Includes bibliographical references and index.

The taming of the child -- Into the corral -- No work and no play -- Real play -- The wildness within -- The importance of solitude -- Childhood lost -- Adulthood arrested -- Saving inner wildness.

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.