Many of the coming-of-age rituals that have defined the American experience since the Founding -- learning the value of working with your hands leaving home to start a family becoming economically self-reliant -- are being delayed or skipped altogether. The statistics are daunting: 30% of college students drop out after the first year and only 4 in 10 graduate. One in three 18-to-34 year-olds live with their parents.
From these disparate phenomena Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse who as president of a Midwestern college observed the trials of this generation up close sees an existential threat to the American way of life.
In The Vanishing American Adult Sasse diagnoses the causes of a generation that can't grow up and offers a path for raising children to become active and engaged citizens. He identifies core formative experiences that all young people should pursue: hard work to appreciate the benefits of labor travel to understand deprivation and want the power of reading the importance of nurturing your body -- and explains how parents can encourage them.
Our democracy depends on responsible contributing adults to function properly -- without them America falls prey to populist demagogues. A call to arms The Vanishing American Adult will ignite a much-needed debate about the link between the way we're raising our children and the future of our country.
