And I’m not really picking on dads because the lopsided conversation you just heard could, sad to say, just as easily been done by a mom.
Parents, hear this clearly. Your children are not interested in your happiness. Nor should they be. They are children. Their job is not to make you happy or to even be concerned about your happiness. Their job is to be children -- to be obedient, yes, but to be children, not adults.
What your children are concerned about, even if they can’t verbalize it, is their security. To them, mom and dad are the world -- almost the entirety of it. When mom or dad is gone, their world is shaken -- and shaken badly -- and not just for a little while, but for a long, long time.
Research over the last 30 years or so indicates we have a mental health crisis among our adolescents. Rates of anxiety, depression, suicide and suicide attempts have consistently been going up.
According to a recent study published in Translational Psychiatry,[1] more than 36% of teenage girls in America are depressed or have suffered a recent major depressive episode. The rate for boys is 13.6 percent.
According t ...
