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Peter Gray Ph.D.

About

Peter Gray, Ph.D., research professor at Boston College, is author of Free to Learn (Basic Books) and Psychology (Worth Publishers, a college textbook now in its 8th edition). He has conducted and published research in neuroendocrinology, developmental psychology, anthropology, and education. He did his undergraduate study at Columbia University and earned a Ph.D. in biological sciences at Rockefeller University. His current research and writing focus primarily on children's natural ways of learning and the life-long value of play. He a founding member of the nonprofit Alliance for Self-Directed Education and a founding board member of the nonprofit Let Grow. His own play includes not only his research and writing, but also long distance bicycling, kayaking, back-woods skiing, and vegetable gardening.

Books by Peter Gray Ph.D.
Recent Posts
In Praise of Amateurism
For the professional, the activity is a way to earn a living; for the amateur, it is a way to live. Your amateur activity may well be more "you" than is your profession. Here's why.
Why Do We Work So Much?
Automation should have reduced our work hours. Why hasn't it? Here are societal and psychological reasons for why it hasn't and prospects for a "post-work society."
Multiple Causes of Increase in U.S. Teen Suicides Since 2008

While suicide rates for U.S. teens were rising sharply, rates for EU teens were unchanged or even declined a bit. What happened in the U.S. but not in Europe to cause this?

While suicide rates for U.S. teens were rising sharply, rates for EU teens were unchanged or even declined a bit. What happened in the U.S. but not in Europe to cause this?

Benefits and Challenges of Social Media Use for Teens

Why do teens spend so much time on social media? What do they get out of it? What do they see as the positive and negative effects it has on their mental health?

Why do teens spend so much time on social media? What do they get out of it? What do they see as the positive and negative effects it has on their mental health?

Has Social Media Harmed Teens' Mental Health?

Multiple lines of research fail to provide convincing evidence that time on screens or social media accounts for the recent rise of depression and suicide in kids.

Multiple lines of research fail to provide convincing evidence that time on screens or social media accounts for the recent rise of depression and suicide in kids.

Why Did Teens' Suicides Increase Sharply from 2008 to 2019?

Kids' own reports, and the timing of mental breakdowns and suicides over the school calendar, make it clear that school has become a major source of students' psychological distress.

Kids' own reports, and the timing of mental breakdowns and suicides over the school calendar, make it clear that school has become a major source of students' psychological distress.

Causes of Kids' Gradual Loss of Freedom from 1950 to 1990

TV, adult-directed sports, gradual exclusion from public spaces, and declining opportunities for meaningful employment contributed to decline in freedom and in kids' mental health.

TV, adult-directed sports, gradual exclusion from public spaces, and declining opportunities for meaningful employment contributed to decline in freedom and in kids' mental health.

Why Did Teen Suicides Decline Sharply from 1990 to 2005?

The suicide rate for U.S. teens increased from 1950 to 1990 and then decreased. Here is my theory as to why teens' mental health improved for a few years beginning about 1990.

The suicide rate for U.S. teens increased from 1950 to 1990 and then decreased. Here is my theory as to why teens' mental health improved for a few years beginning about 1990.