Children! Or the Advantage of Being Parents amounts to an assertion that can give rise to both astonishment and curiosity in the present day and age, when the prevailing belief points in the exact opposite direction. For being a parent is viewed as a series of difficulties, problems, moments of fatigue and concern, an attitude that underlies practically all the advice and instruction aimed at parents. The “Advantage of Being Parents” is not simply a slogan coined to grab attention amidst all the clamour surrounding the subject matter, but rather a very real, practical advantage that parents obtain from their relationships with their children. It is children who re-invigorate the adults’ role as recipient, who, if listened to and observed outside of accepted outlooks and preconceptions, can formulate an investigation of the adult’s own existence, resulting in benefits both useful and highly advantageous.

Luigi Campagner studied theoretical philosophy. In the past he has taught philosophy in secondary schools, served as the director of a well-known centre in Italy’s Lombardy Region for adults with psychophysical handicaps, achieving excellent results by applying the chief innovations drawn from psychoanalytic therapy. He is he co-founder of the Artemisia Centre for women and mothers in distress and victims of violence, as well as minors removed from their families of origin, and the Snodi Centre for treatment of borderline personality disorder. He is a social analyst and teacher with Studium Cartello – Il lavoro psicoanalitico, today a part of the Società Amici del Pensiero – Sigmund Freud, presided over by Giacomo B. Contri; he is a member of the scientific committee of the review Libertà di educazione; he writes for the daily on-line periodical ilsussidiario.net. He has published a number of well-received books, including: Fiabe per pensare. Proposte di racconto e ascolto (2015); L’inganno nell’amore. Le figure delle seduzione in Kierkegaard (2014).

Sara Bestetti is a psychologist