Christian Craig

In Dr. David Hamburg’s new book, Today’s Children: Creating a Future for a Generation in Crisis, the U.S. is committing “atrocities” on its children. A substantial portion of the generation of kids under age 16 is lost to drug abuse, crime and teen pregnancy, but also to more subtle corrosives like malnutrition, illiteracy and poor self-esteem.

He argues that special attention must be paid to two crucial stages of development: prenatal and early childhood, and early adolescence. Hamburg asserts that women must have access to prenatal care, drug-treatment programs and nutrition counseling to prevent brain damage to the fetus’s intellectual ability. In addition, to assign parental mentors to new mothers and fathers, and to consolidate social and health services into “one-stop shopping” at local hospitals and clinics would help child’s learning as well as emotional growth.