The Self-Driven Child: The Science and Sense of Giving Your Kids More Control Over Their Lives

by William Stixrud and Ned Johnson

This parenting guide focuses on the importance of promoting autonomy and resilience in children. The authors draw on scientific research and their own experiences to provide practice advice for parents who want to raise self-driven and emotionally healthy children. This book factors in important aspects of increasing levels of stress, anxiety, and depression among children and adolescents and argues that one of the key reasons for these challenges is the lack of control and choice children have over their own lives. The authors promote that by nurturing autonomy, we can help our children develop resilience, self-motivation, and a strong sense of self. This book highlights the importance of letting children struggle and experience failure as a method of fostering their growth and development. This book shifts the parenting perspective toward that of a support and guide while allowing children to solve problems on their own in order to develop critical thinking skills, confidence, and and the ability to bounce back from setbacks.

Recommended for parents with kids ages birth through teenage years.