Lost Debate Why America’s Kids Are Anxious
Sep 24, 2025
Lenore Skenazy, author of *Free-Range Kids* and president of Let Grow, dives into the impact of overparenting on children’s anxiety and competence. She discusses how fear-driven parenting and surveillance technology have reshaped childhood, contrasting modern fears with the freedom of 1990s childhoods. Poll findings reveal that kids crave unstructured play over screen time, and Skenazy argues for restoring independence to combat rising youth anxiety. The importance of allowing children to take risks and learn skills is emphasized as a path to healthier development.
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Risk Perception Is Distorted
- Parents wildly overestimate stranger abduction risk; true odds are vanishingly small compared to perceptions.
- That fear reshaped parenting since the 1980s and drives excessive supervision and anxiety.
Competence Lost Through Over‑Protection
- Many children lack basic hands-on experiences like using a sharp knife or walking alone in their neighborhood.
- Removing these opportunities erodes competence, which in turn lowers confidence.
Frame Trade‑Offs, Then Let Go
- Reframe parental choices by weighing trade-offs instead of defaulting to worst-case thinking.
- Teach small safety rules and gradually grant independence so kids build agency and resilience.
