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Price of Privilege, The | 
 enlarge | Manufacturer: HarperCollins e-books
Category: EBooks
List Price: $10.95
Buy New: $8.76
You Save: $2.19 (20%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  39 reviews
Sales Rank: 1365
Format: Kindle Book
Media: Kindle Edition
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Dewey Decimal Number: 649.156
ASIN: B000S1LV40
Publication Date: August 14, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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Product Description
Madeline Levine has been a practicing psychologist for twenty-five years, but it was only recently that she began to observe a new breed of unhappy teenager. When a bright, personable fifteen-year-old girl from a loving and financially comfortable family came into her office with the word "empty" carved into her left forearm, Levine was startled. This girl and her message seemed to embody a disturbing pattern Levine had been observing. Her teenage patients were bright, socially skilled, and loved by their affluent parents. But behind a veneer of achievement and charm, many of these teens suffered severe emotional problems. What was going on? Conversations with educators and clinicians across the country as well as meticulous research confirmed Levine's suspicions that something was terribly amiss. Numerous studies show that privileged adolescents are experiencing epidemic rates of depression, anxiety disorders, and substance abuse -- rates that are higher than those of any other socioeconomic group of young people in this country. The various elements of a perfect storm -- materialism, pressure to achieve, perfectionism, disconnection -- are combining to create a crisis in America's culture of affluence. This culture is as unmanageable for parents -- mothers in particular -- as it is for their children. While many privileged kids project confidence and know how to make a good impression, alarming numbers lack the basic foundation of psychological development: an authentic sense of self. Even parents often miss the signs of significant emotional problems in their "star" children. In this controversial look at privileged families, Levine offers thoughtful, practical advice as she explodes one child-rearing myth after another. With empathy and candor, she identifies parenting practices that are toxic to healthy self-development and that have contributed to epidemic levels of depression, anxiety, and substance abuse in the most unlikely place -- the affluent family.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 34 more reviews...
 Excellent read October 30, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I read this for a parent's book club. I breezed through it and found it really useful. Great examples, really brought the book to life. I gained some very good insights and tips from it. And the book club had a long, involved discussion. The book was a perfect launching point.
 Loved it!!! September 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book was chosen at our high school for a book discussion. Dr. Levine really knows what she is talking about. This book was interesting all the way through and very insightful. It helps me to understand my adolesents and the adolescents I work with better. Hopefully, I have become a better mother because of this book. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who is a parent or who works with kids. There were certainly issues that came up that are also common in the middle class, it is not only about rich kids.
Money Doesn't Always Buy Happiness... July 23, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
I'll jump right in and say it -- my husband and I may very well be at the lower end of the target demographic for this book. We both work full time, we live in a relatively affluent area of Northern California, own a home, have a Prius, and are currently contemplating whether to send our kids to public or private school. Nevertheless, I was pretty skeptical about a book that treats upper class kids as an "at risk" group, similar to kids who come from poverty-level backgrounds. Yes, the stories and anecdotes sprinkled throughout the book made me feel sad for these kids and families who seem so detached from themselves and each other. But how can you argue that these poor little rich boys and girls deserve just as much pity and focus as kids who literally have nothing but the shirt on their backs?
The truth is a bit more complicated. Like it or not, children who come from more affluent backgrounds are still more likely to rise to a prominent position in our society -- whether that be political, educational, or social -- than kids from a lower socioeconomic background. These are incredibly influential roles that play a huge part in determining the future of our country and our world. So we should be concerned when we hear about the rising number of affluent kids who leave the nest with zero sense of self or personal accountability, drug and alcohol problems, damaged moral compasses, and a general lack of compassion for his/her fellow humans. Whether you "feel sorry" for these children or not is beside the point...the problem is real and these kids can and frequently do grow into adults who have a lot of clout but little interest in leaving this planet a better place than when they arrived.
Levine's book clearly illustrates the challenges these kids face and the repercussions their damaged lifestyles have - not just on themselves but on families, friends, and an ever widening circle of individuals as the kids grow into adults. But lest you think this is one of those downer books that spends hundreds of pages telling you what's wrong without providing a solution, Levine also points out some potential steps parents and communities can take to provide affluent (and indeed ALL) kids with opportunities to become and stay well-rounded, contributing individuals.
Lots of interesting information July 23, 2008
The book was filled with interesting insight into how affluent kids are being raised. I appreciated the referenced facts and statistics, and the breakdown of what kids are going through by age. It definitely caused me to re-think the reward-based motivation that I have been using with my children, and re-focusing more on the joy of the activity for it's own sake. I also thought the last chapter for mom's was thought provoking - mom's usually don't have the time to think about ourselves. The book definitely lags in places, and there are a lot of chapters that are obvious and/or redundant.
Best book for this generation June 9, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is the most informative book I have read in years. I have a troubled teen daughter and I could not understand how our situation got so desperate that we needed to send her to a wilderness program. I thought that with two loving parents and all the advantages in the world that her life would have been wonderful. Now I see why it was not. I have also been able to figure out some of the things I was doing to sabotage her and what I can now do to help her. This book does for affluent teens what "Reviving Ophelia" did for adolescent girls. It is very clearly written with many examples. I find it beneficial taken as a whole or on a chapter by chapter basis. Very compelling and sobering.
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