The Parent Compass

August 17, 2020
In an earnest and instructive guide, educational consultants Muchnick and Curtis offer strategies to help parents navigate their kids’ challenging adolescent years. The authors include anecdotes, input from experts, and their own observations as parents themselves (Muchnick is a mother of four, and Curtis of two) while warning parents to avoid overbearing parenting styles and to mind how social media and academic competitiveness place pressure on teens’ emotional health. They address concerns including dealing with technology, succeeding in school, and finding a college that “fits,” rather than one that is highly ranked. Throughout, the authors encourage promoting “self-advocacy” in one’s children and avoiding the urge to speak for them. Muchnick and Curtis scold parents who ghostwrite college application essays or push kids to repeatedly retake the SAT in search of higher scores, citing the “Operation Varsity Blues” scandal as an example of how far this behavior can go. Finally, Muchnick and Curtis stress how resilience, grit, and independence are fostered when parents listen, empathize, and help their teens learn from disappointment, rather than try to act as a “fixer” for all of life’s problems. Parents of teens will appreciate the authors’ well-reasoned and practical approach.