This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Lexington Community Education presents: Hold On to Your Kids: Why Parents Need to Matter More than Peers - An Evening with Gordon Neufeld, PhD

Like countless other parents, Canadian doctor Gordon Neufeld woke up one day to find that his children had become secretive and unreachable.  Why? The problem, Neufeld suggests, lies in a long-established, though questionable, belief that the earliest possible mastery of the rules of social acceptance leads to success. 

In a society that values its economy over culture the building of strong adult/child attachments gets lost in the shuffle. Multiple play dates, day care, preschool and after school activities groom children to transfer their attachment needs from adults to their peers. They become "peer oriented." The result is that they squelch their individuality, curiosity and intelligence to become part of a group. And these same children are bullying, shunning and murdering each other, as well as committing suicide, at increasing rates. 

While exploration of the problem can be profoundly troubling Dr. Neufeld’s exposition lead to numerous solutions for reestablishing a caring adult hierarchy. 

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Dr. Gordon Neufeld is a Vancouver-based developmental psychologist with over 40 years of experience. His Neufeld Institute is now a world-wide charitable organization devoted to applying developmental science to the task of raising children. Dr. Neufeld  is a father of five and a grandfather to five.

The cost for this evening's event is $10.00.

Find out what's happening in Arlingtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Pre-registration, using a MasterCard or VISA, is strongly recommended by contacting Lexington Community Education at 781 862 8043.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Arlington