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Welcome to The Spectator Podcast. I'm Isabel Harvon. On this week's episode, we'll be looking at whether the kids are all right or if they're not being exposed to enough risk. We'll also be asking whether Philip Hammond's cautious approach is suited to the present economy

and considering why the best minds of a generation were lost to trash TV.

First up, with Scotland outlawing smacking and safe spaces coddling students,

it sometimes seems like the sharp edges of childhood have been sanded down.

That's why our children are so unhappy,

writes Rod Little in the magazine this week. But to kids really need to be exposed to the world,

or are there good reasons why we don't let nine-year-olds ride alone on the underground?

To discuss, I'm joined by Rod and Lenore Sconesi, founder of the Free Range Kids Movement.

So, Rod, you say that smacking children is one of

life's harmless little pleasures? What on earth is wrong with you? Clearly something very,

very serious. I think there's no normal person would think that. I was just a light-hearted look at

what the Scots proposed to do. I don't really think it's a great idea to smack kids,

particularly.

But then I also don't think it's a great idea for the government to get too involved in telling

parents what they can and can't do within limits, of course.

I don't think we should actually murder children or indeed, uh, Countenance FGM.

So, no, that was a lighthearted start, Isabel.

And it was a lighthearted start to, to your wider point, which is that children are very unhappy

because of the way that their parents treat them. Is that right?

I think it's probably to do with the way they are reared, because I can't work out from the

multitude of figures, what else could be driving it? I mean, it is quite remarkable. We've seen

...