To keep their kids from falling off the side, parents are pushing them harder than ever -- micromanaging their lives, orchestrating things so that their children have as little opportunity as possible to go astray. It’s totally understandable. But it’s bad for the kids, bad for the parents, and bad for the nation.
As much as I don't like Megan McArdle, she may have a point here. We're currently in the process of college admissions for our elder daughter and every little fucking thing she's done over the years is under scrutiny--not so much by admissions officers (they can't possibly read all these applications, can they?)--but by my daughter who is constantly feeling like a failure because she compares herself to kids who get perfect scores on everything. This then conspires with her perfectionism to make her feel like shit. I hate that we are wading back into the mainstream of educational bullshit after bucking it all these years with homeschooling. My kid's great; stop making her feel like she's inadequate!