One of my favourite columnists from The Times newspaper Daniel Finkelstein has written a thought provoking column today criticizing the latest report The Good Childhood Enquiry. This report was about how unhappy children are today because of selfish parents. In the column Daniel makes some simple points which I often think about myself when seeing children. The key issue is the extent to which parents influence children’s behaviour and personality. The points he makes are 1- children and parents share the same genes and therefore are likely to be somewhat alike to start with. 2- children who are difficult are going to influence the way their parents react to them. It is easy to be an authoritative parent with a child who is easy to manage- the traffic is not all one way. I happen to believe that parents do have an affect on their children but there are so many other issues affecting development as well. The issues about genetics that Daniel raises are penitent as well as the effect of the peer group, diet, sleep, exercise, brain injury, neurodevelopmental issues etc etc. Finally the column ends with an interesting take on the pros and cons of individualism and it’s effect on social relationships – but you will have to read that HERE yourselves.