Chasing Childhood

A sober, thoughtful documentary that quietly worries about modern childhood and asks viewers to reconsider how kids grow up.

Directed by

Eden Wurmfeld, Margaret Munzer Loeb

Genres

Documentary

Starring

Peter Gray, Lenore Skenazy

Tagline

All work and no play is no way for kids to grow up.

Overview

In today's highly charged world of structure, stranger danger, and helicopter parenting, free play in childhood has disappeared, giving way to unprecedented anxiety and depression. This phenomenon impacts kids from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds. Children's lives are consumed with wall-to-wall activities and constant monitoring-the overprotected, over-directed, over-pressured childhood is the new normal. This film takes us to schools in affluent Wilton, CT; working class Patchogue, NY; and metropolitan Manhattan. Throughout these different stories, a central question emerges: How can we eschew harmful parenting strategies and empower our kids to become their most fully realized, authentic selves? The film offers possible solutions as journalist Lenore Skenazy, evolutionary psychologist Peter Gray, former dean of freshmen at Stanford University Julie Lythcott-Haims, and leaders of the "free play" movement fight to restore a less curated childhood.

How it feels

Measured and needs your attention.

About

Parenthood, education, identity, isolation

Content

Mild language. No violence, gore or sexual content.

Note

Written by AI, so it can be wrong. Full breakdown

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Watch the trailer on YouTube (opens in a new tab)