[John] Marsden says that this contemporary crop of teenagers is outperforming generations past in terms of academic achievement, political engagement and so on \u2013 but he is fearful about their emotional health, borne out by statistics on the prevalence of mental health issues among the young.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe scale of the problem is massive. The issue of emotional damage is pandemic,\u201d he tells the Guardian. \u201cThe level of anxiety is something I\u2019ve never seen before, and I don\u2019t know how it can be improved.\u201d<\/p>\n
Marsden says that much of the anxiety among parents and children springs from concern that the world is a dangerous place, with traditional \u201csafe\u201d authority figures no longer to be trusted. That, coupled with an infantilisation of children as pure, helpless creatures, leads parents to cosset and fret over their offspring, and demand much of the same from educational institutions.<\/p>\n
\u201cPart of that is a fear, in particular, of physical injury,\u201d he says. \u201cOf course, all reasonable parents are concerned about physical injury to a child, but if that overrides everything else then what you have instead is a kind of slow death by emotional damage which is so awful to witness.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read it all<\/a>.<\/p>\n this, especially with the overblown focus on learning outcomes instead of learning for growth and engagement, flourishing, and dare I say joy? John Marsden on the ‘toxic’ parenting pandemic: ‘I\u2019ve never seen this level of anxiety’ https:\/\/t.co\/VpFvk3WsiA<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Karen Miles (@MsKarenMiles) July 23, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n