Educator/Speaker/Writer Jessica Lahey appearance at La Cañada Elementary School to discuss her book The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go so Their Children can Succeed

Modern parenting is defined by an unprecedented level of over-protectiveness: parents now rush to school to deliver forgotten assignments, challenge teachers on report card disappointments, master- mind children’s friendships, and interfere on the playing field. As teacher, journalist, and parent Jessica Lahey explains, these parents aren’t giving their children the chance to experience failure—or the opportunity to learn to solve their own problems.

Lahey is an educator, speaker, and writer. She has been an English, Latin, and writing teacher in middle and high school for over a decade, writes the biweekly Parent-Teacher Conference advice column for the New York Times, is a contributing writer at the Atlantic, and appears as a commentator on Vermont Public Radio. She earned a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a concentration in juvenile and education law. She lives in New Hampshire with her husband and two sons.