Parenting in the Age of Trump

Recently a candidate for Congress beat up a reporter on the night before the election, and he still won. The echoes of the Access Hollywood tape and the language of Donald Trump, still reverberate. Trump's dark vision of America and of a world in chaos is the underpinning of fear, that is the principal political ingredient in the Trump stew.

Not since the darkest days of McCarthyism and of the duck and cover drills of the Cold War, has so much fear, anxiety, polarization and simple unpleasantness been a part of our cultural and political landscape.  We have succeeded in, to paraphrase Daniel Patrick Moynihan, defining decency downward.

So what impact is all of this having our our kids?Dr. Ava Siegler, the author of How Do I Explain This to My Kids?: Parenting in the Age of Trump.
What added responsibilities do parents and teachers have in this? Trying to understand this is

My conversation with Dr. Ava Siegler:

What's the matter with kids today?

The two most important influences in the lives of children are, without a doubt, parents and peers. Which is more powerful, which has more influence?  I've recently had a series of conversations about both approaches.

On Monday I spoke to Allison Pugh, professor at the University of Virgina, about the influence of peers on why kids buy stuff, why they want the wii or Nintendo, or Nike, even if they don't watch TV.

On Tuesday I spoke with Richard Weissbourd at Harvard's Kennedy School, about the power of parents and why baby boomer parents seem to be to quick to substitute self esteem and their own agenda for their kids, for moral clarity.  

Together these two conversations a powerful look at our kids today.