From the bestselling author of In Praise of Slow comes a fascinating and urgent look at childhood today and how we are raising a generation of overprogrammed, overachieving, exhausted children.

For generations of children, growing up was a pretty simple business: you went to school for a few hours a day, you dabbled in hobbies and sports, and the rest of the time you played. Or maybe you just day-dreamed. Carl Honoré explains how our modern approach to children is backfiring: our kids are fatter, more myopic, more injured, more depressed and more medicated than any previous generation. By using children as a way to relive our own lives, or as a way to make up for our personal shortcomings, we have destroyed the magic and innocence of childhood. Under Pressure is not a parenting manual but a call to action; we must do better for our children.

Using fascinating anecdotes about obsessive parents (including one about the father of a tennis player who drugged all his child’s opponents), solid research and personal insight, Honoré explains the over-parenting phenomenon, dispels myths and rallies for change in clear and persuasive prose. Topics explored include the use of technology as babysitting, how enrolling children in hours of extracurriculars every week can do more harm than good and how we underestimate the resilience of our children at the expense of their freedom.

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NOMINEE 2008 - Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize

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"Under Pressure is a Godsend! Full of common sense advice that will help parents and children everywhere return to sanity, peace, and health."
—Christiane Northrup, M.D., author of The Wisdom of Menopause

"Carl Honore’s Under Pressure is must-read book for parents, educators and all those concerned with the health and well-being of children. Written with warmth, wit and incisive intelligence, Honore presents a clear and compelling argument why our current high- pressure, high-stakes culture is sucking the joy out of childhood and leaving our children ill-equipped for even the most mundane challenges of life. Solutions and alternatives are thankfully provided."
—Madeline Levine, Ph.D, Clinical psychologist and author of The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kid

“Under Pressure can be viewed as a wake-up call to parents and educators, as well as a solid summary of how children are being raised in the 21st century. Honoré covers a lot of territory, investigating academic testing and homework issues, extracurricular activities and sports, consumerism, and safety issues. . . . This is not a parenting book or a how-to manual, but rather a comprehensive look at the state of the childhood nation.” –Quill & Quire

Praise for In Praise of Slow:
“The No Logo of its age. . . . An epiphany for those of us who have forgotten how to look forward to things or to enjoy the moment when it arrives.”
—The Herald (UK)

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introduction - Managing Childhood
one - It’s the Adults, Stupid
two - Early Years: When Milestones Become Millstones
three - Preschool: Play Is a Child’s Work
four - Toys: Just Push Play
five - Technology: Reality Bites
six - School: Testing Times
seven - Homework: The Sword of Damocles
eight - Extracurricular Activities: Ready, Set, Relax!
nine - Sports: Play Ball
ten - Discipline: Just Say No?
eleven - Consumerism: Pester Power and the Walking, Talking ATM
twelve - Safety: Playing with Fire
conclusion - Leave Those Kids Alone

Acknowledgments
Notes
Resources
Index

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Carl Honoré is a Canadian writer living in London, England. His journalism has appeared in the Globe and Mail, the National Post, the Observer and the Economist. His first book, In Praise of Slow, was published in twenty-eight languages and was an international bestseller.

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