Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It

About Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

The definitive book on the rise of “toxic achievement culture” overtaking our kids’ and parents’ lives, and a new framework for fighting back

In the ever more competitive race to secure the best possible future, today’s students face unprecedented pressure to succeed. They jam-pack their schedules with AP classes, fill every waking hour with resume-padding activities, and even sabotage relationships with friends to “get ahead.” Family incomes and schedules are stretched to the breaking point by tutoring fees and athletic schedules. Yet this drive to optimize performance has only resulted in skyrocketing rates of anxiety, depression, and even self-harm in America’s highest achieving schools. Parents, educators, and community leaders are facing the same how can we teach our kids to strive towards excellence without crushing them?

In Never Enough, award-winning reporter Jennifer Breheny Wallace investigates the deep roots of toxic achievement culture, and finds out what we must do to fight back. Drawing on interviews with families, educators, and an original survey of nearly 6,000 parents, she exposes how the pressure to perform is not a matter of parental choice but baked in to our larger society and spurred by increasing income inequality and dwindling opportunities. As a result, children are increasingly absorbing the message that they have no value outside of their accomplishments, a message that is reinforced by the media and greater culture at large.

Through deep research and interviews with today’s leading child psychologists, Wallace shows what kids need from the adults in the room is not more pressure, but to feel like they matter , and have intrinsic self-worth not contingent upon external achievements. Parents and educators who adopt the language and values of mattering help children see themselves as a valuable contributor to a larger community. And in an ironic twist, kids who receive consistent feedback that they matter no matter what are more likely to have the resilience, self-confidence, and psychological security to thrive.

Packed with memorable stories and offering a powerful toolkit for positive change, Never Enough offers an urgent, humane view of the crisis plaguing today’s teens and a practical framework for how to help.

Detail

Complete Title: Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It

Format: Hardcover

Language: English

Number of Pages: 320

Publication Time: August 22, 2023

Publisher: Portfolio

ISBN: 0593191862

ISBN13: 9780593191866

About Jennifer Breheny Wallace

Jennifer Breheny Wallace Jennifer Breheny Wallace

Jennifer Wallace is an award-winning journalist and author of the book Never Enough: When Achievement Pressure Becomes Toxic – and What We Can Do About It. She is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post and appears on national television to discuss her articles and relevant topics in the news.

After graduating from Harvard College, Wallace began her journalism career at CBS “60 Minutes,” where she was part of a team that won The Robert F. Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism. She is a Journalism Fellow at the The Center for Parent and Teen Communication at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

Jennifer serves on the board of the Coalition for the Homeless in New York City, where she lives with her husband and their three children.

Reviews Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic-and What We Can Do About It

User ImageChris Pavone

Absolutely essential reading for any parents today, especially those of teenagers or tween-agers who are navigating environments that become more high-pressure every day. The author asks hard question…

User ImageIrina Goldberg

I was very excited to read this new release, but I am left disappointed. The book is well laid out and the writing/research is good but I found it difficult to relate to it. It’s possible that the fam…

Kenny Schwarz

This book is a mixed bag for me. While containing some true nuggets of wisdom to ensure our children feel truly loved and valued, the book is also rife with contradictions. For example, the author goe…

User ImageZibby Owens

In her new book, Jennifer Breheny Wallace explores the high-pressure culture surrounding students to achieve in schools across the United States. Many students who feel the pressure for academic succe…

User ImageKerry

3.5/4.0 stars • Wallace spoke at a conference I attended recently and I was intrigued by what she shared. As someone who works for an extremely high achieving school, I can relate in many ways. I th…

User ImageMonica Benning

The concept of mattering is as simple as it is profound. A beautiful balance between psychology and sentiment, to make sure our children don’t question their value. Mattering matters most…

User ImagePearl Grace

Wow so important to check in and see how applicable this is to one’s life…

Jenn

Strongly recommend to all parents, teachers, coaches, and educators…

User ImageEricka Clou

I flew this excellent book on making our children feel like they matter and actually mattering…

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