The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw a dramatic shift in the role
of children in American society and families. No longer necessary for
labor, children became economic liabilities and twentieth-century
parents exhibited a new level of anxiety concerning the welfare of their
children and their own ability to parent effectively. What caused this
shift in the ways parenting and childhood were experienced and
perceived? Why, at a time of relative ease and prosperity, do parents
continue to grapple with uncertainty and with unreasonable expectations
of both themselves and their children? Peter N. Stearns explains this
phenomenon by examining the new issues the twentieth century brought to
bear on families. Surveying popular media, "expert" childrearing
manuals, and newspapers and journals published throughout the century,
Stearns shows how schooling, physical and emotional vulnerability, and
the rise in influence of commercialism became primary concerns for
parents. The result, Stearns shows, is that contemporary parents have
come to believe that they are participating in a culture of neglect and
diminishing standards. Anxious Parents: A Modern History of Childrearing
in America shows the reasons for this belief through an historic
examination of modern parenting. Peter N. Stearns is Provost and
Professor of History at George Mason University. His publications
include The Encyclopedia of World History; Western Civilizations in
World History; World Civilizations, Volume II: 1450 to the Present; and
World History in Brief: Major Patterns of Change and Continuity.
