Synopses & Reviews
Praise for Artificial Maturity"Artificial Maturity is a 'must-read' for leaders in business, government, education, and community service. The insights from Dr. Elmore are vital for family life as well. This book has challenged me to change how I lead, teach, and parent the iY Generation . . . and to make those changes immediately!"
—Tim Tassopoulos, senior vice president of operations, Chick-Fil-A
"Without question, this is the right book, tackling the right subject, written by the right person, and delivered at the right time. Tim has proven through his previous writing, speaking, and teaching that he understands today's generation of young people and has high hopes for their future. As a university student affairs administrator, I had whiplash as I read this book—from nodding my head in painful recognition and passionate agreement. Anyone who cares about the future of this generation and the generation following them should read this book."
—Mary Gerardy, dean, Wake Forest University
"Artificial Maturity is a perfect example of putting meaningful thoughts into action. Dr. Tim Elmore sets out to explain the bumpy road that faces today's youth and then provides us with authentic solutions on how to assist them in maneuvering down the road of life. It is a powerful exploration of the mind of today's youth and the outside forces that influence their daily decision making and maturity."
—Kevin Roberts, executive director, Lanier Law Firm
"The need to provide strong leadership for our children has never been greater. This groundbreaking book lays out a diagnosis and a prescription for what caring adults can do to help our children grow into healthy, happy adults. I highly recommend it to parents, teachers, coaches, and youth workers everywhere."
—Jo Kirchner, president and CEO, Primrose Schools
Synopsis
How to raise kids who can handle the real worldToday's Generation iY (teens brought up with the Internet) and Homelanders (children born after 9/11) are overexposed to information at an earlier age than ever and paradoxically are underexposed to meaningful relationships and real-life experiences. Artificial Maturity addresses the problem of what to do when parents and teachers mistake children's superficial knowledge for real maturity. The book is filled with practical steps that adults can take to furnish the experiences kids need to balance their abilities with authentic maturity.
- Shows how to identify the problem of artificial maturity in Generation iY and Homelanders
- Reveals what to do to help children balance autonomy, responsibility, and information
- Includes a down-to-earth model for coaching and guiding youth to true maturity
Artificial Maturity gives parents, teachers, and others who work with youth a manual for understanding and practicing the leadership kids so desperately need to mature in a healthy fashion.
Synopsis
Today's Generation iY (teens brought up with the Internet) and Homelanders (children born after 9/11) are overexposed to information at an earlier age than ever and, paradoxically, are underexposed to meaningful relationships and real-life experiences. This overexposure/underexposure produces artificial maturity. For many of our young people, the speed at which data reaches them has slowed down their actual maturity.
Artificial Maturity gives parents, teachers, and others who work with youth a manual for understanding and practicing the leadership that kids so desperately need to mature in a healthy fashion, including practical steps adults can take to furnish the experiences kids need to balance their consumption of information with true development. These steps are centered on four keys for transforming artificial maturity into authentic maturity:
Provide autonomy and responsibility simultaneously
Provide information and accountability simultaneously
Provide experiences to accompany teens' technology-savvy lifestyles
Provide community-service opportu-nities to balance self-service time
Also featured are helpful ideas, projects, and traditions gleaned from parents, teachers, and others who affect children's lives, which enable the kids under their care to mature and become healthy adults.
About the Author
Dr. Tim Elmore is the founder and president of Growing Leaders. Through Growing Leaders, Elmore and his team teach middle school, high school, and college students the skills they need to become authentic leaders. He has shared his insights in more than thirty countries and has written more than twenty-five books, including Habitudes: Images That Form Leadership Habits and Attitudes and Generation iY: Our Last Chance to Save Their Future.
Discover more at www.GrowingLeaders.com
Table of Contents
Before You Read Anything Else . . . v
1 What Is Artificial Maturity? 1
2 We Didn’t See It Coming 15
3 Who Is Generation iY? 33
4 A Balancing Act 49
5 The Problem of Atrophy 65
6 The Problem with Talent 83
7 The Pull to Be a Karaoke Parent or Teacher 97
8 Turning Artificial Maturity into Authentic Maturity 116
9 The Future of Parenting and Education 132
10 What Will Kids Look Like in the Future? 152
11 Correcting and Connecting 166
12 Becoming a Soul Provider 186
13 The Big Picture 205
14 Passing the Baton 219
Notes 233
Acknowledgments 243
About the Author 245
About Growing Leaders 247
Index 249