PLAY PODCASTS
Why You Should Let Your Kids Take Risks - Lenore Skenazy

Why You Should Let Your Kids Take Risks - Lenore Skenazy

Dad Saves America

May 15, 20251h 53m

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (api.substack.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

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.

_____________________________________

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

_____________________________________

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

[1:13:05] How the government makes the problem worse

[1:27:10] Did wealth and progressivism ruin childhood?

[1:37:56] Will the collapse of experts reset parenting?

[1:42:03] Phone surveillance eliminates trust building

[1:49:36] The tide might be turning

_____________________________________

Watch the video version on YouTube: https://youtu.be/QyjPLDmvWQ8

Make a tax-deductible donation to Dad Saves America: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://secure.anedot.com/emergent-order-foundation/dad-website?⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Visit our website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.dadsavesamerica.com/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠



Get full access to Dad Saves America at www.dadsavesamerica.com/subscribe