How over-protective parents raised an anxious generation | Lenore Skenazy episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 7, 2026 · 22 MIN

How over-protective parents raised an anxious generation | Lenore Skenazy

from The spiked podcast · host The spiked podcast

When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old use the New York Subway on his own, she was dubbed ‘America’s Worst Mom’. In our age of safetyism, children are expected to be supervised, monitored and coddled at all times – not left alone to explore the outside world. No generation has ever been so sheltered. And nor has any generation felt so anxious and depressed. Here, Lenore Skenazy – president of Let Grow – makes the case for free-range parenting, for letting kids have some independence from their parents, and toning down the panic over ‘stranger danger’. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old use the New York Subway on his own, she was dubbed ‘America’s Worst Mom’. In our age of safetyism, children are expected to be supervised, monitored and coddled at all times – not left alone to explore the outside world. No generation has ever been so sheltered. And nor has any generation felt so anxious and depressed. Here, Lenore Skenazy – president of Let Grow – makes the case for free-range parenting, for letting kids have some independence from their parents, and toning down the panic over ‘stranger danger’. Read spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/     Support spiked: https://www.spiked-online.com/support/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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How over-protective parents raised an anxious generation | Lenore Skenazy

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When Lenore Skenazy let her nine-year-old use the New York Subway on his own, she was dubbed ‘America’s Worst Mom’. In our age of safetyism, children are expected to be supervised, monitored and coddled at all times – not left alone to explore the...

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