Ghosts from the Nursery: Tracing the Roots of Violence

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book, Easy to Read, and Very Informative
Review: Extensive biblography, the book lists programs which its goal is to help prevent violence. It also lists resources which you can contact for -data on the status of children, -infomation on programs that work, -infomation on early brain developemnt & community advocacy and the roles of fathers in child development. The book also go in depth on what factors may cause violence in children and teenagers.

Rating:
Summary: Certainly, they're not serious?
Review: I used to love this book. The romantic idea of mothers who never left their children to cry, who were kind and smiling and caring all of the time. Happy families who were trully non-violent in every way...

So what happened? I had a child of my own.

Now I am angry and disgusted that this kind of bull-twad ever got printed in the first place! And by people who claim to be "experts". You see, it appears that in this day and age, the word "expert" has come to mean people who have studied and have some theory in their heads. It doesn't mean they have children of their own, or that they would even know what to do with one!

There is a looming problem behind the sugar coated ideas in this book and it's a major one -they don't coincide with the real world that we all live in!

Never leave a child to cry? Well just how in the world are you going to accomplish that with any semblence of a sane life intact? Teach your children to be completely non-violence pacifists, that the world is generally a good place and you should always be nice to others? Are you kidding? Why would you lie to your children like that? One only has to go to high school to see how many of these soft, gentle kids wind up killing themselves, because their good menaing parents who taught them nothing but love, forgot to teach them that sometimes you just have to hit back.

Perhaps if we taught rage and violence with responsibilty instead of fluffy love and cuddles all the time, our children would be able to survive. I am amazed how many books out there say things like "children can become mixed up with the wrong friends and go astray", or "suicide can happen in any family". Sorry people, but if these things happen in your family, you went horribly wrong. And if you think employing the techniques in this book will raise strong, resillient children who can handle whatever life throws at them -then you'd better think again very logically while looking at the world around you. Do you honestly think we are going to fix violence in the school-yard by being afraid of violence?

In this book they talk about the biological changes in the minds of chidlren as they grow up. Aparantly if you leave your child alone their brain structure changes to become less receptive to fear. What this book fails to ask is that if this change in brain structure of a baby adapting to its environoment is really a bad thing. Yes, my child is less receptive to fear, but then again that's what I wanted. A child that is not so nervous and afraid -one that I know will be able to survive one day when I am not around. It is certainly true that babies can become biologically harder, but this is a desireable thing for the world we live in. How about writing a book on the brain changes of children who are brought up so unrealistically soft, and how they have become receptive to every little tweek and push?

Also the focus on 0-3 years as the all important part of someone's life is horrible. The rest of your life doesn't matter? So people, if you had a bad toddeller-hood, give up, because it's been hard-wired into your brain and you have no hope? What a horribly limiting context they have place the human spirit in!

While this book rattles on about how bad post-natal depression is, does anybody bother to mention that applying such self-sacrificing tactics with your children will make you more likely to get depressed?

You see people have bee raising children for thousands of years. Do we just ignore their advice because some new-fad psychologists have come along with a theory that didn't exist twenty years ago and wont exists in twenty years time?

You see in reality, if you bash and rape your kids, they will probably be violent and agressive individuals (who still have hope of finding happiness), but if you let your kids scream to sleep every night, you will only end up with a 3 month old that can sleep through the night. Enough said.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent book for anyone interested in children.
Review: This book has gotten excellent and well-deserved advance praise from a variety of sources. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is interested in children, children's issues, social policy, or even just looking for some fascinating information on the development of the human brain (and all that that implies). It is clear, just from news accounts, that younger and younger children are committing crimes that are more and more violent. This book is an explanation for this rising tide of violence by youth using the latest early brain development research, case studies, etc. This book asks us to look at the (largely ignored in practice and policy) 0-3 age group as a source of changing this tide of violence. Abuse, neglect, head injury, chemicals, etc. all have lasting effects on the developing child & child's brain. "Ghosts From The Nursery" shows us that we really need look not much further than early childhood to explain and alter this expanding youth violence, anger and crime. There are chapters on brain development and substances that are well-written and easy for the layman to understand. There is an excellent chapter on the important role that fathers play in their children's development, and there are some excellent resources. With all of the discussion of the importance of the 0-3 age group that is currently cropping up, this is the best and most comprehensive book for the exact importance of that age group.