How to raise confident kids in an age of anxiety | Lenore Skenazy

TED Talks Daily

TED

Creativity, Ted Podcast, Ted Talks Daily, Business, Design, Inspiration, Society & Culture, Science, Technology, Education, Tech Demo, Ted Talks, Ted, Entertainment, Tedtalks

4.1 • 11.9K Ratings

🗓️ 11 October 2025

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The secret to reducing childhood anxiety is actually quite simple: just let kids do more stuff on their own, says Lenore Skenazy, cofounder and president of Let Grow, an organization dedicated to normalizing childhood independence. In conversation with TED’s Whitney Pennington Rodgers, Skenazy discusses why parenting has become more demanding in our safety-obsessed world — and offers a more joyful, trusting alternative to helicopter parenting, with tangible steps for how to start safely (and sanely) letting your kids grow. (This conversation was part of an exclusive TED Membership event. TED Membership is the best way to support and engage with the big ideas you love from TED. To learn more, visit ted.com/membership.)

TED Talks Daily is nominated for the Signal Award for Best Conversation Starter Podcast. Vote here!

Interested in learning more about upcoming TED events? Follow these links:

TEDNext: ted.com/futureyou

TEDAI San Francisco: ted.com/ai-sf

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	In a world of seismic change, will your business shape the future or be shaped by it?
0:07.0	How will we capture the imagination of tomorrow's consumers?
0:12.0	Overcome operational constraints to focus on future growth
0:17.0	and unlock economic and social prosperity through environmental responsibility.
0:22.8	With EY's full spectrum of services across sectors, we're all in to shape the future with confidence.
0:29.1	Start your transformation journey at EY.com slash transformation.
0:34.0	Hello, it's Ed Gamble here from the Off Menu podcast.
0:36.7	James Aecaster here. And we are currently
0:38.5	being brought to you by co-op's new meals range, served. Served is all about making midweek meals
0:43.8	delicious yet effortless. It's ready to cook meals prepared with fresh ingredients that's ready
0:47.9	in just 30 minutes, taking the hassle out of cooking without breaking the bank. Choose from one
0:51.9	main and two sides for £ pounds for co-op members.
0:55.5	The meal serves two, so that's £3.50 each. Oh, that's flavour's worth sitting down for, Ed. Without the hassle of all the prep, can pop into your local co-op or get it delivered right to your door in as little as 20 minutes through co-op delivery, Uber eats, deliveroo, or just eat. 8 pounds for non-members ends 28th of October.
1:11.1	Co-op group membership required.
1:12.5	Subject to availability, see co-op.com.
1:14.3	UK forward slash served for details.
1:16.2	Delivery partners, teas and sees apply.
1:17.9	Dinner is served.
1:22.8	Support for TED Talks Daily comes from the Financial Times.
1:26.1	Every day brings an avalanche of headlines. Some are noise.
1:29.9	Some are designed to distract. So how do you know what's worth your attention? That's where the
1:34.4	Financial Times comes in. The FTs journalism delivers clarity, depth, and independence. No spin,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from TED, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of TED and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.