Self-esteem boosting?

Brought to my attention by a BBC article.

Now, one of the most strongly emphasized "skills" in a young child is self-esteem. A young student is supposed to believe and trust himself. Educators and parents are emphasizing this, telling young children that they are always right or at least in the right direction. Instead of scolding their children, parents are pampering them. All of this was done in the interest of a child's emotional security and mental confidence. However, the problem is that children are taking what they constantly hear to heart and truly believe themselves to be the center of the universe.

Before, a child actually had to own up to his mistakes. Now, he can just cower behind and let his parents do the brunt work. He can do low-quality, slow work and still be praised for it. Children feel entitled to things: praise, good grades, attention, and later in life, a job or promotion. The problem is, not everybody deserves these. Not every person is special and worthy of special acclaim.

Asking a child to change is too hard and would take away their self esteem, they say. A child needs to be confident in his own abilities to succeed in life, they claim. The problem is, the result of this is a generation of students who are told to be themselves, even when they produce bad work. They aren't compelled to change for the better, just continue in the incorrect way.

This form of teaching turns out bad students. It is the the opposite of strict traditionalist teaching methods and for that reason is too lenient. The best way is with moderate strictness.