Today's not-so troubled children

• Adele Horin
• June 30, 2008
• Page 1 of 2 | Single Page View

Myth of today's troubled children

Children are just as well-adjusted as their counterparts of 20 years ago and, if anything, better behaved and less anxious - at least to their parents. But teachers appear to have a different view.

Research published today by the Australian Institute of Family Studies compares two studies of children two decades apart, and found that, in both the 1980s and the first decade of this century, the "great majority" of young children were happily adjusted.

Despite fears that modern life is producing a generation of badly behaved or anxious children, today's parents are even more relaxed and less worried about their children's progress than were parents in the past.

"Very few toddlers and children were reported as showing clear signs of behaviour problems," say the study's authors, Diana Smart and Ann Sanson. They say today's parents may be more tolerant and understanding of, or less bothered by, challenging behaviour than parents in the 1980s.

The studies, in 1988 and in 2005, each involved thousands of six- and seven-year-old children. Researchers asked parents and teachers parallel questions about the children's behaviour and temperament. Parents of children aged two to three were also asked similar questions in both studies.

Taken together, the studies provide a rare opportunity to test the common assumption that children in the 21st century are faring worse that yesteryear's children, the authors say.

Today's parents rated their toddlers as more sociable, persistent in completing tasks, and less prone to acting out frustrations than did parents of the 1980s. The toddlers were seen as less destructive, and less likely to hurt other children, and even as having less difficulty falling asleep.

Today's parents of six- and seven-year-olds also rated their children as more sociable and less intense in their reactions than did parents of the 1980s. Although serious problems were uncommon in both eras, today's parents were significantly less likely to report conduct problems, such as fighting or disobedience, or that their children were anxious, worried or fearful. Continued...

• Page
• 1 2
• Single Page View