In Psychology Today, Hara Estroff Marano wraps up a lot of current research into the mental, emotional, and developmental problems afflicting children today, and finds that many are caused by over-protective, over-programming, and over-accommodating parenting.
Here's a random sampling of problems and causes discussed:
shyness (hovering parents)
fear of failure (hovering, rule-bending parents)
binge drinking (over-controlling parents)
eating disorders (ditto)
delayed detachment/prolonged adolescence (cell phones)
inability to plan ahead (cell phones)
demand for instant gratification (cell phones and ATM's)
not getting into an Ivy League school (over-competitive parents, children refusing to accept their own mediocrity. Wha??)
There's a TON of good stuff in here, but clearly, there's a lot of academic whining, and kind of a grab-bag at the end. While I long ago embraced my mediocre understanding of simple math, if there's an epidemic of developmental problems with college students now, wouldn't their parents be baby boomers? No reason, just asking.
Oh, and for the record, the guy pushing the mediocrity went to (and teaches at) at state school, albeit a good one (UVA). I bet he's just trying to clear a demographic path for his own kids to get into Harvard.
A Nation of Wimps [psych today, via rexblog]
