from Selling Out America's Children: How America Puts Profits Before Values and What Parents Can Do, by David Walsh, Ph.D., 1994, Fairview Press: Minneapolis, Minnesota.

In 1987, I developed a seminar for parents entitled "Designer Kids." Based on my experiences both as a psychologist and as a parent of three children, I had a growing concern about the effects of excess competition and consumerism on America’s children. The seminars dealt with those effects. At the urging of many of those who attended the seminars, I converted the content of the presentation into a book by the same title, which was published by Deaconess Press in 1990.

   In the four years since the appearance of that book, I have had the opportunity to make many more presentations across the country to groups of parents, educators, and other professionals who work with youth. Several things have become very clear in gathering after gathering. No matter where I have gone, and without exception, I have heard a great deal of concern about the seeming lack of positive values in America’s children. Whether I was talking with parents who spoke to me at PTA meetings or participants on radio call-in shows, the theme was (and continues to be) the same: a widespread concern that America’s children are in trouble.

   While parents and educators have expressed their anxieties, they have also expressed feelings of helplessness and confusion. Many feel isolated and alone as they try to turn back a river of cultural forces that they sense are hostile to the healthy development of children. At the same time, they fear that there is nothing they can do that will make a difference.

   I have heard that phrase – "there’s nothing you can do" – many times over the past seven years. I have heard it spoken by parents who are concerned about their children’s welfare, yet feel their actions don’t make a dent in the forces working against them. In spite of their frustration, however, they desperately want to do something!

   As I have talked with these parents, I have been struck by how much consensus there is among them as to the important values children must learn. I have also been struck by the fact that the set of values they identify is not the one that is supported in our larger society.

   This dichotomy between private and societal values has become clearer in meeting after meeting, and I have begun using it as the basis for a new seminar. Once again, at the urging of parents and educators, I have decided to convert the substance of the seminar, along with the discussions I’ve had with parents and other concerned adults, into a book.

   While I believe our children are in trouble because of what we, as a society, have taught them (and have failed to teach them), I also believe that there is reason for hope. My optimism is based on my interactions with so many adults who have not forgotten what values are essential for healthy children. Those values have not been forgotten, but they have become lost in a larger, anonymous society where a different set of values has been promoted – a set that is designed to raise profits, not children.

   The good news is that since America’s adults largely agree on the healthy values our children should learn, we can not only take responsibility for teaching them to our children, but can do so in practical and effective ways. We can exert our right to influence the voices of our larger society so that profit is unseated as the great motivator and the welfare of our children becomes the primary concern once again.

   The growing awareness of violence in our society, especially among children, seems to be finally waking us up. However, it would be a mistake to think that violence is the only problem. It isn’t. It is a tragic symptom of an underlying crisis that involves an entire set of values being taught to our children. We will only begin to make progress when we see the whole problem for what it is. Violence grabs the headlines, but violence itself is a result of a society that promotes selfishness, greed, and instant gratification.

   While we must do whatever we can to curb the epidemic of violence, we must also recognize that we won’t be successful until we being to reprioritize our values as a society and once again take our responsibility to our children seriously.

   It is my hope that this book will make a contribution to that undertaking. Parents and other concerned adults can make a difference; this book will show how. The first step is to become fully aware of what we are facing.