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

Upcoming Reason Events

The World Premiere of Escaping Venezuela on October 13

The post Why Kids Need More Freedom appeared first on Reason Magazine.