Do kids turn to phones because parents restrict their independence?

Episode 208: For years, experts and parents alike have debated how to get children off their devices. Limiting screen time, blocking apps and setting stricter household rules are common strategies. But what if the problem isn’t the technology itself but the loss of freedom to simply be a kid?

Hosts Richard Kyte and Scott Rada look at a revealing report from The Atlantic that asked children directly how they would spend less time online. The most common response was not more rules or stricter discipline — it was more unstructured play with friends, free from constant supervision.

The answers highlight a cultural shift. Over the past several decades, the independence once common for children — riding bikes across town, walking to the corner store or wandering through a local park — has steadily disappeared. Parents often cite safety concerns, and social norms reinforce the idea that letting kids roam is risky. Yet statistics show that many communities are actually safer today than in past generations.

The episode raises an uncomfortable possibility: children are not “addicted” to screens so much as they are starved for spaces where they can make choices and explore without adults hovering nearby. Smartphones, for all their flaws, offer at least the perception of autonomy. They allow young people to connect, interact and discover on their own terms — even if those experiences are shaped by algorithms.

Scott Rada is a digital strategist with Lee Enterprises, and Richard Kyte is the director of the D.B. Reinhart Institute for Ethics in Leadership at Viterbo University in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Kyte is also the author of "Finding Your Third Place: Building Happier Communities (and Making Great Friends Along the Way)."

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