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By Paul Robertson
 If material things really make us happy, this generation of young people should be the most elated group on planet earth. They are pampered by pop culture but live with the paradox of privilege: they have so much but feel so empty. In The Price of Privilege: How Parental Pressure and Material Advantage Are Creating a Generation of Disconnected and Unhappy Kids, Madeline Levine begins with the damage that ever-interfering and over-giving parents can do to the identity formation of their own children.
Most parents pay little mind to the relationship between providing too much and the creation of a sense of self in their kids. Levine systematically lays the groundwork for the impact of affluence on the mental health of young people:
"America's (and Canada's) newly identified at-risk group is pre-teens and teens from affluent, well-educated families. In spite of their economic and social advantages, they experience among the highest rates of depression, substance abuse, anxiety disorders, so-matic complaints and unhappiness of any group of children in this country."
She then examines the role of materialism, parental pressure to perform and the emptiness of retail therapy in the creation of a generation of kids who lack purpose and direction beyond their immediate personal needs. Most of the book focuses on the ways aff luent parents (or any parents) can raise healthy kids. Levine focuses on age and development stages, as well as the parenting strategies to guide their kids to maturity.
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Levine offers this helpful advice for parents on the issue of discipline and control.
First, be clear about your authority. Firm, loving parental control produces kids who can take care of themselves and increases their chances for academic success.
 Second, you need to know where your kids are and who they are spending time with. Don't assume anything. Monitoring means protecting.
Third, let your kids know you mean business and don't back off when things get rough. Draw the line and enforce your rules.
Fourth, flexibility means knowing which hills you want to fight on. Sometimes bending the rules will pay greater dividends than an all-out war.
Finally, we need to begin early to enforce balanced discipline but remember it is never too late to set boundaries. We were created to live best within certain parameters. It is a parent's job to help their children realize it.
Paul Robertson is the Youth Culture Specialist with Youth Unlimited, Toronto. Youth Unlimited is a faith-based charity that believes in the unlimited potential of youth. It is committed to helping them develop wholistically, both personally and spiritually, by providing caring people to whom they can turn. http://paulrobertson.ca
The Price of Privilege at HarperCollins
July 30/2009
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