Definitely not BS. I said, "in many instances", not all. I have been an educator for 18 years, the last 6 in administration and I can assure you many parents want to appear "cool" and are afraid their kid's may hate them if they do not give into them. The kids learn to exploit this and do not understand consequences. It's not in every case, but unfortunately I see it a lot.
I also blame schools. The powers that be are removing an educator's power to discipline and hold students accountable. For example, we are not allowed to give a zero on an assignment and students do not have to meet deadlines. We have no retention from K - 9, regardless of how poor a student does. They are socially promoted until grade 10. When they get to 10, many fail and we spend time and money wondering how we can get them to turn it around. It's like quickly building a house with the cheapest materials and then trying to fix it when it is collapsing in 10 years. I don't get it.