Sunday, December 6, 2009

Overparenting

A great article, absolutely worth the read.
We were so obsessed with our kids' success that parenting turned into a form of product development. Parents demanded that nursery schools offer Mandarin, since it's never too soon to prepare for the competition of a global economy. High school teachers received irate text messages from parents protesting an exam grade before class was even over; college deans described freshmen as "crispies," who arrived at college already burned out, and "teacups," who seemed ready to break at the tiniest stress.

This is what parenting had come to look like at the dawn of the 21st century — just one more extravagance, the Bubble Wrap waiting to burst. (Read more)

Share

1 comment:

Julygirl said...

A few years ago when I did a short stint as a nanny for a 'power couple', I was amazed that it seemed vital to have the children educated (kindergarten and first grade) in a private school to the tune of $17,000 a year, each. When I inquired what was behind such a decision the mother said it was important for the future success of the children. I reminded her that she had attended public high school, gotten into a good college and was a CEO with a "Fortune 500" company without her parents paying Thousands of dollars for elementary education.