The whole season 3 of the UnschoolingFuture Podcast will be devoted to kids’ and teens’ digital rights and access to information. This is because I’m writing and illustrating a (comic) book about kids’ and teens’ freedom to self-direct their online learning. The book will be called Free to Browse. 

What are the actual reasons why children and teens are so stressed out? By controlling their online lives, are we taking the last vestige of freedom that children and teens had? What is the tipping point theory of social change and when can we expect a wider acceptance of children’s ability to self-direct their learning and possibly less discrimination of youngsters as a minority? 

For this episode, I had the honor to sit down with my long time hero Peter Gray, research professor at Boston College, famous for his studies of children’s play and self-directed learning. Professor Gray is also the author of Psychology, an introductory textbook that has survived many editions, and of the hugely popular book Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Enjoy this conversation with Peter Gray.

Resources:

Peter Gray, Autumn Erdahl Solomon, Leah Tatgenhorst, Public Libraries as Centers for Play A Survey and Case Examples, American Journal of Play, Volume 14, number 2, 2022

Peter Gray’s papers can be found on his Psychology Today about page

Peter Gray, Free to Learn: Why Unleashing the Instinct to Play Will Make Our Children Happier, More Self-Reliant, and Better Students for Life. Basic Books, 2013