Should we rethink success?

Being a child is hard.  Being an adult who cares about children is hard, too.

If you type “parenting book” into Google, more than 950,000 results come up.  If you type Book on Success, you get 2,140,000,000 results.  Clearly, both topics are very much on our minds.  A closer look reveals that in both categories, books contain wildly contradictory ideas.  Parents can buy a book called How to Teach Your Baby Math, or one called, The Math Myth. Titles about success range from Become a Winner and I Will Teach You to Be Rich to Up is Not the Only Way.

Why this is a problem

There is so much contradictory information available about children, education, success and parenting; it is a challenge to figure out what to do and we end up feeling that we never get it right.  Moreover, this bombardment of information results in confusion, anxiety and paralysis.  Kids are stressed and we are, too.  Don’t you just want off the rollercoaster?

Solution

Welcome to Rethinking Success?  We are a group of parents, educators, health care providers and community advocates who will write this periodic column focused on topics pertaining to:

• Children through young adults

• Families

• Parenting

• Education

• all through the lens of youth mental health. 

In Rethinking Success?, we do the research so you don’t have to! We’ll dive into common beliefs and pull them apart to see if they live up to the promise of student success.  Next up, we’ll tackle Stress, Sleep, and Success and then Connectedness.

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