Peter N. Stearns explains this phenomenon by examining the new issues the 20th century brought to bear on families. Surveying popular media, "expert" childrearing manuals, and newspapers and journals published throughout the century, Stearns shows how schooling, physical and emotional vulnerability, and the rise in influence of commercialism became primary concerns for parents. The result, Stearns shows, is that contemporary parents have come to believe that they are participating in a culture of neglect and diminishing standards. "Anxious Parents: A Modern History of Childrearing in America" shows the reasons for this belief through an historic examination of modern parenting.
