Growing Up

What makes us who we are? How do parents mold children into who they are? In this hour, TED speakers reflect on how our upbringing shapes us.

Tinkering School Founder Gever Tulley says that when kids are given sharp tools and matches, their imaginations take off and they become better problem-solvers. Journalist Jennifer Senior says the goal of raising happy children is so elusive it has put modern, middle-class parents into a panic. She says there's no right way to parent. Poet Lemn Sissay was raised by the state. He talks about the empty space where his family should have been. Writer Andrew Solomon dives into his childhood to describe moments of great adversity, and how they helped him build identity.

Learn more or listen again to this week's episode.