LEGACY EVENTS FOR EDUCATION · COMMENTARY ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT · PART 2 OF 2 OPINION & RESEARCH COMMENTARY — Personal opinion informed by published research. Not clinical advice. Consult a licensed mental health professional before acting on any suggestions herein. PART 2 OF 2 · THE PATH FORWARD Finding Your Way Back What the research suggests teens, young adults, and parents can actually do to rebuild autonomy — at any age David A. Terry · President, Legacy Events for Education · legacyeventsfored.org Opinion & Research Commentary · 8 min read · May 2026 IMPORTANT: The practices described below are drawn from published research and offered as a starting point for reflection — not clinical recommendations. Please consult a licensed therapist or counselor, particularly one familiar with self-determination theory, CBT, or adventure-based approaches, before acting on this material if you are experiencing significant anxiety or depression. Part 1: The Stolen Hours Haven’t read Part 1? It covers the research on what happened to childhood and what it produces in teens and young adults today. This piece picks up where it left off. THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION Why Autonomy Can Be Rebuilt Part 1 laid out the evidence: a generation raised in scheduled, supervised, adult-managed environments didn’t develop the internal locus of control — the felt conviction that their choices matter — that unstructured play was quietly building. The result shows up as anxiety, decision paralysis, avoidance, and a pervasive sense that life happens to them rather than through them. Here is the encouraging part: locus of control is not fixed. Research confirms it has a dynamic quality and responds to intervention at any age. [1] The developmental work that free play was doing can still be done at 17 or 24 or 35. The inconvenient part: the only thing that actually does it is the same thing that did it in the first place — real autonomy over real stakes, with real consequences. The most evidence-backed framework here is Self-Determination Theory (SDT) , developed by psychologists Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, which holds that humans have three core needs: autonomy (genuine choice), competence (the experience of mastery), and relatedness (connection to others). A meta-analysis of 184 SDT-informed intervention datasets found that supporting autonomy produced measurable improvements in competence, motivation, and health outcomes. [2] Research on young adults ages 18–30 found that an internal locus of control correlated with approach-based, problem-solving coping — and that interventions actively building internal control showed meaningful results. [3] ◆ SEVEN PRACTICES What the Evidence Actually Supports BEFORE YOU READ ON: These practices are research-informed starting points, not a treatment plan. If you are experiencing significant anxiety, depression, or distress, please work with a licensed mental health professional. 01 Choose Something Hard and Do It Without Being Rescued This is the central mechanism. Internal locus of control is built through accumulated evidence, not insight. As Gray puts it: “How can you have an internal locus of control if you don’t have experience controlling your own life?” [4] It doesn’t need to be dramatic — it needs to be genuine. The outcome matters to you, and no one is standing by to smooth it over. Apply for the thing you’re afraid of. Have the conversation you’ve been avoiding. Each time that loop completes — you chose it, faced it, got through it — your nervous system updates its assessment of you. 02 Sit With Boredom — All the Way Through It The ability to tolerate boredom without reaching for your phone or asking someone what to do is the foundation of self-direction. Research finds that children who sit with boredom long enough to find their own way out are building something real. [5] Start small: one hour with no plan, no device, no agenda. See what you reach for from inside yourself. The discomfort is precisely the thing you were never allowed to practice — and practicing it is what builds the capacity. 03 Make Decisions and Stop Seeking Permission Afterwards Many young adults can make a decision but immediately seek confirmation it was the right one. That loop — decide, poll, adjust — is not autonomy. SDT research confirms that environments requiring genuine, unsupported choice are precisely what builds autonomous motivation and wellbeing. [2] Studies on college students found that parental autonomy support was associated with significantly better wellbeing and academic outcomes. [6] Make the decision and let it stand. Uncertainty is simply the feeling of being the one in charge. 04 Find Physical Challenge in Novel Environments Adventure-based interventions are among the most consistently effective for building agency in young adults, showing improvements in stress tolerance and emotional regulation that parallel CBT and DBT outcomes but with higher engagement rates. [7] Rock climbing, wilderness hiking, kayaking, demanding team sports — physical challenge in unfamiliar environments creates felt evidence of competence inside the body. You don’t need a formal program — you need situations that are genuinely demanding, where you rise to meet them on your own. 05 Navigate Conflict Without a Mediator One of the most persistent gaps from over-managed childhoods is near-complete absence of practice resolving conflict without adult intervention. Research confirms that unsupervised peer interaction is where communication, cooperation, and conflict-resolution skills develop — and this does not happen in adult-managed settings. [9] When a disagreement arises: stay present. Say what you think. Hear what they think. Work toward resolution without deferring to a third party. You are likely better at this than you expect. 06 Let Yourself Fail — and Stay With the Aftermath Resilience is not built in the absence of failure. It is built by failing, surviving it, and updating your belief about your own capacity to recover. A 2024 scoping review found that authentic agency — including the freedom to fail — was a critical mechanism in resilience-building programs. [10] If your childhood minimized failure and maximized visible success, you have a gap in your evidence base about your own durability. Attempt things where failure is genuinely possible. When it comes, stay with it long enough to discover it didn’t end you. 07 For Parents: Step Back — Even When It’s Hard to Watch If you are the parent of a teenager or young adult, the research carries a clear and difficult message: continued over-involvement — however loving — may be the primary obstacle to your child developing the capacities you most want them to have. The 2022 systematic review found a direct relationship between overprotective parenting and anxiety and depression. [11] Research on college students found that parental autonomy support was associated with significantly better wellbeing. [6] A qualified family therapist can help you navigate that transition. “It is never too late to do what childhood was for.” The developmental work that free play was doing — building agency, resilience, self-trust, and the quiet conviction that you can handle what comes — is not time-locked to childhood. The research suggests it happens wherever you find the courage to make real choices, face real stakes, and let the evidence accumulate that you are capable of your own life. RESEARCH REFERENCES 1. Hunter, 1994; Newton, 1998; Page & Scalora, 2004. Cited in: Reorienting locus of control through strengths-based interventions. PMC / Frontiers in Psychology. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7522323/ 2. Ng, J. Y. Y., et al. (2020). A meta-analysis of self-determination theory-informed intervention studies in the health domain. Health Psychology Review. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/17437199.2020.1718529 3. IJFMR Research Team. (2026). The predictive role of coping strategies for locus of control among young adults ages 18–30. https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2026/2/76514.pdf 4. Gray, P. (2024). Improving mental health through independent play. Harvard GSE EdCast. https://www.gse.harvard.edu/ideas/edcast/24/02/improving-mental-health-through-independent-play 5. The Heretic Media. (2026). Let children play: The unmeasurable component imperative for development. https://www.theheretic.media/post/let-children-play-the-unmeasurable-component-imperative-for-development 6. Schiffrin, H. H., et al. (2014) / Cullaty, B. (2011). Parental autonomy support and college student outcomes. Journal of Child and Family Studies. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10826-017-0750-4 7. Momentum Recovery. (2024). The research case for adventure therapy: Studies on outdoor interventions and stress tolerance. https://www.momentumrecovery.com/blog/does-adventure-therapy-work-research-evidence 8. Gray, P. / Let Grow Foundation. (2023). From an evolutionary standpoint, why do children engage in risky play? https://www.inspiringinquiry.com/the-learner/play 9. American Psychological Association. (2023). The many wondrous benefits of unstructured play. https://www.apa.org/topics/children/kids-unstructured-play-benefits 10. Scoping Review Team. (2025). Risky outdoor play and adventure education in nature: A scoping review. PMC / NIH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12837311/ 11. Vigdal, J. S., & Brønnick, K. K. (2022). A systematic review of helicopter parenting and its relationship with anxiety and depression. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9176408/ David A. Terry · President, Legacy Events for Education · legacyeventsfored.org Opinion informed by published research · Not clinical advice · Part 2 of 2

LEGACY EVENTS FOR EDUCATION · COMMENTARY ON YOUTH DEVELOPMENT · PART 1 OF 2 OPINION & RESEARCH COMMENTARY — Personal opinion informed by published research. Not clinical advice. Consult a licensed mental health professional before acting on any suggestions herein. PART 1 OF 2 · THE DIAGNOSIS The Stolen Hours What happened when we scheduled every moment of childhood — and what it produced in a generation of teens and young adults David A. Terry · President, Legacy Events for Education · legacyeventsfored.org Opinion & Research Commentary · 7 min read · May 2026 NOTE: This is my personal opinion, drawn from a review of published psychological research. I am not a clinician. Part 2 of this series covers what the research suggests about finding a way back — please consult a licensed mental health professional before acting on any of it. “I’ve been reading the research on childhood, play, and mental health with growing unease — not because the findings are surprising, but because the implications are hard to sit with. We built a generation of children who were never really trusted with their own lives. And now those children are teenagers and young adults, and the evidence of what was missing is showing up in therapists’ offices, college counseling centers, and kitchen tables across the country.” — David A. Terry, President, Legacy Events for Education PART ONE What Actually Happened to Childhood The shift didn’t happen overnight. Gradually, across the late 1970s and through the 1980s and 90s, children stopped owning their time. Adults took it from them — not out of malice, but out of love, worry, and a cultural belief that a good parent fills every hour with something enriching and safe. Before that shift, kids left after breakfast and came home when the streetlights came on. They built things, broke things, argued, got bored, invented rules, broke those too. There was no adult standing by to adjudicate conflicts. There was just life — unfiltered and fully theirs. What replaced it — structured playdates, supervised activities, scheduled enrichment — came from a genuine place of care. The intentions were good. The consequences were not. Boston College psychologist Peter Gray documented a steady fall in unsupervised activity beginning in the 1960s, running almost perfectly parallel to a steady rise in childhood anxiety, depression, and helplessness. [1] Gray argues this is not merely correlational but causal — free play is the primary mechanism through which children develop emotional self-regulation, conflict resolution, and what psychologists call an internal locus of control : the felt conviction that your choices shape your life. A review by the American Psychological Association confirms it: play not organized by adults helps children build resilience and develop organic social competence that structured activities cannot replicate. [2] A 2022 systematic review in Frontiers in Psychology pinpointed when overprotective parenting took hold: around 1985, partly traced to the rise of the parent-supervised playdate. [3] “By depriving children of opportunities to play on their own, away from direct adult supervision and control, we are depriving them of opportunities to learn how to take control of their own lives.” — Dr. Peter Gray, Boston College · American Journal of Play, 2011 Jean Twenge’s meta-analysis at San Diego State — examining over 18,000 Americans across four decades — found that by 2002, the average young person felt more externally controlled than 80% of young people in the early 1960s. [4] In two generations, an entire culture shifted from “I shape my life” to “life happens to me.” That shift tracked directly with rising anxiety and depression. UBC’s Dr. Mariana Brussoni reinforced why unstructured play matters physically too. Her 2015 systematic review of 21 studies found overwhelmingly positive effects when children could take physical risks — climb, explore, play without adult management — across health, creativity, social skills, and resilience. [5] A 2025 scoping review of 40 empirical studies extended those findings, consistently identifying resilience, wellbeing, and autonomy as benefits of unstructured environments. [6] ◆ PART TWO What a Scheduled Childhood Actually Builds The problem isn’t that structured activities are harmful. Music lessons and sports have real value. The problem is what gets crowded out when those activities occupy every available hour — the unstructured, self-directed time where the real developmental work happens. When a child navigates a playground conflict without adult intervention, they learn to regulate emotions in real time. When they get bored and have to find their own way out, they build tolerance for discomfort. When they make a bad decision and live with it, they develop an internal locus of control. When all of that is replaced by adult-organized time, something essential doesn’t get built. The research identifies a consistent cluster of outcomes. A 2016 longitudinal study from the National University of Singapore found that children with intrusive parents developed “maladaptive perfectionism” — a deep fear of making mistakes. [7] The 2022 Frontiers in Psychology review found links between helicopter parenting and increased anxiety, depression, lower self-regulation, and reduced self-efficacy. [3] A 2024 meta-analysis in the Journal of Adult Development confirmed a consistent positive association between helicopter parenting and anxiety and depression in emerging adults. [8] In practice, these findings show up as recognizable patterns: Chronic Anxiety Persistent worry, often without a clear cause. The world feels threatening because they never had enough practice trusting themselves inside it. [1,3] Decision Paralysis Profound difficulty making choices. Having been told what to do for so long, genuine autonomy feels less like freedom and more like falling. [4] Low Distress Tolerance Difficulty sitting with boredom, frustration, or uncertainty. Research links play deprivation to rising ADHD prevalence and weakened self-regulation. [9] Fragile Self-Efficacy A shaky belief in their own competence — not because they aren’t capable, but because they have so little evidence of it. [10] Avoidance Patterns Steering away from situations that might involve failure or conflict. External locus of control correlates directly with avoidance-oriented coping. [11] External Validation Hunger A deep need for approval before acting. Childhood in adult-evaluated settings trains young people to look outward for the signal that things are okay. [4] 80% A Generation’s Relationship With Control By 2002, the average young American felt more externally controlled than 80% of young people in the early 1960s — and that shift tracked directly with rising anxiety and depression across the same period. (Twenge et al., 2004 [4]) Here is what I believe the research makes clear: none of this is a character flaw. If you recognize yourself in these patterns, you were not built wrong. Something simply was not built. That is a very different problem — and it has a very different solution. That solution is the subject of Part 2. CONTINUE READING · PART 2 OF 2 Finding Your Way Back  What the research suggests teens, young adults, and parents can actually do — seven evidence-informed practices for rebuilding autonomy at any age. RESEARCH REFERENCES 1. Gray, P. (2011). The decline of play and the rise of psychopathology in children and adolescents. American Journal of Play, 3(4), 443–463. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ985541.pdf 2. American Psychological Association. (2023). The many wondrous benefits of unstructured play. https://www.apa.org/topics/children/kids-unstructured-play-benefits 3. Vigdal, J. S., & Brønnick, K. K. (2022). A systematic review of “helicopter parenting” and its relationship with anxiety and depression. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9176408/ 4. Twenge, J. M., Zhang, L., & Im, C. (2004). It’s beyond my control: A cross-temporal meta-analysis of increasing externality in locus of control, 1960–2002. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8(3), 308–319. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1207/s15327957pspr0803_5 5. Brussoni, M., et al. (2015). What is the relationship between risky outdoor play and health in children? A systematic review. IJERPH, 12(6), 6423–6454. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26062038/ 6. Scoping Review Team. (2025). Risky outdoor play and adventure education in nature for child and adolescent wellbeing: A scoping review. PMC / NIH. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12837311/ 7. National University of Singapore. (2016). Intrusive parenting and maladaptive perfectionism. Cited in: Gottman Institute. https://www.gottman.com/blog/helicopter-parenting-good-intentions-poor-outcomes/ 8. Padilla-Walker, L. M., et al. (2024). Parenting in overdrive: A meta-analysis of helicopter parenting. Journal of Adult Development. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10804-024-09496-5 9. AAP / Institute for Family Studies. (2022). A simple prescription for child well-being: More unstructured play. https://ifstudies.org/blog/a-simple-prescription-for-child-well-being-more-unstructured-play 10. Waldorf Education / ScienceDirect. (2022). Longitudinal Australian study (ages 2–7) linking unstructured play to self-regulation. https://www.waldorfeducation.org/the-essential-benefits-of-play-a-research-based-perspective/ 11. IJFMR Research Team. (2026). The predictive role of coping strategies for locus of control among young adults ages 18–30. https://www.ijfmr.com/papers/2026/2/76514.pdf David A. Terry · President, Legacy Events for Education · legacyeventsfored.org Opinion informed by published research · Not clinical advice · Part 1 of 2