(Courtesy of Amazon.com)
From Publishers Weekly
Harvard child psychologist Kindlon, co-author of the bestselling
Raising Cain, here gives thoughtful, hands-on advice to parents
who want to help their children cope with the stress brought on
by the terrorist attacks of 9/11 and other traumas. "The more
we understand about how children cope with adversity," Kindlon
writes, "the better able we'll be to help our kids face the
challenges of an uncertain future."
He offers a straightforward
overview of the development stages of stress and the various psychological
and physical effects stress has on children, and interweaves information
from scientific research with vignettes about his daughters' and
wife's ways of coping with grief, fear and strife. Models of coping
methods come through the personal stories of trauma survivors-those
who lived through such dark moments as the Holocaust, the Depression
or a polio epidemic. Kindlon emphasizes that children, ultimately,
are resilient, but that it's crucial that parents help them "make
the best out of bad situations." This practical and informative
guide should assist them in doing just that.
Kindlon, a child psychologist and the author of Raising Cain (1999),
offers this timely exploration of how to help children cope during
times of trauma. He begins by examining research on the effects
of stress on children. He details the symptoms of posttraumatic
stress disorder in children and adolescents, as well as factors
from temperament to age that can influence whether or not a child
will overreact to pressure. The second section includes stories
of how children have coped with stress and how parents have helped
them, presenting the human side of the research. The stories include
the hardships of the Great Depression, the London blitz during World
War II, the Holocaust, and the violence in Colombia. The third section
focuses on Kindlon's personal crisis when his wife suffered a setback
following surgery and how he employed many of the lessons he learned
in researching this book to help his children cope.
Every generation of children has to deal with unique challenges
and crises. American children today face new realities, from school
violence to terrorism, in a world that changed forever on that clear
September morning in 2001. Is the generation of children growing
up now prepared for hardship, sacrifice, and self-reliance? Here
is the essential guide for parents looking for a comprehensive,
optimistic strategy for easing the transition from childhood's innocence
to the harsh realities of adulthood in the twenty-first century.
In Tough Times, Strong Children Dr. Dan Kindlon offers wise and
often moving examples of how families and individuals have coped
during other periods marred by war, deprivation, and economic upheaval.
Through interviews conducted specifically for this book, Kindlon
talks to survivors of the Depression; the Blitz; concentration camps;
as well as the Troubles in Ireland; and the guerilla war in Colombia.
This testimony and these memories demonstrate that parents play
a huge role in the way children absorb stress and trauma and how
they handle fear and uncertainty. Kindlon examines the roles of
humor, bravado, and even denial in making our children feel protected,
and yet aware of the world and its dangers as well as joys. Many
of the stories in this book inspire us to act courageously for our
children when we are afraid, to show them confidence we may not
feel, and in the words of a child of World War II, "get on
Combining his clinical
experience with psychological and biological research, Kindlon explains
the process of dealing with adversity and why some children are
able to survive and even thrive as adults and others are crippled.
He combines hard science with the voices of those who have lived
through the worst events of the twentieth century to illustrate
the importance of family and extended family; community; a strong
belief system; and self-reliance learned from involved parents.
Kindlon's good news is that parents can work actively towards empowering
and immunizing children against an uncertain future.