Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates: ‘My parents didn’t know where I was half the time…’

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates reflected on the value of real-world experiences and the evolving challenges of parenting in the digital age. Sharing a blog post recently, Gates recalled the freedom he enjoyed growing up, where his parents often didn’t know his whereabouts half the time. In the blog post, Gates also emphasized the importance of balancing real-world exploration with responsible digital engagement, shedding light on the parenting paradox of our times.

Bill Gates said:

“My childhood was marked by remarkable freedom—something that might surprise people who assume I spent all day glued to a computer indoors. I went hiking on trails that would terrify today’s parents, explored endlessly with neighborhood friends, and ran around Washington D.C. during my time as a Senate page. When I was in high school, Paul Allen (Microsoft co-founder) and I even lived on our own for a few months in Vancouver, Washington, while working as programmers at a power company. My parents didn’t know where I was half the time, and that was normal back then. While I got hurt on some of these adventures and got in trouble on many others, these experiences were more beneficial than bad. They taught me resilience, independence, and judgment in ways that no amount of supervised, structured activity could replicate."

Childhood habit that helped Bill Gates become a billionaire

Gates also talked about annual “Think Week” that was “crucial” to his success later on. During the Think Week, Gates said he would isolate himself in a cabin “with nothing but a big bag of books and technical papers.”

“For seven days straight, I would read, think, and write about the future, interacting only with the person who dropped off meals for me. I was so committed to uninterrupted concentration during these weeks that I wouldn’t even check my email,” he further stated.

Bill Gates names two parenting crisis

He said that the world is facing two parenting crisis these days – digital under-parenting (giving kids unlimited and unsupervised access to devices and social media) and real-world over-parenting (protecting kids from every possible harm in the real world).

“The result is young people who are suffering from addiction-like behaviors—and suffering, period—while struggling to handle challenges and setbacks that are part of everyday life,” he said.

In the blog post, he recommends The Anxious Generation by New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt. The book delves into how smartphones and social media have "rewired" children’s brains, shedding light on the psychological challenges faced by the digital generation.