I'm slightly dismayed at Ms. Shrier's quick dismissal of Ms. Kahn's observations. Perhaps it's the social strata Ms. Shrier inhabits that so colors her view. It is true that many (perhaps most) middle-class, upper middle-class, and wealthy children are coddled, babied, and have had their feelings validated at every opportunity and those …
I'm slightly dismayed at Ms. Shrier's quick dismissal of Ms. Kahn's observations. Perhaps it's the social strata Ms. Shrier inhabits that so colors her view. It is true that many (perhaps most) middle-class, upper middle-class, and wealthy children are coddled, babied, and have had their feelings validated at every opportunity and those seem to be the demographic groups that are more likely to come into contact with Ms. Shrier, listen to Honestly, and/or read TFP, but the children of the educated elite are not the majority of the children in America or the world. I suspect the experiences of most children suffering from depression and anxiety (especially children of immigrants and people of color and children in very poor communities) more closely aligns with Ms. Kahn's observations. There is a vast body of research discussing the impact of poverty and family dysfunction on mental and physical health that suggests other common etiologies for depression and anxiety.
Poor kids and the children of poor immigrants in this country are actually mentally healthier if they have two dedicated parents committed to their offspring and their well-being. Drug abuse, neglect, abandonment and instability by parental units overpower poverty as the source of children’s dysregulation.
I'm slightly dismayed at Ms. Shrier's quick dismissal of Ms. Kahn's observations. Perhaps it's the social strata Ms. Shrier inhabits that so colors her view. It is true that many (perhaps most) middle-class, upper middle-class, and wealthy children are coddled, babied, and have had their feelings validated at every opportunity and those seem to be the demographic groups that are more likely to come into contact with Ms. Shrier, listen to Honestly, and/or read TFP, but the children of the educated elite are not the majority of the children in America or the world. I suspect the experiences of most children suffering from depression and anxiety (especially children of immigrants and people of color and children in very poor communities) more closely aligns with Ms. Kahn's observations. There is a vast body of research discussing the impact of poverty and family dysfunction on mental and physical health that suggests other common etiologies for depression and anxiety.
Poor kids and the children of poor immigrants in this country are actually mentally healthier if they have two dedicated parents committed to their offspring and their well-being. Drug abuse, neglect, abandonment and instability by parental units overpower poverty as the source of children’s dysregulation.