health
February 26, 2026
I'm a Harvard-Trained Psychologist Who Worked With 1,000 Kids: Why So Many Children Are Struggling Today—and What They Need From Parents
Harvard-trained child psychologist Ross W. Greene has studied over 1,000 kids. He explains why so many children are struggling today, and what parents and educators can do to support them.
TL;DR
- Children are experiencing high rates of depression, anxiety, and chronic school absenteeism, which are distress responses to societal changes.
- Factors contributing to childhood distress include school shootings, high-stakes testing, excessive social media use, mental health provider shortages, and political polarization.
- Mental health challenges in children are better understood as 'problems in living' that require identifying and fixing the root causes of distress.
- Effective problem-solving with children involves collaboration, proactivity, focusing on underlying problems rather than behaviors, and avoiding punitive consequences.
- Traditional power-and-control parenting methods are often ineffective and can worsen a child's struggles; a more empathetic, understanding, and collaborative approach is needed.
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