First published 2023
Today's students pack their schedules with AP classes and resume-building activities while parents stretch family budgets for tutors and sports programs. This relentless optimization has backfired. Anxiety, depression, and self-harm rates climb in high-achieving schools as children absorb the message that their worth depends entirely on performance. Award-winning reporter Jennifer Breheny Wallace traces how income inequality and shrinking opportunities have created a toxic achievement culture that goes far beyond individual parental choices. Through interviews with families and educators plus a survey of nearly 6,000 parents, Wallace reveals that children need to feel they matter for who they are, not what they accomplish. She shows how parents and teachers can help kids see themselves as valuable community contributors. Children who receive consistent feedback about their intrinsic worth develop the resilience and confidence to actually thrive. The book provides concrete tools for fighting back against achievement pressure.
Genres: psychology, social-issues, education, non-fiction, parenting, academic, american-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: non-fiction, social-commentary
320 pages · Hardcover · Portfolio
Content warnings: anxiety, depression, self-harm