I think parenting in the U.S. is different today from what it was in the 1960s and '70s when we were raising kids. Today, there seems to be the belief that one's children can be perfect or damn close to it. We never expected our kids to be perfect athletes for example, but today parents spend thousands of dollars to perfect their kid's athletic abilities. We didn't hire tutors for our kids unless they needed them; today people hire tutors for their B students in prestigious private schools. And the story goes on.
The latest chapter is about kids being given drugs for adults, mainly those for psychosis, depression and adhd. None of these drugs have been studied for use by kids. Many doctors worry that these drugs, designed for adults and only warily accepted for certain school-age youngsters, are being used to treat children still in cribs despite no published research into their effectiveness and potential health risks for children so young. It seems certain that the brains of children less than one year old have brains that are still developing and in unknown ways; using these drugs can profoundly influence the child's growth.
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