With Under Pressure, Carl Honoré, author of In Praise of Slow, aims his sights on the youngest members of society. Using research studies and hundreds of interviews, he has pulled together a comprehensive look at the many ways in which children’s lives have become overloaded and overprotected, and the serious impact this is having on the newest generation.

Under Pressure can be viewed as a wake-up call to parents and educators, as well as a solid summary of how children are being raised in the 21st century. The book explores the foundations of raising children not just in North America and Europe, but around the world. Honoré covers a lot of territory, investigating academic testing and homework issues, extracurricular activities and sports, consumerism, and safety issues. To  do so, he travels the world, visiting toy fairs as well as schools from preschool to university, and interviews hundreds of children, parents, educators, and other experts in the field.

Honoré writes in his conclusion that, when he first undertook this project, he’d hoped to end the book with a detailed checklist of dos and don’ts, specific remedies he could apply to his own family, wisdom that would help him navigate today’s fast-paced, competitive world. Instead, he was left with a much deeper understanding that there is no one answer to any of the questions parents face today, though there are some general principles that can be considered true for everyone.

Under Pressure is filled with enough alarming statistics and anecdotes to make even the most optimistic caregiver shudder, but all the same, the book should be taken with a grain of salt. Many of Honoré’s boldest statements are subjective, extrapolated from available research and studies, rather than the specific and accurate results of those studies. Readers would be well advised to use the book as a starting point for further exploration and discussion, and not the final word. This is not a parenting book or a how-to manual, but rather a comprehensive look at the state of the childhood nation.