Intro

This chapter explores societal views on parental choices regarding children's independence, highlighted by a personal story of allowing a child to use public transport alone. It underscores the debate around childhood autonomy and the challenges of promoting risk-taking in contemporary parenting.

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I sat down with Lenore Skenazy, founder of the ‘free-range kids’ movement, to explore how fear-based parenting is holding our children back. Once dubbed “The World’s Worst Mom” for letting her 9-year-old ride the New York City subway alone, Lenore has since become a powerful voice challenging the culture of overprotection and anxiety that dominates American parenting. She explains how safetyism, media sensationalism, and misguided laws have created a generation of kids who are less confident, less capable, and more dependent than ever before. Lenore is also the co-founder of Let Grow, an organization dedicated to making it “easy, normal, and legal” to get kids out into the world.

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Follow Lenore on X (formerly Twitter): https://x.com/FreeRangeKids

Learn more about Let Grow: https://letgrow.org/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=12566296070&gbraid=0AAAAACiZd3IWxylN25lbtWazgN-I9BMWb&gclid=Cj0KCQjwoZbBBhDCARIsAOqMEZXmIfShjY9u4V6kj3Z9BCi7HiM5WBNdeXKwydzyDSMxpAXmzKJ5vfcaAtRPEALw_wcB

“Off the Rails” mini-doc: https://youtu.be/bxPPJVbygzs

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Outline:

[0:00] The World’s Worst Mom

[10:16] How the “news” made parents afraid

[20:06] Expert culture overcomplicated parenting

[24:59] “Law and Order” isn’t real life

[30:38] We need action leaders, not thought leaders

[38:47] Parental anxiety is a societal mental illness

[45:47] How “Let Grow” became a clinical treatment

[57:40] Kids need to learn not to outsource their discomfort

[1:05:20] The creative process, hero’s journey, and freedom