“The United States is experiencing an extreme teenage mental-health crisis. From 2009 to 2021, the share of American high-school students who say they feel “persistent feelings of sadness or hopelessness” rose from 26 percent to 44 percent, according to a new CDC study. This is the highest level of teenage sadness ever recorded.”

Teenage Mental-Health Crisis

“In the 2020 Atlantic feature “What Happened to American Childhood?,” Kate Julian <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/05/childhood-in-an-anxious-age/609079/">described </a>a related phenomenon that affects families a bit more broadly: Anxious parents, in seeking to insulate their children from risk and danger, are unintentionally transferring their anxiety to their kids.”

The “Rug Rat Race”

“Second, researchers have noted a broad increase in an “accommodative” parenting style. If a girl is afraid of dogs, an “accommodation” would be keeping her away from every friend’s house with a dog, or if a boy won’t eat vegetables, feeding him nothing but turkey loaf for four years (<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/05/childhood-in-an-anxious-age/609079/">an actual story from the article </a>). These behaviors come from love. But part of growing up is learning how to release negative emotions in the face of inevitable stress. If kids never figure out how to do that, they’re more likely to experience severe anxiety as teenagers.”

Accommodation Is Breeding Anxiety

“I want to pull out two points from Julian’s complex essay. First, children are growing up slower than they used to. Today’s children are less likely to drive, get a summer job, or be asked to do chores. The problem isn’t that kids are lazy (homework time has risen), or that scrubbing dishes magically dispels anxiety disorders. Rather, Julian wrote, these activities “provide children with two very important things”: tolerating discomfort and having a sense of personal competence.”

Children Are Growing Up Slower In Real Life, But Faster Online

”Why American Teens Are So Sad" made me realize the big lesson from a movie I recently enjoyed. This beautiful man, King Richard, protected his daughters from early pressure and burn out. Let kids be kids. The combination of working hard from a young age, but keeping the work manageable and fun turned Venus and Serena into some of the greatest athletes of all time.

Learn From King Richard