Even in financially comfortable families, both parents work longer hours because of the siren call of rampant consumerism. The percentage of kids living in single-parent families almost doubled from 15 percent in 1970 to 27 percent in 1990. Half of all children born in the 1970s and 1980s will have lived in a single-parent home during part of their childhood. Very simply, parents have less time to notice the early-warning signals of trouble. They have less time to ease these problems with love and nurturing.
Parents are the best, most-nurturing line of defense against childhood neglect and trauma.
We must enable parents to obtain help without stigma and without a bureaucratic nightmare. Teachers see our kids every day. They need to pay attention to failing grades, to acting out, to expressions of confused identity, and other warning signals. Teachers need backup from school counselors and administrators. Schools need backup from teams of community cops, psychologists and probation officers.