Too Safe for Their Own Good: How Risk and Responsibility Help Teens Thrive

"'Ungar's thought-provoking book is both wise and practical. All of us parents, therapists and educators who work with adolescents will benefit from his ideas on what teenagers require for optimal growth. This is a paradigm-shifting book.' - Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia. While our kids are safer now than they have ever been, we are constantly fearful for them. We drive them everywhere, organise their time, and cocoon them from every imaginable danger, assuming we're doing the right thing. Even when they are teenagers we continue to manage their lives, and unwittingly prevent their development. In this ground-breaking new book, internationally renowned family therapist and social worker Michael Ungar shows why our constant need to keep our kids safe often puts them in harm's way. By protecting them from failure and disappointment, challenge and responsibility, many of our children are missing out on the benefits that come with manageable amounts of risk. Accessible, inspiring and practical, Too Safe for Their Own Good? helps concerned parents set appropriate limits and provides concrete suggestions for allowing children the chance to experience the rites of passage that will help them become competent, happy, thriving adults. Internationally renowned expert on resilience in at-risk youth and father of two, Michael Unger runs a private practice for children and adults in mental health and correctional settings. He is a professor at the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University and leader of the International Resilience Project."--Provided by publisher.