Childhood Unbound - by Ron Taffel (Paperback)

About the Book

Identifies the challenges facing parents as they raise their children in the early twenty-first century, and describes a parenting approach designed to encourage the good in kids of all ages, while steering them away from the bad.

Book Synopsis

Dr. Ron Taffel, one of the country's most sought-after child-rearing experts, draws on decades of counseling experience and extensive conversations with parents nationwide to offer an original and inspiring analysis of the distinctive challenges parents face in raising children today.

Dr. Ron Taffel, one of the country's most sought-after child-rearing experts, draws on decades of counseling experience and extensive conversations with parents nationwide to offer an original and inspiring analysis of the distinctive challenges parents face in raising children today. He also introduces a breakthrough approach for guiding kids--from children to teens--in ways that bring out the best in both kids and parents in these twenty-first-century times.

With warmth and clarity, Taffel, who is himself a parent struggling with these issues, helps us to understand our sons and daughters in an entirely new way: as a distinctive "free-est" generation, born to the first generation of "post-baby boomer" parents and the products of a decades-long cultural sea change that intensified in the nineties.

As a result, kids of all ages are now a bundle of contradictions: they exude entitlement, back talk shockingly, negotiate endlessly, worship celebrity, do ten things at once, conduct independent lives online, and engage in high-risk behavior at younger ages. Yet, they are also far more open with their parents and each other than kids in prior generations, are strikingly generous and empathetic, and care deeply about ethical issues. In addition, their high-speed multitasking is preparing them for the demands of the future.

The key question, then, is how to encourage the good while steering them away from the bad. Taffel believes today's parents, having lived through the beginning phases of the same social changes, are uniquely qualified to bring out kids' best--and he shows you how.

Using a wealth of examples, he walks parents through innovative methods to get children's and teens' attention, to set limits they will respect, and to engage them in meaningful conversation to provide the guidance they need. He also instructs on how to rebuild supportive community around us. His inspiring analysis and expert guidance will be embraced as the authoritative new approach to raising their kids that parents have been searching for.

Review Quotes

"An engaging read on how society and parents working together can raise healthy children during challenging times."
--Alvin F. Poussaint, MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School and Judge Baker Children's Center

"As a careful observer, counselor, and social watchdog, Taffel gives hope and solid advice to the millions of post-baby boomer parents who feel helpless."
--Library Journal

"I applaud Dr. Taffel for writing a book that addresses the major differences between our current generations. Our children have grown up in a much different environment than we did and it's great that he has taken all of those factors into consideration and applied them in this book."
--First Lady Maria Shriver

"In his remarkable new book, renowned psychologist Ron Taffel has skillfully and perceptively captures the struggles and challenges faced by parents as they interact with kids who are much different from youngsters a generation ago. This book will serve as a major resource not only for parents but for professionals as well who interact with today's children and adolescents."

--Robert Brooks, Ph.D., Faculty at Harvard Medical School, co-author of Raising Resilient Children and Raising a Self-Disciplined Child

"No one has thought more deeply about the dilemmas of the modern parent and child than Ron Taffel. In this frank, funny, and comforting book, he tackles the most troubling problems we face as modern parents. He writes beautifully, and his parenting advice is wise and, best of all, practical.
-- Michael Thompson, Ph.D., co-author of Raising Cain

"Ron Taffel has written an important book that offers a fresh and wise perspective on the challenges of raising children today, as well as excellent advice about how we can best guide them through the treacherous terrain of their ever-more demanding lives. I highly recommend Childhood Unbound."
--Michael Gurian, author of The Wonder of Boys and The Wonder of Girls

"Taffel is one of the rare experts in the country who is really listening to children, teens, and parents, and from truly listening, he is able to give unique insight and direct feedback to all of us."
-- Rosalind Wiseman, author of Queen Bees and Wannabees