The digital revolution is remaking nearly every aspect of modern life. A top concern of parents, educators and sociologists is screen time. How much is too much? The question points to a larger problem: American children are weirdly held hostage indoors.

In theory, suburban neighborhoods offer the convenience of the city and the space of the country. In practice, it’s too often the worst of both worlds. Our mostly suburban nation suffers the atomization of city living and the isolation of rural life. For kids, this means a life lived primarily indoors, sitting still.

According to a new survey from the Institute for Family Studies, 60% of 6-year-olds have access to internet-connected tablets, but 58% of kids that age aren’t allowed to play in their own yards unsupervised. Parents are busy, and they neither can nor should be micromanagers. But when kids can’t entertain themselves outside, the screen becomes the babysitter.

Things aren’t better for older kids. At 11, 1 in 4 kids aren’t allowed outside without adult supervision. More than half of 14-year-olds don’t have permission to leave their streets.

This is new. For children trapped in America’s industrialized school system, too much of life is defined by passivity. Adolescence should be an exciting coming-of-age period, a gradual transition to adulthood. If we don’t give teenagers more responsibility, we’re failing to prepare them for the world they’ll soon lead. Read more» (paywall)

Ben Sasse | “Ben Sasse: The Indoor Childhood Is Bad For America” | Wall Street Journal (May 25, 2026).

RESOURCES

• R. Scott Clark, What’s Wrong With Boys?
• Subscribe to The Heidelblog!
• Download the HeidelApp on Apple App Store or Google Play
• Browse the Heidelshop!
• The Heidelblog Resource Page
• Heidelmedia Resources
• The Ecumenical Creeds
• The Reformed Confessions
• The Heidelberg Catechism
• The Heidelberg Catechism: A Historical, Theological, & Pastoral Commentary (Lexham Press, 2025)
• Recovering the Reformed Confession (Phillipsburg: P&R Publishing, 2008)
• Why I Am A Christian
• What Must A Christian Believe?
• Heidelblog Contributors
• Support Heidelmedia: use the donate button or send a check to

Heidelberg Reformation Association

1637 E. Valley Parkway #391

Escondido CA 92027

USA

The HRA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization

Post authored by:

• Heidelblog

  

  The Heidelblog has been in publication since 2007. It is devoted to recovering the Reformed confession and to helping others discover Reformed theology, piety, and practice.

  More by Heidelblog ›