Reviews for Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America

The average rating for Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-04-22 00:00:00 David Lass This is an interesting and important book, but I've been plowing through it bit by bit for over a month (while also reading much more engaging stuff). The author is a social historian, and he couldn't write a short sentence to save his life. If you can mentally translate academic-ese into English, this is worth reading. But don't expect much humor, though there are myriad wonderful opportunities for it. The main sections are on "The Vulnerable Child" (kids were assumed to be tougher a century ago, though lots more died), Discipline (a veritable pendulum through the decades), All Are Above Average (schooling), Work & Chores (today's kids don't do much in comparison), and "I'm Bored: The Two Faces of Entertainment". The parts about the evils of comic books (in the 20's) and radio (30's) and superheroes (50's) were incredible - it has all really been said before (except today it is being said about tv & video games). My favorite part in this last chapter was from a famous psychologist in 1954, who "condemned homosexuality, noting that Robin, Batman's 'boy wonder', was often posed with his tights-clad legs provocatively spread."

Review # 2 was written on 2019-08-06 00:00:00 Micheal Castiglione Anxious Parents: A History of Modern Childrearing in America (Hardcover) by Peter N. Stearns too much not mentioned..... not mentioned: Schreber who had a big American popular following and whose ideas were offered up by American psychologist John B Watson who founded Behaviorism a major influence in psychology. Dr. Daniel Gottlieb Moritz Schreber.was a prominent German doctor who set himself up as an authority on child psychology. In 1858 his books on child rearing were so popular with German parents, that some of them went through forty printings. ...Dr. Shreber's psychology started with the newborn baby who should be drilled from the very first day to obey and refrain from crying. Master the crying baby through frightening it.... Lest you think this is OBE, my father believed much of this teach a baby not to cry stuff. Eve Ensler The Apology wrote about this in her childhood. see also For your own good : hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence / by Alice Miller For Your Own Good: Hidden Cruelty in Child-Rearing and the Roots of Violence