I recently had this article forwarded to me by a parent friend of mine, and I found it to be a thought-provoking read. There are, of course, as many different parenting approaches as there are different personalities in the world, and any time we try to draw broad, sweeping generalizations about the “best” way to bring up kids, we’re immediately hit with a barrage of exceptions to the rule.

Overall, there isn’t a “right way” to parent, because each child and family are different. That being said, this article takes a look at some of the commonalities that have been arising over the past several years as the recent generations of kids have started growing up. Resilience seems to be decreasing, while anxiety, self-doubt, and depression seem to be increasing, and they dig into some of the current research on what could be behind this.

According to the article, the current generation seems to be struggling as they make the transition to adulthood. They are more easily offended, less capable of caring for themselves, and less able to take risks than has been previously seen.

The author attributes this to some of the best of intentions in policy-making and parenting leading to a generation of kids who don’t have the resilience to fail and pick themselves back up, or even to take the risks in the first place. Efforts to support kids, to scaffold their development, and to protect them from pain have begun to backfire and send the message that they aren’t capable of withstanding any kind of failure or hurt. They have little experiential evidence that they can make it through, and thus avoid situations they don’t feel equipped for.

“When we raise kids unaccustomed to facing anything on their own, including risk, failure, and hurt feelings, our society and even our economy are threatened.”

The authors look at this not just as an issue for these individuals, but for our society as a whole.  Check back for Part 2 for a continued discussion on the article!

Molly Halbrooks, LMFT

mhalbrooks@growcounseling.com