Balancing the ‘Fast-Forward Child’

I’m glad The Times is allowing mental health professionals to express themselves in Commentary. Amy Stark’s piece (“Bringing Balance Into the Life of Your ‘Fast-Forward’ Child” June 24) describes a problem that drives many children over the edge and into drugs and premature death.

Typical, however, of the traditional mental health community, Stark limits her scope to the personal and interpersonal aspects of this problem, touches only briefly on the social aspect and ignores altogether the socioeconomic and geopolitical aspects that create the “fast-forward” adult.

Children learn from and are overpowered by the behavior of their parents and authorities. Stark asks us to make our children slow down and smell the roses, but she doesn’t tell us that they can’t unless we adults begin to do the same in our own lives. We may tell our children one thing, but our hypocritical behavior speaks so loudly our kids can’t hear a word we say.

CHIP STINNETT

Fountain Valley