One researcher, a developmental psychologist at Teachers College at Columbia University, has made a specialty of affluent teenagers, whom she describes sympathetically as "a truly miserable group of kids." She has spent the last several years surveying students in Westport, Connecticut, where the median family income is $152,894 and the town's one high school, with 1,400 students, is among the top-ranked in the country. Her recent papers report higher rates of depression, anxiety, binge drinking and cheating in the children of the rich, which she attributes to two causes: pressure to achieve and a lack of meaningful contact with adults. I'd be interested in this data about children and teenagers: hours spent watching television each week, according to family income; and hours spent playing video/computer games, according to family income. Would you anticipate any trends? Think about escapism. |