7 Ways to Parent with Intention in 2026 (And Avoid Common Mistakes)

In this book, Alison Gopnik illuminates the paradoxes of parenthood from a scientific perspective and challenges the myth of 'good parenting'. She argues that the contemporary approach to parenting, which has become obsessive, controlling, and goal-oriented, is not only based on bad science but also detrimental to both children and parents. Gopnik draws on human evolution and her own research to show that children are designed to be messy, unpredictable, playful, and imaginative, and that caring for them should not involve shaping them into a particular type of adult.

In 'The Anxious Generation', Jonathan Haidt examines the sudden decline in the mental health of adolescents starting in the early 2010s. He attributes this decline to the shift from a 'play-based childhood' to a 'phone-based childhood', highlighting mechanisms such as sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation, addiction, loneliness, social contagion, and perfectionism that interfere with children’s social and neurological development. Haidt proposes four simple rules to address this issue: no smartphones before high school, no social media before age 16, phone-free schools, and more opportunities for independence, free play, and responsibility. The book offers a clear call to action for parents, teachers, schools, tech companies, and governments to restore a more humane childhood and end the epidemic of mental illness among youth.