Madeline Levine, who has been working with children and adolescents for 30 years, is concerned that children today聽鈥� who are under intense pressure to perform and achieve聽鈥� may be missing out on important developmental milestones.
Video transcript
“We鈥檝e lost the notion that growing up is a process of scaffolding. And that in order to get 鈥� you know like babies don鈥檛 walk before they crawl. Children don鈥檛 do algebra before they can add. There鈥檚 always a process of building upon the last body of knowledge that a child accumulated. And so I think in the process of being so preoccupied with grades, and metrics, and school, and performance, that we鈥檝e forgotten what the real tasks of childhood are. For young children, it鈥檚 just sensory exploration 鈥� that鈥檚 how they learn. For middle age children, it鈥檚 about trying different things 鈥攏ot really specializing. Trying your hands at lots of different things, to find out what you are good at, and to learn how to be friends with people. In adolescence, it鈥檚 about identity and the beginning of relationships and intimacy. And those things take time. And if all your time 鈥� if you鈥檝e got four hours of homework, and practice for your sport, and AP classes, and leadership classes, there鈥檚 no time to build the scaffold. And that鈥檚 what I think is going wrong.”
