Love your article. I think it also speak to children of immigrants and kids with older siblings that do extremely well in school, career, life, whatever. Having gone to a public high school with a good sample size of rich and poor kids (and you are in the middle somewhere), it does give me some insights in what you talked about in your article. I think a lot of the stress and mental health issues comes from a lot of places, doesn't matter whether you are rich, poor, middle class, whatever kind of parents you have and whatever siblings you have. They and your surroundings will impact you some way, and it's not easy to teach the kid who's still maturing both physically and intellectually to navigate this so they will grow up healthy both mentally and physically. In a way, I don't know what I did or my friends and relatives did so I came out OK. Maybe life's different back in the 80s when I was growing up - a lot simpler time than today's with all our distractions and social medias and whatever. Another thing that the article reminded me is what one of my high school friend said the 1st year when I was in college and he's graduating - he somehow reconcile with his immigrant and successful parents - They are doing the best that they can to bring him up, and often time, they don't know what they are doing, for better or for worse. Maybe that's his way to tell himself everything is OK.
Hi Emi I thought your article on equality about how stressed some of the kids are was spot on. I just don’t think people are paying attention and aware of how the ever changing environment affects them. However I would like to recommend a book that I think you especially would find interesting. Bad Therapy why the kids aren’t growing up by Abigail Shrier. she puts a little different spin on things. check it out and let me know…keep the good stuff coming!
It’s incredible to me that your conclusion is not more widely accepted / discussed! Having come from an upper middle class background myself and mentored several low income teens through the college application process, I’ve never read anything that hits the nail on the head more regarding teen mental illness/anxious parenting
Another fascinating (to me) angle is geography: I grew up in the Midwest in a town where most people went to the local state university. My college roommate grew up in a boston suburb and where most of the adults had gone to a top-tier university. As stressful as my teenage years were, hers were infinitely worse: the only models of “successful” adulthood she had were crazy high-achievers who’d gone to Ivy League schools. At least I knew it was possible to go to a state university and still have a nice life.
Either way, the source of our teen anxiety/our parents’ helicopter parenting was clear: they were terrified of us falling out of the upper class. And the low income kids know that a selective school is their one shot at getting in
Wow! Just to make a comment I need to be authenticated… the way of the digital world now.
Love you Emi!🥰
Thanks for sharing!
I came from a challenging background, all 3 of my brothers killed themselves. My mother blamed them for being selfish. How to make sense of all the madness. I feel you and I are soul mates in our pursuit of sanity❤️❤️❤️
Thanks for sharing this, Emi. Way to persevere and get an important story out.
Love your article. I think it also speak to children of immigrants and kids with older siblings that do extremely well in school, career, life, whatever. Having gone to a public high school with a good sample size of rich and poor kids (and you are in the middle somewhere), it does give me some insights in what you talked about in your article. I think a lot of the stress and mental health issues comes from a lot of places, doesn't matter whether you are rich, poor, middle class, whatever kind of parents you have and whatever siblings you have. They and your surroundings will impact you some way, and it's not easy to teach the kid who's still maturing both physically and intellectually to navigate this so they will grow up healthy both mentally and physically. In a way, I don't know what I did or my friends and relatives did so I came out OK. Maybe life's different back in the 80s when I was growing up - a lot simpler time than today's with all our distractions and social medias and whatever. Another thing that the article reminded me is what one of my high school friend said the 1st year when I was in college and he's graduating - he somehow reconcile with his immigrant and successful parents - They are doing the best that they can to bring him up, and often time, they don't know what they are doing, for better or for worse. Maybe that's his way to tell himself everything is OK.
Hi Emi I thought your article on equality about how stressed some of the kids are was spot on. I just don’t think people are paying attention and aware of how the ever changing environment affects them. However I would like to recommend a book that I think you especially would find interesting. Bad Therapy why the kids aren’t growing up by Abigail Shrier. she puts a little different spin on things. check it out and let me know…keep the good stuff coming!
It’s incredible to me that your conclusion is not more widely accepted / discussed! Having come from an upper middle class background myself and mentored several low income teens through the college application process, I’ve never read anything that hits the nail on the head more regarding teen mental illness/anxious parenting
Another fascinating (to me) angle is geography: I grew up in the Midwest in a town where most people went to the local state university. My college roommate grew up in a boston suburb and where most of the adults had gone to a top-tier university. As stressful as my teenage years were, hers were infinitely worse: the only models of “successful” adulthood she had were crazy high-achievers who’d gone to Ivy League schools. At least I knew it was possible to go to a state university and still have a nice life.
Either way, the source of our teen anxiety/our parents’ helicopter parenting was clear: they were terrified of us falling out of the upper class. And the low income kids know that a selective school is their one shot at getting in
Wow! Just to make a comment I need to be authenticated… the way of the digital world now.
Love you Emi!🥰
Thanks for sharing!
I came from a challenging background, all 3 of my brothers killed themselves. My mother blamed them for being selfish. How to make sense of all the madness. I feel you and I are soul mates in our pursuit of sanity❤️❤️❤️