Mamas, Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up To Be Assholes

Let me tell you about Jack. Jack is the center of the universe. I know he's the absolute center of the universe because he says he is, and Jack wouldn't lie. He is also a seventeen-year-old boy who comes to me for help in a difficult subject.
I do most of the tutoring at this small facility in which I am an administrator, a manager, if you will, and it is my great pleasure to tutor Jack in the esoterica that he must learn in order to pass this particular class, graduate, and go off to his college at which I am certain he will do great and wonderful things. Jack knows--for Jack knows all--that the school teacher from whence he learns Esoterica is an evil woman, and must be punished. Jack has decided that the appropriate punishment for his evil school teacher is to treat her with contempt and disrespect, explaining to her in a myriad of ways why she is unworthy to kiss his feet, much less teach him anything.
Jack's evil teacher, for she is truly evil, does not recognize Jack's status as the center of the universe and refuses to give him extra time to complete his assignments when his social life interferes with his schoolwork. She also does not give him half-credit when the only reason he got a particular question wrong is that he could not carve out time for this insignificant woman to correctly read the material she so rudely demands he understand.
Jack also refuses to show respect to people who have not earned it, most certainly not to the woman from whose womb he sprang, who has fed and clothed him for all of his seventeen years, because she has recently fallen from grace and now refuses to recognize him as the ruler of all creation as well. Jack does not respect me, for I am obviously incompetent, else I would not be tutoring him. I would certainly not be so bold as to pretend I know more than him were I a proper woman.

Seriously folks, he's an asshole. This boy came into the facility a few days ago, nearly an hour late for his appointment. I expressed surprise as I was no longer expecting him to be there, and he said "I've got to call that woman." At which point he stormed out into the lobby, called his mother on his cellphone and proceeded to hurl epithets and obscenities at her. He also lied to his mother and told her I had canceled his appointment without telling anyone. He came back into the center and muttered something, the only word of which I understood was "moron."
I said, "excuse me?!"
Jack's reply: "I'm sorry, but she IS a moron."
"Are you talking about your mother?"
"Yeah. She's a mooooorrrooon!"
At this point, Cranky did indeed lose her temper. I spoke quite sharply to him, saying that he was never to insult his mother in my presence. He shrugged, laughing it off.
"No," I said, "I'm quite serious. You DO NOT ever say that in my hearing again. Do we have an understanding?"
"Yeah," Jack said, somewhat cowed.
Jack and I worked past his appointment time, as I did not want to punish his mother, but rather him. I wanted him to understand that coming in late did not excuse him. I am rather close to telling Jack that he will not be welcome back, and advising his mother to let him fail, and force him to pay for summer school himself, or else repeat this grade.
I blame his mother for this, in part, because she obviously allowed this narcissus to take root and bloom in her child young. It's easier to let them have their way when they are younger, because they are still cute. However, this boy seems to believe that the entire world should change for him. I see this a lot, but I have never met a child so blatant about it. He has no charm, no sophistication, about it. He, wielding his unpleasant disposition and nasally voice as a club, requires sycophants. When one is unwilling to give him what he desires, he responds by telling one that one is stupid, or rude, or something equally untrue and unpleasant.
I wish I could be there the first time he tries his arrogance on a college professor. I would enjoy watching the professor tear him to pieces (metaphorically speaking, of course) and his learning that perhaps the universe does not exist only for his amusement.
The seeds of such behavior are planted young. The little child who pats his mother's leg repeatedly while chanting "mom-mom-mom-mom-mom-mom!" is not going to suddenly grow out of it. He will find different way to express his self-absorption, but it will not diminish. To reward this behavior is to allow it to grow. Giving into bullying never helped anyone stop the bully. It only encourages the activity. I wish I could feel sorry for him, knowing that he will never be successful or happy as long as he is so unpleasant and whining, but I don't. I feel no pity or sympathy, because this is a horrible young man. He is rude, selfish, self-centered, self-important, and treats me as a chamber maid. I don't respond well to such treatment, and I dread seeing him. I truly dread it.
Have I mentioned that Jack will be here tonight? He will. And I dread his appearance.