I'm just skeptical anytime anybody yells crisis, then backs it up with anecdotal third party stories. It's easy to be a pessimist. The media loves stories about how bad things are now, and how good things used to be. So helicopter parents are ruining a generation? Who's to say the current generation of kids aren't the happiest ever?
As the Rolling Stones said, "Hey! You! Get off of my cloud!"
Julie is writing from the perspective of the former Freshman Dean of Students and her first hand experience with a number of them, and their parents. As I referenced above and posted in a similar earlier thread on the HSBBW, we have a suicide cluster of extremely high achieving HS students in our area. Most have walked on the tracks and stood in front of a speeding commuter train.
I don't think most of what Julie is speaking to would properly be referenced as "Anecdotal third party stories?" Julie is writing and speaking mostly from her personal interactions at Stanford.
During the course of the discussion, information came from one student source who wanted his Dad to stop..."providing him daily updates on his chances and odds of admission to Stanford, Harvard, and Yale." Daily updates and updated odds and chances were making him anxious, upset and completely turned off to the message and especially to his Dad. Not much third party at all in much of what I know about Julie and her perspectives.
I think Rob T's post captures some of what Julie is referencing and does it so vividly. No one is saying this is a one size fits all.