How many of you spent hours playing outside unsupervised when you were a kid? Made a dirt bike path in that big vacant lot? Walked to school by yourself? Ran down to the grocery store to get some milk for your mom? Were dropped off at the mall to hang out with friends? Played along the stream in the nature preserve down the street? Yep, I see you nodding your heads. A lot of great childhood memories, I'm sure.
Now, how many of you would let your own child do these things?
That's what I thought.
We've all been freaked out by abduction stories we've seen on the news, and safety "warnings" we've seen forwarded around in emails. There are parents who won't even let their preteens play basketball in their own driveway unsupervised. Parents who won't let their kids walk to school when it's a half a block away from their house. What is this world coming to? What is so different today than from when we were kids that parents have begun being paranoid the way they have?
Free-Range Kids is written by Lenore Skenazy. You may be more familiar with her by the name the media gave her: "America's Worst Mom". You know who she is -- that mother who let her nine-year old son ride the subway in New York? I see you nodding your head again.
In her book, Lenore shares some really eye-opening information that may make you re-think your own parenting philosophy, as it did mine. Did you know that according to the Crimes Against Children Research Center, violent crime in America has been falling since it peaked in the '90s, and children today are statistically as safe from violent crime as when we parents were growing up in the '70s-'90s? Childhood abductions have not increased -- they're just talked about more thanks to sensationalistic TV news headlines and round-the-clock news channels.
Lenore states that "the problem is that we parents feel that childhood is more dangerous for our kids than it was for us" and in the book looks at where those fears come from and why they're difficult to give up. Personally, after reading this book, I felt a tremendous weight lifted off of my chest. I've since started taking baby steps towards being a free-range parent.
Whether or not you agree with free-range parenting, I think it would benefit all parents to read this book. After all, we're all trying to do the same thing: "Raising happy, responsible, independent young people is parenting's goal." And that's coming from America's Worst Mom.
Learn More:
- Free-Range Kids Blog: "At Free Range, we believe in safe kids. We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school age children go outside, they need a security detail." Chime in with your thoughts! This is the author's blog.
- Richard Louv's Last Child in the Woods: You've heard about this guy too. Louv claims that "the child in nature is an endangered species". Lenore also mentioned him several times in her book -- children are suffering from what he calls nature-deficit disorder, and part of the reason why is they don't get much time outdoors -- much less unsupervised time -- because people are so paranoid about their kids being hurt / abducted. His website has resources such as Nature Activities for Kids and Families, Books and Websites, and tons of other great stuff.
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