Today's children

Description

Our children are a nation at risk. Poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, poor health, illiteracy, racial prejudice, and the eruption of unprecedented levels of violence both in the inner cities and across the country give us ample reason to worry about the present state of our nation and society. Yet while today's problems carry severe consequences for ourselves, they are immeasurably graver for today's children. Though the risks to young Americans may never have been so great as they are today, at no other time in our history have we possessed so many of the tools essential for understanding what must be done and how to effect change. In Today's Children, David Hamburg, M.D., president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York and a nationally recognized authority on child development, provides a comprehensive overview of the crises our infants and adolescents face, and the decisions we must make to protect them. Today's Children is not a reactive prescription for treating only the symptoms of the failure to provide adequately for all our nation's young people. Instead, Dr. Hamburg isolates the causes, and looks at what is being done nationally to remedy our approach to child development. Beginning with an overview of the biological, social, and psychological heritage we all share as human beings, Dr. Hamburg explores the historical role of the family in child-raising. He analyzes how changes in the family structure and in social norms, including rising divorce rates, two-career families, teenage pregnancy, loneliness, dislocation, illiteracy, violence, and poor nutrition have resulted in what he calls an inadvertent tidal wave of child neglect. Dr. Hamburg's book surveys important recent research in child development, focusing on early childhood and early adolescence, the two most critical periods during which appropriate intervention can make a permanent difference in children's lives. It also looks closely at innovative programs which point in the most promising directions for improving young lives. Today's Children is, in the words of Jonas Salk, "a timely prophecy and a timely prescription that can start the healing process." Policymakers, social scientists, educators, and parents will find in Dr. Hamburg a wise and experienced spokesman for our children.

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