‘There is so much bad behaviour everywhere’: how to raise a good child in a terrible world

Amid Trump, #MeToo and rising hate crime, science writer Melinda Wenner Moyer decided it was time to learn how to stop her kids becoming assholes'. Her research became an unusual, much-needed parenting book

When Melinda Wenner Moyer looked around in the autumn of 2018, she saw everywhere what she would describe as assholes". In the US and the UK, hate crime was - and is - rising. Across the world, #MeToo allegations continued to come. Donald Trump was in the White House and I just felt like there was so much bad behaviour everywhere," says Moyer. I started thinking about my kids and worrying about Who were they going to become?' and What were they learning from this behaviour?' if they were seeing it on TV or hearing about it from their friends." Moyer realised: What I wanted more than anything else was for my kids to not grow up to be assholes."

Moyer, a science journalist and parenting columnist, decided to go through the research and ended up writing a book with the pleasing title How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes. In the vast realm of parenting advice, there was plenty on diet, sleep and how to turn your child into a superhuman genius, but not a great deal on how to create a kind, compassionate person.