Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

David Elkind

American Child Psychologist, Author, Professor at Tufts University

"Today's child has become the unwilling, unintended victim of overwhelming stress --the stress bound of rapid, bewildering social change and constantly rising expectations."

"We now recognize that abuse and neglect may be as frequent in nuclear families as love, protection, and commitment are in nonnuclear families."

"Friendships in childhood are usually a matter of chance, whereas in adolescence they are most often a matter of choice."

"Learning teaches us what is known, play makes it possible for new things to be learned. There are many concepts and skills that can only be learned through play."

"It's certainly part of the same group-think. They're doing the same thing -- branding -- with universities. We see economic values being weighed much more heavily than human values."