Forbes – Rodger Dean Duncan
We recently welcomed beautiful Adeline into our family. She’s our first great grandchild. As I looked into her eyes for the first time, I found myself wondering what life would be for her. What would the world be like when she’sa parent and grandparent? Or, even less remotely, what would the world be like only a few years from now when she’s a teenager?
One thing’s for certain: society has undergone seismic changes since I was a teenager more than half a century ago. In fact, we’ve seen huge change in only the past couple of decades.
For our children and for the rest of us, much of that change is troubling.
By nearly every measure, American children are falling behind. In the 1980s, American kids were world leaders in academic achievement. They were less likely to be anxious and depressed than kids born elsewhere. They were happier than their age peers in France or South Africa or Australia.
But not now. Today, American children are ten times more likely to be medicated for ADHD, anxiety, depression and related ailments compared with kids in Scotland, Switzerland or New Zealand. And today, American kids rank between #17 and #22 on academic achievement measures, struggling to keep pace with Slovenia and Latvia and far behind Poland and Switzerland.
There are multiple causes behind these effects, but parenting (or a lack thereof) seems to be at the core. And with more and more parents grappling with the challenges of work-family balance, the problem doesn’t seem to be getting better.
One expert who offers a bundle of sane, straight talk on the issue is Dr. Leonard Sax, a practicing family physician and psychologist. His latest book is The Collapse of Parenting: How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grown-Ups.
Why would I interview a child psychologist when my own professional focus is on leadership? I’ll answer with a question of my own: What leadership role is more important than that of parent? You may be a great leader in the workplace. Good for you and for the people you lead. But the leadership you provide within the walls of your own home will have a truly lasting effect, possibly for many generations into the future.
The advice prescribed by Dr. Sax may be hard for some parents to swallow. After all, many of them grew up with the same kind of parenting they’re using with their own children today. But sometimes the very best medicine is an honest evaluation of our own habits. Dr. Sax shows the way.
by MindMake via MindMake Blog
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