Lamenting risk-averse parents, over-structured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, Mercogliano argues that we are robbing our young people of "that precious, irreplaceable period in their lives that nature has set aside for exploration and innocent discovery," leaving them ill-equipped to face adulthood. The "domestication of childhood" squeezes the adventure out of kids' lives and threatens to smother the spark that animates each child with talents, dreams, and inclinations.--publisher description.

The pressures of modern life are increasingly squeezing the adventure, the wonder, the physicality-the juice-out of children's lives. Virtually every arena of kids' experience is now subject to some form of outside control, and this is a serious threat to the unique spark that animates every child. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, this book is a clear and compelling plea to save childhood.

Mercogliano argues that todays children are being robbed of that precious, irreplaceable period in their lives that nature has set aside for exploration and innocent discovery, leaving them ill-equipped to face adulthood. He explains what those involved with children can do to protect their spontaneity and exuberance.

As codirector of the Albany Free School, Chris Mercogliano has had remarkable success in helping a diverse population of youngsters find their way in the world. He regrets, however, that most kids' lives are subject to some form of control from dawn until dusk. Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, Mercogliano argues that we are robbing our young people of "that precious, irreplaceable period in their lives that nature has set aside for exploration and innocent discovery," leaving them ill-equipped to face adulthood. The "domestication of childhood" squeezes the adventure out of kids' lives and threatens to smother the spark that animates each child with talents, dreams, and inclinations. There is plenty that those involved with children can do to protect their spontaneity and exuberance. We can address their desperate thirst for knowledge, give them space to learn from their mistakes, and let them explore what their place in the adult world might be.

"As codirector of the Albany Free School, Chris Mercogliano has helped a diverse population of youngsters find their way in the world. In Defense of Childhood examines American youth itself, arguing passionately that the "domestication of childhood" is robbing children of "that irreplaceable period in their lives that our culture has set aside for exploration and innocent discovery." Lamenting risk-averse parents, overstructured school days, and a lack of playtime and solitude, Mercogliano argues that children's "inner wildness" is not being nourished, leaving them ill-equipped to face adulthood. The results, he shows in a chapter on adolescence and transition, are already apparent." ""But all is not lost," Mercogliano writes. There is plenty that those involved with children can do to protect their uniqueness, spontaneity, and exuberance. We can address their desperate need for real knowledge and experience and the chance to learn from their own mistakes rather than be immunized from risk. We can step out of the whirlwind of scheduled activities, standardized tests, and electronic media and help kids to explore where their place in the adult world might lie."--BOOK JACKET.