We’ve got something special for you this week. We previously had economist, professor, and author Emily Oster on the show, where she shared her invaluable insights on parenting, pregnancy, and motherhood. We loved the conversation so much that we wanted to introduce you to her own podcast, Raising Parents.

When Emily was a kid in the 1980s in New Haven, Connecticut, she grew up on a block with a lot of other children. Every day after dinner, around 6:30, everyone emptied out of their houses and went down to the church parking lot where they engaged in all kinds of unsupervised activities—throwing balls at each other in front of the church wall, climbing up trees and sometimes falling out of them, riding Hot Wheels until people skinned their knees. There was street hockey and there were scrapes. There were a few broken arms. 

That experience of playing outside unsupervised in the dark—or walking a mile home from school in kindergarten—is very different from her own children’s experiences, even though they’re growing up in a very similar environment, with very similar parents. They aren’t leaving the house every day after dinner. If Emily had suggested that they walk home from school in kindergarten, even though it’s only a couple of blocks, there’s no chance that would have been met with the school’s acceptance.

Since 1955, there has been a continuous decline in children’s opportunities to engage in free play, away from adult intervention and control. In 1969, 47 percent of kids walked or biked to school, whereas in 2009 that number had plummeted to 12 percent.

How did we get here? What are the consequences of hypervigilant parenting? On kids’ happiness? On their well-being? Their mental health? And on their ability to grow into independent, self-sufficient, and successful adults? And, maybe most importantly, how can we alter this trajectory before it’s too late?

***

Resources from this episode:
Timothy Carney: Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be (Bookshop))
Jonathan Haidt: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Bookshop)
Lenore Skenazy: Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow (Bookshop)
Let Grow 
Free Range Kids
Jonathan Haidt in The FPhttps://www.thefp.com/t/jonathan-haidt 

We&rsquo;ve got something special for you this week. We previously had economist, professor, and author Emily Oster on the show, where she shared her invaluable insights on parenting, pregnancy, and motherhood. We loved the conversation so much that we wanted to introduce you to her own podcast, Raising Parents.
When Emily was a kid in the 1980s in New Haven, Connecticut, she grew up on a block with a lot of other children. Every day after dinner, around 6:30, everyone emptied out of their houses and went down to the church parking lot where they engaged in all kinds of unsupervised activities&mdash;throwing balls at each other in front of the church wall, climbing up trees and sometimes falling out of them, riding Hot Wheels until people skinned their knees. There was street hockey and there were scrapes. There were a few broken arms.&nbsp;
That experience of playing outside unsupervised in the dark&mdash;or walking a mile home from school in kindergarten&mdash;is very different from her own children&rsquo;s experiences, even though they&rsquo;re growing up in a very similar environment, with very similar parents. They aren&rsquo;t leaving the house every day after dinner. If Emily had suggested that they walk home from school in kindergarten, even though it&rsquo;s only a couple of blocks, there&rsquo;s no chance that would have been met with the school&rsquo;s acceptance.
Since 1955, there has been a continuous decline in children&rsquo;s opportunities to engage in free play, away from adult intervention and control. In 1969, 47 percent of kids walked or biked to school, whereas in 2009 that number had plummeted to 12 percent.
How did we get here? What are the consequences of hypervigilant parenting? On kids&rsquo; happiness? On their well-being? Their mental health? And on their ability to grow into independent, self-sufficient, and successful adults? And, maybe most importantly, how can we alter this trajectory before it&rsquo;s too late?
***
Resources from this episode:
<ul>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.aei.org/profile/timothy-p-carney/">Timothy Carney</a>: Family Unfriendly: How Our Culture Made Raising Kids Much Harder Than It Needs to Be (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/93116/9780063236462">Bookshop</a>))</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://jonathanhaidt.com/">Jonathan Haidt</a>: The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/93116/9780593655030">Bookshop</a>)</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/">Lenore Skenazy</a>: Free-Range Kids: How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow (<a href="https://bookshop.org/a/93116/9781119782148">Bookshop</a>)</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://letgrow.org/">Let Grow</a>&nbsp;</li>
<li aria-level="1"><a href="https://www.freerangekids.com/why-i-let-my-9-year-old-ride-the-subway-alone/">Free Range Kids</a></li>
<li aria-level="1">Jonathan Haidt in The FP <a href="https://www.thefp.com/t/jonathan-haidt">https://www.thefp.com/t/jonathan-haidt</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

…Is this it? That’s the question our host Reshma Saujani asks herself daily. She’s the founder of two successful nonprofits, she’s married to a great guy, and she’s raising two beautiful children. She’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted, so why does she feel so unsatisfied? Is this a woman’s version of a midlife crisis? She’s determined to figure it out, and with the strength of her group chat behind her, she’s calling in reinforcements. From Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, to Emily Oster and Cheryl Strayed, to experts, friends, authors and more, Reshma’s going to help us all figure out how we stop trying to just get through this time of life… and actually start living it.

…Is this it? That’s the question our host Reshma Saujani asks herself daily. She’s the founder of two successful nonprofits, she’s married to a great guy, and she’s raising two beautiful children. She’s gotten everything she’s ever wanted, so why does she feel so unsatisfied? Is this a woman’s version of a midlife crisis? She’s determined to figure it out, and with the strength of her group chat behind her, she’s calling in reinforcements. From Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, to Emily Oster and Cheryl Strayed, to experts, friends, authors and more, Reshma’s going to help us all figure out how we stop trying to just get through this time of life… and actually start living it.