Parenting experts say / children need to learn independence and resilience.

But cities and suburbs don't offer / safe walk and bike routes to school, / malls kick teenagers out / on the weekends, / and free time disappears / under a spreadsheet of activities.

All of those "musts" take / more of the parents' time or money / to navigate, / because the child can't do it / on their own.

As Darby Saxbe, a clinical psychologist, recently wrote / in the New York Times, / "underparenting requires structural change."

Unlike most political experts, / she's not just talking / about economic policies / like family leave and government-supported childcare.

She's talking / about actual physical structures, / and the cultural change required / to populate them.

We need / to "build back our tolerance / for children in public spaces," / she writes, / "and create safe environments / where lightly supervised kids can move around freely."

To help parents raise independent children, / cities and suburbs need to create / supportive environments, / where parents can keep their children / under mild supervision, / through changes / in physical structure and culture.