bliss, etc. His audience didn’t complain, the speech became YouTube hit and was reprinted far and wide, while its author, the son of famous historian David McCullough, got a book deal.