The Garden City PTA and the Garden City Community Council for Violence Prevention and Substance Abuse are please to sponsor Madeline Levine, author of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids. The Garden City Library will borrow extra copies of the book from local libraries for 30 days beginning today, July 18th and again in October. We encourage all parents to read the book and come to this important and informative event.

The presentation will take place on Friday, October 24th - 7:00pm in the Garden City High School Auditorium

About the book:

When you can turn on the television and see overindulged children getting $100,000 birthday parties on MTV's "My Super Sweet Sixteen" or read the newspaper and see that a group of bright, athletic kids are on trial for alleged rape at a prominent university, one might begin to wonder what's going on with our children.

"Parents who persistently fall on the side of intervening for their child, as opposed to supporting their child's attempts to problem-solve, interfere with the most important task of childhood and adolescence: the development of a sense of self" says clinical psychologist Madeline Levine, Ph. D. This phenomenon is at the root of a life-threatening new epidemic among affluent class teens across the country. Parents, therapists and researchers have long assumed that affluence had a protective effect on the well-being of children. As a result, virtually no research existed on the emotional health of privileged kids. THE PRICE OF PRIVILEGE is the first book to examine the research along with Levine's clinical experience with patients that present these very problems. Some topics that she focuses on are:

The Toxic Brew of Pressure and Isolation: Parents have become highly anxious about their child's opportunities for success in a competitive world. As a result they have become more and more focused on the academic and extracurricular performance of their children, frequently overlooking critical parenting functions such as monitoring, limit-setting and quiet availability.

How Kids Who Have "Everything" Can Feel Alone and Empty: Parents often intervene on behalf of their child instead of encouraging their child's efforts to problem solve, to develop self-control, and to work on the fundamental psychological task of developing a sense of self. It doesn't matter how lavish a kid's house is if his internal "home" is empty.

The Isolation of Affluent Moms: Although good parenting takes all the resources that both mothers and fathers can muster, research tells us that it is mom's state of mind that is most predictive of a child's well-being. Affluent communities emphasize "looking good," while providing little in the way of emotional support. As a result, affluent moms, like their children, often feel isolated and unhappy.

Levine provides solutions for the parents who recognize these traits in their children, offering styles of consistent parenting, creating real boundaries, and cultivating warmth without trying to be the child's friend and remaining their parent. THE PRICE OF PRIVILEGE is a break-through work that should not be ignored as an epidemic is raging among our children.