Table of Contents

Author’s Note: The Children And Their Families
Preface

Introduction: The We Generation
Chapter One: Parents Matter
Chapter Two: Connected Kids
Chapter Three: Adult Mirrors, Adult Mentors
Chapter Four: Please Touch
Chapter Five: The Best And Worst Of Connections
Chapter Six: An Invitation To Responsibility
Chapter Seven: Monster Homes Make Monstrous Children
Chapter Eight: Village People
Conclusion: We-Thinkers

Acknowledgements

Appendix: Answer Key To “How Connected Are Your Kids?”
Notes
Index

About the Author

An internationally recognized expert on resilience in youth, Michael Ungar runs a private practice specializing in working with children and adults in mental health and correctional settings, and is a professor at the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University. He lives in Halifax with his wife and two children.

Reviews

Praise for Michael Ungar:
"Too Safe for Their Own Good offers us fresh, powerful and deeply relevant ideas about the developmental needs of teenagers. Ungar’s thought-provoking book is both wise and practical. All of us parents, therapists and educators who work with adolescents will benefit from his ideas on what teenagers require for optimal growth. This is a paradigm-shifting book." — Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia

Modern culture has led to a generation of parents hyperfocused on individualism, argues Ungar (social work, Dalhousie Univ.). Kids, however, haven't changed in their desire for compassionate communication, and he pleads with parents to envision a "We" generation of socially responsible kids who have a sense of collective responsibility. Despite the technological tools that make for constant communication, it is the feeling of belonging to something larger than oneself-a child's understanding that he is part of a family and community that values him-that lays the roots for responsible compassion. In chapters analyzing various types of connections-family, spiritual, physical, architectural-Ungar concludes each chapter with a "tips list" for ways to nurture kind connections. This pairs nicely with two other recent standouts: Kim John Payne's Simplicity Parenting and Polly Young-Eisendrath's The Self-Esteem Trap.-Julianne J. Smith, Ypsilanti Dist. Lib., MI Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Praise for Michael Ungar:
"Too Safe for Their Own Good offers us fresh, powerful and deeply relevant ideas about the developmental needs of teenagers. Ungar's thought-provoking book is both wise and practical. All of us parents, therapists and educators who work with adolescents will benefit from his ideas on what teenagers require for optimal growth. This is a paradigm-shifting book." - Mary Pipher, author of Reviving Ophelia