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About Wanting What's Best
When privileged parents say that they “want what's best” for their child, they don't consciously add “and not for other children.”
Yet the practical effect of parents with privilege relentlessly pursuing their own child's interests is that other children are left behind. Author Sarah W. Jaffe interviewed dozens of parents who are resisting the cultural pressures to seek "the best" for only their kids while navigating some of the major decisions that parents make—about childcare, schools, how they use their time and money, and the legacy they hope to leave their kids. These may not feel like political decisions, but each either contributes to a system where only a few can thrive or takes a small step toward dismantling it.
Our children are watching and learning from how we make choices. How we treat the people who care for them tells them how they should behave as a boss. Where we send them to school teaches them about their place in the world. How we spend our time and money sends them more powerful messages about how to spend theirs than any lecture about the importance of giving back or gratitude ever could.
What does it look like to fight for other people's children as if the future of your own child depended on it? What choices would you make?
About The Sleep Deprived Teen
In The Sleep-Deprived Teen, parenting journalist Lisa L. Lewis provides parents with the roadmap for more (and better) sleep for their teens—and perhaps even for themselves.
Teenagers are tired, strapped for time, and often asked to wake up far earlier than they should due to school start times. In The Sleep-Deprived Teen, Lisa L. Lewis, who helped spark the first law in the nation requiring healthy school start times for adolescents, has written a reader-friendly book for parents who want to help their fatigued teens and tweens sleep well.
Learn the science of why teenage sleep matters and how sleep changes during the teen years. Poor sleep affects mental health, athletic performance, and academic success. It contributes to adolescent depression, anxiety, and even drowsy driving. On the flip side, when teens are well-rested, they’re happier, healthier, and more emotionally resilient.
In The Sleep-Deprived Teen, you’ll find:
- The science of why sleep matters and how it changes during the teen years
- A synthesis of the research, including tips and strategies to promote healthy sleep habits and help teens avoid poor sleep patterns
- An essential primer on technology, and a look at how gender, sexual identity, socioeconomic status, and race and ethnicity can affect teenage sleep
About the Authors
Sarah W. Jaffe's first book Wanting What’s Best: Parenting Privilege and Building a Just World (Chicago Review Press, 5/24/22) received a starred review in Booklist and was called “an essential roadmap” by Melinda Wenner Moyer. Sarah is currently a lifestyle writer at the parenting website Romper, and her work has appeared in Slate, Catapult, The Rumpus, and LitHub. Previously, she worked as an attorney for children in foster care, representing them in both family court and federal court proceedings.
Lisa L. Lewis is the author of The Sleep-Deprived Teen: Why Our Teenagers Are So Tired, And How Parents And Schools Can Help Them Thrive (Mango Publishing, 6/7/22) which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and has been described as “a call to action” by Arianna Huffington and “an urgent and timely read” by Daniel H. Pink. Lisa helped spark California’s new school start times law—the first of its kind in the country—and was involved throughout the legislative journey. Lisa has been interviewed by the New York Times and has appeared on the Today show, WBUR “On Point,” and local radio and TV in Los Angeles, San Francisco and elsewhere. She’s written about teen sleep for The Washington Post, The Atlantic, the Los Angeles Times, and Slate, among others. She lives in Southern California. More information is at www.lisallewis.com.
Teenagers are tired, strapped for time, and often asked to wake far earlier than they should due to school start times. In The Sleep-Deprived Teen, journalist Lisa L. Lewis shares the science of why teenage sleep matters, providing parents with a roadmap to improve their teens' sleep-and their own.
When privileged parents say that they “want what's best” for their child, they don't consciously add “and not for other children.”
Yet the practical effect of parents with privilege relentlessly pursuing their own child's interests is that other children are left behind. Author Sarah W.