Pat Whelan

This is something: an article in the Journal of Pediatric Medicine makes the case that the rise in anxiety and depression in children and youth is linked to the severe (and relatively recent) curtailing of independence. Roaming, making choices, getting into a little trouble, it turns out, is a necessary part of growing up. When you take this away, children become unable to navigate the ebbs and flows of the real world. I made this argument in my TED talk a decade ago about the importance of walking to school - arguing that walking to school is not frivolous, but rather critical, to childhood. Another blow against cities designed for driving. “Our thesis is that a primary cause of the rise in mental disorders is a decline over decades in opportunities for children and teens to play, roam, and engage in other activities independent of direct oversight and control by adults.” jpeds.com/article/S0022-3476…