The Hurried Child-25th Anniversary Edition [Deluxe Edition] [Paperback]

David Elkind (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 26, 2006

With the first edition of The Hurried Child, David Elkind emerged as the voice of parenting reason, calling our attention to the crippling effects of hurrying our children through life. He showed that by blurring the boundaries of what is age appropriate, by expecting--or imposing--too much too soon, we force our kids to grow up too fast, to mimic adult sophistication while secretly yearning for innocence. In the more than two decades since this book first appeared, new generations of parents have inadvertently stepped up the assault on childhood, in the media, in schools, and at home. In the third edition of this classic (2001), Dr. Elkind provided a detailed, up-to-the-minute look at the Internet, classroom culture, school violence, movies, television, and a growing societal incivility to show parents and teachers where hurrying occurs and why. And as before, he offered parents and teachers insight, advice, and hope for encouraging healthy development while protecting the joy and freedom of childhood. In this twenty-fifth anniversary edition of the book, Dr. Elkind delivers important new commentary to put a quarter century of trends and change into perspective for parents today.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Wall Street Journal, 9/4
“[The first book to] mourn the loss of play and leisure time [for kids].”

Washington Post, 11/5/09
“Read The Hurried Child by psychologist David Elkind. It explains the development of children so well and gives such good reasons for slowing them down that you'll want to give a copy to every parent you know.”

Washington Post, 3/12/10
“To learn more about children and how they grow, read The Hurried Child…It’s one of the great classics of parenthood.”

 

The Jewish Week, 6/23/10
“If you want to know more about the harmful effects of micro-managing our children’s lives, read The Hurried Child…[Elkind’s] main theme remains relevant more than 25 years after its initial publishing.”

About the Author

David Elkind, Ph.D., is Professor Emeritus at Tufts University and the author of a dozen books, including The Hurried Child and All Grown Up and No Place to Go. He lives outside of Boston and on Cape Cod.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press; 25th Anniversary Edition edition (December 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 073821082X
• ISBN-13: 978-0738210827
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #58,198 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brief Resume
David Elkind

David Elkind is currently Professor emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. He was formerly Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Education at the University of Rochester. Professor Elkind obtained his doctorate at U.C.L.A. and then spent a year as David Rapaport's research assistant at the Austen Riggs Center in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. In 1964 65 he was a National Science Foundation Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at Piaget's Institut d' Epistemologie Genetique in Geneva. His research has been in the areas of perceptual, cognitive and social development where he has attempted to build upon the research and theory of Jean Piaget.

Professor Elkind's bibliography now numbers over five \hundred items and includes research, theoretical articles, book chapters and eighteen books. In addition he has published more popular pieces such as children's stories in Jack and Jill, biographies of famous psychologists in the New York Times Magazine, as well as presentations of his own work in journals such as Good Housekeeping, Parade and Psychology Today. Some of his recent articles include Computers and Young Children, The Authority of the Brain, The Cosmopolitan School, On Becoming a Grandfather, and Thanks for the Memory: Froebel and Montessori. Perhaps Professor Elkind is best known for his popular books, The Hurried Child, All Grown Up and No Place to Go, Miseducation, Ties that Stress and most recently The Power of Play: Learning what comes naturally. In preparation is a new book tentatively entitled, The Stages of Parenthood: Growing up with Our Children.

Professor Elkind is a member of many professional organizations, is on the Editorial Board of numerous scientific journals, is a consultant to state education departments, as well as to government agencies and private foundations. He lectures extensively in the United States, Canada and abroad. He has appeared on The Today Show, The CBS Morning News, Twenty/Twenty, Nightline, Donahue, and the Oprah Winfrey Show. He has been profiled in People and Boston Magazine and was a Contributing Editor to Parents Magazine. Professor Elkind also co-hosted the Lifetime television series, Kids These Days. He is a past President of the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Professor Elkind is currently the chief scientific advisor for JustAskBaby, and internet service for parents.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Review of "The Hurried Child-Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon", October 26, 2008

By 

K. H. Lam (Raleigh, NC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Hurried Child-25th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

"The Hurried Child-Growing Up Too Fast Too Soon"
A book review by: Katie H. Lam

Today's child is ever "hurried" through childhood. It is important that as parents and educators that we are knowledgeable and understanding of the development of the child. This book analyzes the ways that America as a society is pressuring youth for early intellectual achievement in this notion of being fast paced for success earlier and earlier. Elkind's book is divided into a three main sections-a preface that includes updated information on societal changes since his original publication in 1981, Part I-Our Hurried Children, and Part II-Hurried Children: Stressed Children.
In the preface the author offers a discussion on current topics such as the "Internet", "Lapware", and Britney Spears and the impact on our youth. He states that in twenty years we have hurried our children and teens more and more.
In Part I of the book the author analyzes the dynamics of what areas of society hurry our children from parents, schools, the media, and technology (Lapware and the Internet). The author states that the majority of the factors are coming down through changes in adult society. He discusses that children are hurried from the time of conception with new technology that speed up learning processes in the womb. The author also looks in this portion of the book what the media does to hurry our children through the television programming available twenty four hours a day specifically aimed at them. Elkind states that parents and society try to accelerate a child's early acquisition of skills and abilities through summer educational programs, children's fashions that mimic adults dress, and the use of adult behavior and language. He also looks at what and how a parent's stress reflects upon children. Parents have begun to treat the child as a partner, a therapist, and as a conscience. The author also looks at the American model of education. He states that society ignores differences in mental abilities and the pace at which we learn is not addressed at all. Children are pressured and hurried to meet bench marks through standardized testing and it is all designed to "keep up" with competing countries as just the beginning of the madness. Elkind looks at how schools are starting to rotate children from class to class at much too early of an age, thus contributing to problems in education down the road. The author stresses that another factor in hurrying children is "Children learn the rules of social license before rules of social responsibility." The book carefully addresses how society "encourages" risky behaviors in children through pseudo-sophistication and that they are taught to model emotional and intellectual maturity, thus inviting them to behave in wise, mature ways such as drinking, sexual activity, behavior, etc.
In Part II, the author looks at ways to remediate the stress that is put on children. He reviews basic child development stages through Jean Piaget's stages of appropriate child development and readiness. I think this is an excellent addition to the book, to assist parents with research and data to support the need to slow down the "hurrying" of our children. The author stresses the importance of following the age related stages. The author also strengthens his point that it is important and healthy for children to have a certain amount of stress and hurriedness to realize their full potential. An excellent quote in the book on this topic is, "the boiling water that hardens the egg, softens the carrot-what causes one person to fall apart doesn't bother another person." The final chapter of the book examines strategies for helping stressed children including a chart for identifying stress levels in a child. He addresses five qualities that children possess who manage stress well share: social competence, impression management, self-confidence, independence, and achievement. His main emphasis in the book is to remember that "the importance of free, self-initiated, and spontaneous play to the child's healthy, mental, emotional, and social development. In the end, a playful childhood is the most basic right of children." I fully recommend this book for anyone that works with today's children or have children of their own. It is an organized, well-structured, and will help you realize what is really important in the world today.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very relevant in today's society, July 13, 2008

By 

BJV - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hurried Child-25th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

This book should be required reading for all parents. I have been a parent for 26 years, still have children in elementary school also. This book details how our hurried society and competitive parents are hurting our children.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enlightening, October 30, 2011

By 

T. Haring (Chicago, IL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Hurried Child-25th Anniversary Edition (Paperback)

The moment I read this excerpt, I was immediately drawn in, "Our new conception of children and youth is epitomized in the metaphor of the Superkid. Like Superman, Superkid has spectacular powers and precocious competence even as an infant. This allows us to think that we can hurry the little powerhouse with impunity . . . The conception of children as competent to deal with, and indeed as benefiting from, everything and anything that life has to offer was an effective rationalization for parents who continue to love their children but who have neither the time, nor the energy, for childhood . . . Our contemporary conception of Superkid, then . . . must be seen as a social invention to alleviate parental anxiety and guilt."

It took me five months to read this book and it was worth every moment. Not everyone will share Elkind's opinions about childhood, but I certainly do. I appreciate seeing even the small ways we can hurry our children and rob them of their childhood, so that I can avoid making those mistakes. I plan to regularly revisit this book as my children grow to reexamine how I can help them become healthy, happy adults through each stage of their development.