Sleep deprivation is just a part of the craziness, but it’s a perfect shorthand for childhoods bereft of spontaneity, stripped of real play and haunted by the “pressure of perfection,” to quote the headline on a story by Julie Scelfoin The Times this week.
Scelfo wrote about six suicides in a 13-month period at the University of Pennsylvania; about the prevalence of anxiety and depression on college campuses; about many star students’ inability to cope with even minor setbacks, which are foreign and impermissible.
On one hand, yes. Surely there is a point where it just becomes too much. Especially considering our idea of what it means to succeed may be in need of an overhaul. But as many commenters have pointed out, where do the kids who have work not only to achieve, but to afford college fit in?
Read the article and the comments on The New York Times: Today’s Exhausted Superkids - The New York Times
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