When I was growing up, my mom was very nervous to let me out of the house on my own. In elementary school, I was one of the first to get my own cell phone. My mom wanted me to be able to call her after I walked just one street from the bus stop to our house after school. She would talk about how in her childhood, she would be outside playing all day until dark, but unfortunately these days the world is more dangerous. My mom isn’t alone in thinking this way. In Stolen Focus, Johann Hari reflects on how his parents’ childhood was like this too. Hari watches as kids in a Columbian village partake in this lifestyle that’s so rare now among children. He spends time with activist Lenore Skenazy, who faced backlash after allowing her 9-year-old son to find his way back home alone in New York City. 

It’s no secret that the way we grow up nowadays causes us to be different from our parents. Technology is deeply integrated in our lives from a young age and it’s changing who we are as humans. I grew up constantly using screens, and this has only increased with each younger generation that comes along. Lenore Skenazy, however, believes that children are being harmed in the way they grow up now and it goes beyond just technology. As Johann Hari states, “if you stop kids from acting on their natural desire to run around, on average, their attention, and the overall health of their brains will suffer.”

The Harms of Safety

There are countless benefits to a child’s development that come from playing with other kids outside. These benefits unfortunately can’t be obtained when we keep them inside and their only play is through a device. Lenore Skenazy explains these benefits to Johann Hari in Stolen Focus. Doing things with other children helps to develop the skill of figuring something out on your own, as well as teaching persuasion and negotiating. Children will also learn to deal with frustration and facing fears, and bond socially. Nowadays, in my experiences and the ones of those around me, we have a lot harder of a time with these important life skills. Although the world can be a scary place, I think parents should encourage their children to get out there more and have these important formative experiences, even if they still keep an eye on them from afar. Safety is important but it seems like there could be such a thing as too much safety, and then it turns into harm.