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bak8382's review
4.0
I picked this up from the new books display at my library having read and enjoyed Levine's book [b:The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids|221424|The Price of Privilege How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids|Madeline Levine|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1426488263l/221424._SY75_.jpg|214416]. Levine discusses what kids really need today, and it's what many of us had in our childhoods: boredom, outdoor play, and chores. She notes," . . . that we're just as addicted to devices as our kids are, but we have much less fun . . ." (8). Adults tend to look at doomsday news and then turn around and "overprotect and overdirect" our kids as a result (8). She discusses how children are no longer progressing through normal stages of adolescence the way they used to with far reaching consequences to the child's future, and the mental health issues that results from too much screen time and not enough face to face time. Perservernance (159) is so important that it trumps many other skills kids are pushed to acquire. Levine reiterates what other researchers have said about the mental load that women carry and cultural expectations of mothers that just aren't the same for fathers. Leading to Levine noting, "whatever the reasons may be, in my experience fathers rarely overreact to or blame themselves for their children's (perceived) poor behavior or performance, while mothers routinely torment themselves over it" (204). There's a lot of great information here including ways to fix things.
carolynf's review
4.0
This was definitely a fun read for me, because I like overly dramatic stories about other people making terrible parenting mistakes with their kids. The author covers the entire spectrum of childreading, from infants just a few months old to 30 year olds suffering from "failure to launch." Her advice is nothing very new - kids need choices, independence, and life skills. Learning to do chores and hanging out with friends is more important to long term well-being than having a heavy schedule of AP classes and extracurricular chosen to impress. I was teaching in a very affluent high school fifteen years ago, and now I'm at a private college. I've seen a lot of students who struggle in the ways described in this book.
bethebookworm's review against another edition
2.0
This was one of those books where I argued with the author most of the book. Which can be a good thing but in this case was mostly me being irked by how narrow and privileged her context/applications seem to be. One thing that annoyed me the whole book is her constant reference to "family dinner", which she does admit is actually not a given for most families at the end of the book. I do think there were some helpful snippets for me as I am actually pretty privileged. However it also felt dated, surprisingly so for a book about dealing with change published in 2020.
samle1e's review
3.0
I found this book reassuring, but not groundbreaking as compared to her other books. Levine encourages using progressive desensitization to deal with with food issues, anxiety, and fears. Kids that are more adaptable will better cope with the increasing pace of change, she argues. She's very critical of overprotective parents, and I liked the bit of throwing shade at Amy Chua.
heatherwebb's review
informative
medium-paced
4.5
I really enjoyed parts of this book, but wish there was more intersectionality with race & class.
brandenwitte's review
4.0
Sometimes repetitive. She does well to steer clear of politics until she decides to put one of the three major points as worrying about the planet.
While I agree that is important, I think it was redundant when she talks about reinforcing your values. For many people they are one and the same, but to pretend that environmental focus should be an equal priority alongside morality and other things comes across as pandering. She knows her audience - middle or upper-middle-class women who have time and money to spend on activism, and she knows this is something they’ll gobble up.
Now, that all said, I agree with her on most of her concepts and ideas, and think this is an excellent read if you understand the lens she is looking through.
While I agree that is important, I think it was redundant when she talks about reinforcing your values. For many people they are one and the same, but to pretend that environmental focus should be an equal priority alongside morality and other things comes across as pandering. She knows her audience - middle or upper-middle-class women who have time and money to spend on activism, and she knows this is something they’ll gobble up.
Now, that all said, I agree with her on most of her concepts and ideas, and think this is an excellent read if you understand the lens she is looking through.
csd17's review
4.0
I found lots of good tidbits of new information in between pockets of studies and advice I'd found in other sources. Which is totally not their fault. Nor was it impossible to sift out her political leanings--- something which, depending on the person and the time, might detract from the message.
I really thought she had some unique points in the second-to-last chapter, though I didn't quite see the connection to the overall topic.
The most surprising thing in the book was her position on teen advocacy which, because it is more recent than most of the books I've read, included the response to the Parkland shooting. Her stance shocked me because the whole book had been about how we need to not push/drag our children into adulthood. However, what I think she meant, was that when it inevitably happens(as it does in times like these) this is a better and more empowering response? I would have appreciated a bit more clarification on that.
I really thought she had some unique points in the second-to-last chapter, though I didn't quite see the connection to the overall topic.
The most surprising thing in the book was her position on teen advocacy which, because it is more recent than most of the books I've read, included the response to the Parkland shooting. Her stance shocked me because the whole book had been about how we need to not push/drag our children into adulthood. However, what I think she meant, was that when it inevitably happens(as it does in times like these) this is a better and more empowering response? I would have appreciated a bit more clarification on that.