Hi friends – As promised, this week on “It Takes a Parent” Producer Lynne and I talked live live to Dr. Madeline Levine, a practicing psychotherapist and author of “The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids” (Harper Collins.) I’ll also be writing about her book in my column next week. (I passed on to you a lot of this information earlier in the week. See the last “parenting tip” for an excerpt from her book.)

Levine deals in her practice with teenagers who get plenty of attention from parents and school, they have a good standard of living – but they are extraordinarily unhappy, more so than teens in the past. Her experience is echoed by her professional peers around the country and in amazing studies we talked about on the air. Did you know studies show the highest rates of depression and substance abuse are in the most affluent teen communities? What’s going on?

Here’s one hint:

Levine writes that today we set academic standards for our kids that are exceedingly high, while at the same time we have standards for their involvement in family life that are exceedingly low. How true!

I don’t agree with everything she says – she seems to take a more “hands off” view of the teen years than I would – but wow she makes some great points. And this isn’t just about affluent teens, there’s so much here for all parents. You’ll definitely want to have a read of the excerpt, and a listen to the show – and pass it on!

Happy parenting – Betsy

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