Carl Honore

We live in the age of speed. We strain to be more efficient, to cram more into each minute, each hour, and each day. Since the Industrial Revolution shifted the world into high gear, the cult of speed has pushed us to a breaking point. Consider these facts: Americans on average spend seventy-two minutes of every day behind the wheel of a car, a typical business executive now loses sixty-eight hours a year to being put on hold, and American adults...

"Why do grown-ups have to take over everything?" This innocent question from acclaimed journalist and international bestselling author Carl Honoré's son sparked a two-year investigation into how our culture of speed, efficiency, and success at all costs is damaging both parents and children. When the impulse to give children the best of everything runs rampant, parents, schools, communities, and corporations unwittingly combine forces to create over-scheduled,...

This selection from Carl Honore's Under Pressure explores the history of childhood, including social trends and cultural movements that have contributed to the current practice of hyperparenting. In How Adults Are Ruining Childhood bestselling author Carl Honore explores the contradictions inherent in modern parenting. We want children to strive for high-achieving adulthood while also enjoying a childhood full of joy and free of danger. We tell...