Today's guest is Boston College psychologist Peter Gray, whose new book is Restoring Childhood: How To Set Kids Free in the Age of Anxiety. Gray, who co-founded the free-range parenting advocacy group Let Grow with Reason contributor Lenore Skenazy and The Anxious Generation author Jonathan Haidt, argues that rising rates of anxiety, depression, and mental health issues among younger Americans are not a response to phone-based childhoods but primarily an outcome of K-12 curricular changes tied to No Child Left Behind legislation.
Gray tells Nick Gillespie why kids need more autonomy and unstructured play, why he thinks the internet and online gaming often provide helpful spaces for children, and why he thinks attempts to legally restrict internet access are more the result of moral panic than sound social science.
Previous appearance:
- " Are Kids Depressed Because They Just Don't Play Anymore ?" April 25, 2017
0:00—What is the thesis of Restoring Childhood?
6:53—How childhood got taken over by adults
17:23—Parents and micromanagement
23:22—Youth anxiety trends and suicide statistics
34:41—Sociological changes in post-war America
41:57—Jonathan Haidt and smartphones
49:05—How Common Core changed schooling
58:16—Sweden, the U.K., and South Korea
1:02:17—The impact of social media
1:08:49—How schools can restore childhood
1:14:35—How parents can restore childhood
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The post Why Kids Need More Freedom appeared first on Reason Magazine.
