Q&A with
Madeline Levine
ur current version of success is a failure,” concluded Madeline Levine at the end of her 2012 book Teach Your Children Well. At the time it seemed as if good grades might amount to good kids, and that parents’ success could be judged by their children’s extracurricular performances and/or admission to a high-profile college (even one they could not afford). To meet these standards, kids were being “relentlessly pushed, overloaded, and tested.” Ten years later, little seems to have changed in this regard. Who really thinks of success as kindness, a willingness to serve others, or composure in the face of change? Today all the typical markers—wealth, prestige, intelligence, one’s number of online followers—guide the pursuits of both parents and adolescents. Yet Levine’s diagnosis remains crucial, and even more so as we proceed further into this era of social isolation, political division, and unprecedented levels of mental illness. In her newest book
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THE MOCKINGBIRD
“She was an honor student,” by Bill Vaccaro from the series The Things She Left Behind.
