How to Raise an Adult

Julie Lythcott-Haims spent a decade as Stanford University's Dean of Freshmen where she was known for both her fierce advocacy for students and her equally fierce critique of the growing trend of parental involvement in the day-to-day lives of college students. Her New York Times best-selling book How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success draws on research, on conversations with admissions officers, educators, and employers, and on her own insights as a mother and as a student dean to highlight the ways in which overparenting harms children, their stressed-out parents, and society at large. While empathizing with the parental hopes and, especially, fears that lead to overhelping, Lythcott-Haims offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.