Kids, Parents, and Grind Culture

Journalist and mother Jennifer Wallace recently released a book looking at the roots and effects of putting pressure on kids for high academic achievement. Specifically, she was pushing back on the pressure kids face to engage in what’s been called “grind culture: where kids have to grind it out academically in the hope that they would get into the most respected and high quality institutions of higher education. Her book is titled “Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic, And What We Can Do About It.” Parents who give in to this pressure may push their kids into the twenty-five percent who believe that they are looked upon fondly by their parents more for what they do and how they perform, rather than for who they are. This is not the way it’s supposed to be. Parents, we are to love our kids for who God has made them to be. Love based on performance undermines their well-being. When it comes to academics, expect them to do their best, and celebrate with them when that happens.