Our Kids are the Smartest on Record, but also the Loneliest, Most Stressed and Depressed.

In this Part 2 of 2 Presentation, Dr. Borba speaks to the teachers in my school and two other elementary schools about the 7 Teachable Skills that help kids thrive!

Our kids are the smartest on record, but also the loneliest, most stressed and depressed. That's why we must rethink our parenting so they can thrive in an anxious, uncertain world. 

The good news is that thrivers are made, not born.

Dr. Borba teaches us 7 teachable skills (traits) that science says matter most in happiness and success (even more than IQ and grades) and help kids thrive both now and later.

She shares with us that over the last decade American children's mental health has spiraled downward. One in four college students is now diagnosed with a mental health disorder; suicide rates in 10 to 14 year olds has more than doubled in two decades. Data shows that today's kids - prior to the pandemic - were the loneliest, saddest, most anxious, least creative and least self-sufficient generation on record. A mom emailed Dr. Borba pleading for help: their suburban community lost forty kids in two-and-a-half years to suicide within a twenty-mile radius. 

Dr. Borba reports that we've raised a generation of smart children who have more of everything, but we've forgotten to give them the thing they need most to succeed: the mental and moral qualities that make them human.

Character is what builds mental strength, genuineness, and wholeness and helps turn kids who strive into young adults who thrive in a fast-paced, ever-changing world.

But our culture focuses on our children's other side: GPA and test scores, so our kids lack inner strength. A tween told Dr. Borba, "We're being raised to be products and are missing the pieces on how to be people, so we all feel empty." That's a toxic formula for raising resilient kids.

Here's one quick tip from Dr. Borba: "Institute a nightly review of the simple good parts about each person's day to help your kids look on the bright side of life and develop a more positive view of the world."