I wonder what proportion of the “mental illnesses” are actually kids with behavior problems caused by failure to discipline?
Liberals have long decried spanking for punishment, instead pushing the ideas of “time-out”, etc. I am not sure that the Dr. Spock recommendations for child-rearing were all that good, but he was influential on generations of parents.
Is a higher rate of behavior problems, diagnosed as “mental illness” the result?
Note: there are some true mental illnesses. The incidence of these should not vary from generation to generation—when they do (as with autism), changes in incidence of the disorder reflect changes in diagnostic criteria.
There's that. There is also the near-total reliance on technology. Kids are reduced to a zombielike state, and if they act out, it's a condition to be drugged away. Then there is the whole team-group approach. Some kids just need to be left alone. Some of the best-behaved elementary classes I encountered had corners with an easy chair, a real lamp, books, puzzles, stuffed animals to hug, crayons and paper. These are places where a child could be not surrounded by others and not have the pressure of scheduled activities. Then there are over-zealous teachers who don't want to be inconvenienced by children who act out, so they get them diagnosed with ADHD.
Add to that two other huge factors. One is the very unsolid idea that all children will master material at the same time it's taught. Newly acquired knowledge needs time to be absorbed and connected and coordinated with other things the kids know and experience. Then there's the lack of recess. Kids need unstructured but supervised play time. Then there's the crap they feed them in school breakfasts and lunch. In most places, it's body poisons.
The miracle is that there aren't more kids who go crazy.