Mike McLeod, ADHD executive function expert and founder of GrowNOW ADHD, discusses the hidden crisis in childhood caused by technology and over-scheduling. He emphasizes reclaiming play and independence to combat stress and anxiety in children. McLeod advocates for prioritizing life skills like resilience and social interactions, warning against the dangers of excessive screen time. He provides parents with practical tools to simplify their approach, fostering authentic childhood experiences and empowering kids for a brighter future.
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insights INSIGHT
Summer Lost Its Joy
Summer used to be a time of relief and play, not stress and planning for parents.
The rise of screens, decline of community play, and parental isolation have engineered summer for burnout.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Choose Outdoor Play Over Screens
Eliminate screens during summer to promote better school performance and mental health.
Organize local groups for kids to play outside instead of expensive camps.
volunteer_activism ADVICE
Let Kids Experience Boredom
When kids say "I'm bored," parents should resist the urge to entertain them immediately.
Encourage kids to self-regulate and find their own ways to cope with boredom.
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Homeschooling, You're Doing It Right Just By Doing It
Homeschooling, You're Doing It Right Just By Doing It
Ginny Yurich
American girls
social media and the secret lives of teenagers
Nancy Jo Sales
In 'American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers,' Nancy Jo Sales delves into the lives of over two hundred girls aged thirteen to nineteen across the United States. The book exposes a culture where social media platforms like Instagram, Whisper, Vine, YouTube, Kik, Ask.fm, and Tinder dominate the lives of teenage girls. Sales documents how this hypersexualized culture, rife with sexism and the objectification of women, affects girls' self-esteem, communication skills, and overall development. The book highlights issues such as the casual exchange of nude photographs, slut-shaming, and the pervasive influence of online pornography and reality TV stars. It also explores how social media fosters narcissism, competition, bullying, and addiction, and argues for the need to address these issues to protect the well-being of teenage girls.
What if the root of our youth mental health crisis isn’t just academic pressure or social media—but the quiet erasure of childhood itself? In this gripping and deeply practical episode, ADHD executive function expert Mike McLeod to The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast for his most urgent conversation yet. Together, we dive into the realities of raising kids in a screen-saturated, performance-obsessed culture—and what it’s costing them. From summer packets to chatbots replacing real relationships, we explore how childhood has been engineered for burnout, and why reclaiming play, boredom, and independence is the antidote our kids desperately need.
Mike makes a compelling case that parenting doesn’t need to be more complicated—it needs to be simpler, more connected, and more rooted in what actually works. He lays out three critical skills to focus on this summer: people skills, executive function, and the ability to persevere through boredom. If you’ve ever felt the ache that something about modern childhood is off, this conversation will give you language, vision, and tools to chart a better path forward. It’s not about doing more—it’s about doing less of the wrong things and giving our kids their childhood (and future) back.
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Learn more about Mike and all he has to offer (including his phenomenal podcast) here
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