Psychology & Counseling
![Dana Suskind - [object Object] author](https://res.cloudinary.com/readsomnia/image/upload/authors/a_B0155VLGD8.jpg)
Parent Nation: Unlocking Every Child's Potential, Fulfilling Society's Promise
***INSTANT New York Times Bestseller***
World-class pediatric surgeon, social scientist, and best-selling author of Thirty Million Words Dr. Dana Suskind returns with a revelatory new look at the neuroscience of early childhood development-and how it can guide us toward a future in which every child has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
Her prescription for this more prosperous and equitable future, as clear as it is powerful, is more robust support for parents during the most critical years of their children's development. In her poignant new book, Parent Nation, written with award-winning science writer Lydia Denworth, Dr. Suskind helps parents recognize both their collective identity and their formidable power as custodians of our next generation.
Weaving together the latest science on the developing brain with heart-breaking and relatable stories of families from all walks of life, Dr. Suskind shows that the status quo-scores of parents convinced they should be able to shoulder the enormous responsibility of early childhood care and education on their own-is not only unsustainable, but deeply detrimental to the wellbeing of children, families, and society.
Anyone looking for a blueprint for how to build a brighter future for our children will find one in Parent Nation. Informed by the science of foundational brain development as well as history, political science, and the lived experiences of families around the country, this book clearly outlines how society can and should help families meet the developmental needs of their children. Only then can we ensure that all children are able to enjoy the promise of their potential.
World-class pediatric surgeon, social scientist, and best-selling author of Thirty Million Words Dr. Dana Suskind returns with a revelatory new look at the neuroscience of early childhood development-and how it can guide us toward a future in which every child has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.
Her prescription for this more prosperous and equitable future, as clear as it is powerful, is more robust support for parents during the most critical years of their children's development. In her poignant new book, Parent Nation, written with award-winning science writer Lydia Denworth, Dr. Suskind helps parents recognize both their collective identity and their formidable power as custodians of our next generation.
Weaving together the latest science on the developing brain with heart-breaking and relatable stories of families from all walks of life, Dr. Suskind shows that the status quo-scores of parents convinced they should be able to shoulder the enormous responsibility of early childhood care and education on their own-is not only unsustainable, but deeply detrimental to the wellbeing of children, families, and society.
Anyone looking for a blueprint for how to build a brighter future for our children will find one in Parent Nation. Informed by the science of foundational brain development as well as history, political science, and the lived experiences of families around the country, this book clearly outlines how society can and should help families meet the developmental needs of their children. Only then can we ensure that all children are able to enjoy the promise of their potential.
Editorial Reviews
"These wrenching stories of parents driven to the brink by a broken system make policy issues feel powerfully personal. This is an incisive and persuasive call to action."
-Publishers Weekly
"A well-known pediatric otolaryngologist advocates for large-scale changes to American social policy as it pertains to children… A sensible case for the necessity of strengthening social services and for making pediatricians' offices hubs where families can easily access these services, particularly when they are in distress."
-Kirkus
"A manifesto, and a handbook, for what we as individuals and as a society are morally called to do for all kids to thrive. Required reading for anyone who has ever loved a child."
-Angela Duckworth, founder and CEO of Character Lab, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, MacArthur Fellow, and author of NYT Bestseller Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
"The best thing we can do for our children (and ourselves!) is to heed the call to action in this timely, important and beautiful book. Parent Nation lays out a powerful science-based framework that will lead us to healthier children, happier parents, and stronger communities."
-Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and New York Times bestselling author of the 3-book series Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm
"At a time when America seems hopelessly polarized, Dr. Dana Suskind shows us how it is possible to work together across political divides for the wellbeing of our children, our families, and our communities. Filled with poignant stories, clarifying data, and practical proposals, Parent Nation offers a stirring call to action."
-Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Professor of History at Calvin University and New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne
"Dr. Dana Suskind brings medical science and social science together in this lucid and important book, making the personal political in the best possible way, to argue passionately for how our country can and should support parents so that they can do what they most want to do--care for the children t...
-Publishers Weekly
"A well-known pediatric otolaryngologist advocates for large-scale changes to American social policy as it pertains to children… A sensible case for the necessity of strengthening social services and for making pediatricians' offices hubs where families can easily access these services, particularly when they are in distress."
-Kirkus
"A manifesto, and a handbook, for what we as individuals and as a society are morally called to do for all kids to thrive. Required reading for anyone who has ever loved a child."
-Angela Duckworth, founder and CEO of Character Lab, professor of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, MacArthur Fellow, and author of NYT Bestseller Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
"The best thing we can do for our children (and ourselves!) is to heed the call to action in this timely, important and beautiful book. Parent Nation lays out a powerful science-based framework that will lead us to healthier children, happier parents, and stronger communities."
-Emily Oster, professor of economics at Brown University and New York Times bestselling author of the 3-book series Expecting Better, Cribsheet, and The Family Firm
"At a time when America seems hopelessly polarized, Dr. Dana Suskind shows us how it is possible to work together across political divides for the wellbeing of our children, our families, and our communities. Filled with poignant stories, clarifying data, and practical proposals, Parent Nation offers a stirring call to action."
-Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Professor of History at Calvin University and New York Times bestselling author of Jesus and John Wayne
"Dr. Dana Suskind brings medical science and social science together in this lucid and important book, making the personal political in the best possible way, to argue passionately for how our country can and should support parents so that they can do what they most want to do--care for the children t...
Readers Top Reviews
Muhammad Nawawy A
A must have for parents, soon to be parents, or everyone in our communities to make our next generation to be brighter and fulfilled
Paige GullingMuha
This book creates a roadmap for how to fix the mess we are in, by creating a society that helps parents raise children to their full potential! My favorite part, reading about real families that Dr. Suskind has interacted with over the years, reading about their stories and how that inspired Dr. Suskind to write about the change we need in society!
NNewHPaige Gullin
Parent Nation is an outstanding book, written with empathy and intellect, sharing deep and powerful stories, backed by thorough and important research. It pushes the reader to see the moral responsibility we all have to our children and society, and the changes that need to be made. A MUST read for everyone!
PDNNewHPaige Gull
Even if the case is clear from the outset, the book is well worth the read to better understand the profound impact we can have as a nation by placing more focus and resources on early childhood development.
JBAJBAPDNNewHPaig
This book offers an incredible amount of research and staggering statistics, but it’s the people and their unique experiences that really tell the story. Dana Suskind does a beautiful job of explaining the issues and laying out a roadmap for a better future for our children, and in turn an overall improved society as a whole.
Short Excerpt Teaser
¥ One ¥
Toward a New North Star
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
-Nelson Mandela
As we near the "red line," the demarcation between the hospital's pre-op area and its collection of operating rooms, a mother and father hand me their baby. Their eyes are filled with tears as they look at me with a combination of hope and fear. The little boy is just eight months old and was born deaf. He is here to receive his cochlear implant. When I surgically implant the small device that will give him access to sound, I am replicating what I did for his father many years earlier when he was a teenager. As the baby melts into my arms, I reassure his nervous parents, "I promise to care for your baby like he's my own."
The parents settle in for a long, anxious wait, while I carry their son to the operating room. In OR4, where I spend each Tuesday morning, we are greeted by the team of medical professionals I rely on for every surgery, and by the cacophony of monitor beeps that I find so comforting every time I hear it. My two OR nurses are circulating. Gary Rogers makes sure the cochlear implant is present and that my favorite drill and facial nerve monitor are working properly. Nelson Floresco checks out the operating room microscope, which is the size of a Smart Car and gives me a remarkably clear, precise view of the ear's tiny, delicate interior spaces. Robin Mills, the OR tech, is scrubbed in and organizing the array of sterile microscopic ear instruments on the surgical table. The pediatric anesthesiologist gently places a face mask filled with colorless gases on the squirming baby. Very quickly, the baby is fast asleep.
Before I start the operation, we double-check that everything is in order. Do we have the right patient? Check. Do we have the correct implant with all the right instruments? Check. Do we know if the patient has any medical allergies? Check. Are the pre-operative antibiotics in? Check. This routine ensures the accuracy and safety of what we're doing. Each person in the operating room plays an essential role. No one forgets why we are here: to help a child.
As a surgeon performing delicate work just millimeters from the brain, I have no room for error. It's critical that I have the necessary tools and, even more importantly, my A-team by my side. If any part of this carefully crafted system falls away, no matter my skill or good intentions, my job will be infinitely more difficult, if not impossible. Some obstacles can be overcome-a few missing instruments, for instance. But what if the power went out in the hospital and I suddenly had to operate without light or oxygen? Or what if Robin, Gary, and Nelson suddenly walked out the door, leaving me alone? The odds would be stacked against me, and the job would seem impossible.
The challenge of successfully rearing children is not so different. To raise a child into a happy, healthy adult capable of achieving their full potential, you need a plan, and you need an appropriate, safe environment, one that provides backup as required. But far too many parents are not operating-that is, parenting-in an optimal environment. For too many parents, in our country and throughout the world, it is as if they are trying to function in the midst of an endless power failure, asked to achieve a critical goal without the necessary tools or any backup.
Twenty years ago, I started my own life as a parent with what I thought were all the necessary tools in place. But, in one painful day, it all changed, when my husband, Don, drowned while trying to rescue two boys, leaving me a young widow and my three children with no father. While we still had a roof over our heads and food on the table, advantages that many families lack, Don's death left a vast hole in our lives.
For a long time after he died, I would wake at night, jolted by the same terrifying nightmare, which went something like this: I'm standing on a foggy riverbank. Splinters of moonlight stream through the clouds and illuminate a small wooden boat next to me at the water's edge. Three small, terrified faces-my young children, Genevieve, Asher, and Amelie-peer from the boat, staring at the foreboding river. Its fierce currents resemble the waters of Lake Michigan, whose undertow claimed Don's life. I feel the intense pull of the water, the same p...
Toward a New North Star
"There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children."
-Nelson Mandela
As we near the "red line," the demarcation between the hospital's pre-op area and its collection of operating rooms, a mother and father hand me their baby. Their eyes are filled with tears as they look at me with a combination of hope and fear. The little boy is just eight months old and was born deaf. He is here to receive his cochlear implant. When I surgically implant the small device that will give him access to sound, I am replicating what I did for his father many years earlier when he was a teenager. As the baby melts into my arms, I reassure his nervous parents, "I promise to care for your baby like he's my own."
The parents settle in for a long, anxious wait, while I carry their son to the operating room. In OR4, where I spend each Tuesday morning, we are greeted by the team of medical professionals I rely on for every surgery, and by the cacophony of monitor beeps that I find so comforting every time I hear it. My two OR nurses are circulating. Gary Rogers makes sure the cochlear implant is present and that my favorite drill and facial nerve monitor are working properly. Nelson Floresco checks out the operating room microscope, which is the size of a Smart Car and gives me a remarkably clear, precise view of the ear's tiny, delicate interior spaces. Robin Mills, the OR tech, is scrubbed in and organizing the array of sterile microscopic ear instruments on the surgical table. The pediatric anesthesiologist gently places a face mask filled with colorless gases on the squirming baby. Very quickly, the baby is fast asleep.
Before I start the operation, we double-check that everything is in order. Do we have the right patient? Check. Do we have the correct implant with all the right instruments? Check. Do we know if the patient has any medical allergies? Check. Are the pre-operative antibiotics in? Check. This routine ensures the accuracy and safety of what we're doing. Each person in the operating room plays an essential role. No one forgets why we are here: to help a child.
As a surgeon performing delicate work just millimeters from the brain, I have no room for error. It's critical that I have the necessary tools and, even more importantly, my A-team by my side. If any part of this carefully crafted system falls away, no matter my skill or good intentions, my job will be infinitely more difficult, if not impossible. Some obstacles can be overcome-a few missing instruments, for instance. But what if the power went out in the hospital and I suddenly had to operate without light or oxygen? Or what if Robin, Gary, and Nelson suddenly walked out the door, leaving me alone? The odds would be stacked against me, and the job would seem impossible.
The challenge of successfully rearing children is not so different. To raise a child into a happy, healthy adult capable of achieving their full potential, you need a plan, and you need an appropriate, safe environment, one that provides backup as required. But far too many parents are not operating-that is, parenting-in an optimal environment. For too many parents, in our country and throughout the world, it is as if they are trying to function in the midst of an endless power failure, asked to achieve a critical goal without the necessary tools or any backup.
Twenty years ago, I started my own life as a parent with what I thought were all the necessary tools in place. But, in one painful day, it all changed, when my husband, Don, drowned while trying to rescue two boys, leaving me a young widow and my three children with no father. While we still had a roof over our heads and food on the table, advantages that many families lack, Don's death left a vast hole in our lives.
For a long time after he died, I would wake at night, jolted by the same terrifying nightmare, which went something like this: I'm standing on a foggy riverbank. Splinters of moonlight stream through the clouds and illuminate a small wooden boat next to me at the water's edge. Three small, terrified faces-my young children, Genevieve, Asher, and Amelie-peer from the boat, staring at the foreboding river. Its fierce currents resemble the waters of Lake Michigan, whose undertow claimed Don's life. I feel the intense pull of the water, the same p...
