Who's in Charge?

William Stixrud and Ned Johnson argue in "The Self-Driven Child" that the nightly screen battle isn't about devices: it's about control, and a self-regulation muscle that atrophies when parents hold the remote. Drawing on Jean Twenge's locus-of-control research and Edward Deci's 1971 puzzle experiment, they show why externally imposed rules breed compliance, not internalization. Their alternative is the consultant parent: you set the framework, the child manages within it.

You'll learn:

- Why the "screen budget meeting" beats nightly negotiation

- How transition warnings tied to game rounds reduce resistance

- What Deci's self-determination theory reveals about intrinsic motivation