"The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Contributing to the Disconnection and Unhappiness of Our Kids" by Madeline Levine PhD

Karen: Excellent book

United Kingdom on Nov 13, 2021

Marcos Luz: There's no simple solution or package formula to best educate our children and adolescents. This book brings some insights into this task: instincts, love, family quality time, equilibrium at home, equilibrium in parents' life are some of them. Is it too heavy? Look for a therapist for you and your kid. Much of the kid's problems are in fact consequences of the parent’s... Be aware of this.

Brazil on Dec 06, 2020

Shivani Singhal: A great book- some important insights on what children really need to succeed. It is well researched, easy to read and gives concrete insights on what to do differently.

India on Dec 10, 2017

Valpot: She paints an interesting picture of 'poor little rich kids' and their troubles

United Kingdom on Apr 25, 2016

George Fulmore: This is a good book, overall. It has an interesting thesis/premise: Parental pressure and material advantage are creating a generation of disconnected and unhappy kids.
The author tells us that she is a psychologist who has been working with troubled kids for 25 years. She says that parents with troubled kids are typically terrified to bring their kids in for therapy. But they have money, and the kids are exhibiting problems.
A problem with the thesis of the book is that she is not able to prove it. In fact, she only sees a subset of kids, ones who come from privilege and have problems. And, she only sees a very small number of these. Tons of other kids in similar environments, presumably, do not have these same problems. What about them? How do they fit in here?
What the author probably wants to say is that there is an increasing subset of kids from affluent homes, a minority, still, who are having problems that very likely could be caused by parental pressure associated with material advantage.
To support her thesis, she tells us that studies have found that kids from affluent families tend to suffer more anxiety and/or depression than kids from other socio-economic...

United States on Dec 30, 2015

Amy S: Cannot say enough good things about this book. I always thought that it was unique to our family but this book opened my eyes. It gave me the answers that I've been seeking for years. I just wish that I would have read this sooner. I am so grateful to the author for such a well written book.

Canada on Dec 23, 2015

Reed n Cat: I was frustrated as I observed someone struggling to parent successfully and I found this book after browsing some blogs. It came highly recommended. So I bought it with the idea of trying to help someone else, but I found what I needed for my own children and myself in this book too.

As I read this book, I realized that I wanted my book club to read it (7 women with children ages toddler to college, and different economic situations) and discuss it. Two of the women just wanted to borrow my copy and read it, however after getting 50 or so pages into it, they both went and bought their own copy. This book needs to be read with a pencil in hand, so you can underline and make notes. Five of the seven women bought the book, we had a great discussion. The advice applies to all ages and we also decided as a group that even though the book is geared towards high income families, the core values taught are universal and it is just an overall good parenting book.

In my own words, here are just a few of the ideas I took from the book--- it takes TIME, interaction, and listening ears to be a good parent, a warm and attentive mother figure is very important, no success (money...

United States on Nov 23, 2013

Abacus: This is an excellent book about how the affluent have adopted undermining values (perfectionism, materialism) and how it negatively affects parenting style and causes psychological neurosis among teens. I am the parent of a teenage daughter who goes to a public high school in Marin County. Thus, we live in the social milieu described by Dr. Levine. The book content was both shocking and revealing to me. When I shared some of Dr. Levine's findings that I could not believe I would ask my daughter about them. Invariably, she confirmed that Dr. Levine was correct. That's how I found out that one of my daughter's acquaintances did cut herself frequently. That's also when I knew that Dr. Levine was onto something and not just sensationalizing another marketable myth about Marin County. Also, this book really is not about Marin County as it depicts a nationwide prevalent phenomenon of teenage psychological dysfunction among the affluent.

The book's main thesis is that teenagers from affluent families suffer more intense psychological problems than anyone thought. Her findings reflects her 25 years of experience as a psychologist working with children in Marin County and her...

United States on Oct 19, 2006