1KHO 586: Play-Based Childhoods Are Being Stolen | Nicole Runyon, Free to Fly

The 1000 Hours Outside Podcast

Ginny Yurich

Parenting, Kids & Family

4.9 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 September 2025

⏱️ 61 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What happens when kids grow up without free play? Licensed therapist Nicole Runyon, LMSW, has been on the frontlines of America’s childhood mental health crisis, and what she’s seen is sobering: most of the children filling therapy offices don’t actually need therapy—they need their parents to reclaim the foundations of childhood. In this episode, we dig into her groundbreaking book Free to Fly and uncover why play, movement, discomfort, and independence are not luxuries—they are the very building blocks of healthy development. Screens, overpathologizing, and permissive parenting are stealing what used to come naturally, and our kids are paying the price. Nicole explains why play-based childhoods are being stolen from today’s iGeneration, how “drug addiction begins with the iPad,” and why discomfort is not the enemy but the doorway to confidence and resilience. We cover everything from the dangers of tracking teens and delaying driving, to the epidemic of broken children overwhelmed by screens, junk food, and anxiety. Most importantly, Nicole reminds us that the answer lies within the family unit. Parents have more power than they think, and small, courageous choices can restore independence, health, and joy to the next generation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Why are businesses like HelloVet choosing Apple products and services?
0:04.8	So we started the business two years ago.
0:07.2	We had a few people who were used to PCs and this was their first foray into Macs.
0:12.5	But it's been super smooth getting everyone onto those devices and everyone seems really, really happy.
0:18.0	Find out how Mac can help you run and grow your business at apple.com forward slash
0:23.6	HelloVet.
0:25.9	Welcome to the 1000 Hours Outside podcast.
0:28.4	My name is Ginny Urich.
0:29.6	I'm the founder of 1000 Hours Outside.
0:31.6	And I am so excited.
0:33.1	I have read a book that I think every single parent and educator in the country should read.
0:37.4	It is called Free to Fly. It is remarkably good. I have read a book that I think every single parent and educator in the country should read. It is called Free to Fly. It is remarkably good. I have so many notes, The Secret to Fostering Independence in the Next Generation, the author, License Master Social Worker, Nicole Renion, is here. Welcome, Nicole. Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. I am so excited that you're here. This book is, wow, I
0:54.9	highlighted almost the entire thing. I'd love to start here. You're working with kids, and because
1:00.2	you're working with kids and you're often working with families, because kids exist inside of a family.
1:04.1	And you have this statement in this book called Free to Fly, where you say, it's not the kids,
1:08.4	it's the parent. I estimated 70% of my child psychotherapy practice
1:13.4	were kids whose parents needed coaching and the remaining 30% were kids who needed therapy can you
1:20.3	expand on that tell us what's going on yes so i was getting an influx of child clients, starting around 2014, 2015. When I first went into
1:31.8	private practice, I was a generalist, I saw everybody, and because I saw kids, I got all the
1:37.3	kid referrals in my area. And over the course of the next five years, the influx was growing. And it was to the point where I had a
1:49.2	wait list. I was turning desperate families away. The other therapists in my area were also full.
1:57.6	And I really started to think about what's happening. Why are all these kids struggling so much? And I dug
	...

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