Search / 15 posts tagged freerangekids

As a child, summertime meant playing with my friends all day.  Outside. Without a parent hovering over me.  It was simple.  We jumped out of bed, snarfed down some breakfast and raced out to meet the "pack of kids" that roamed the neighborhood.  We played until the streetlamps came on.  Then?  We

Why I Let My 9 Year Old Ride The Subway Alone August 12, 2008 by journeytocrunchville This is a piece from one of my new favorite blogs, Free Range Kids. I love the comparison of New York City being as safe as Provo, Utah. I am looking forward to doing more research on the actual statistical dangers of what this world is really like these days.

Free Range Does NOT Mean Criminally Negligent Posted on May 24, 2008. Back in April, Lenore Skenazy wrote a column for The New York Sun called “Here’s Your MetroCard, Kid” or “Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone”. It started a bit of a firestorm, with the morning news shows picking up the story and requesting interviews with “America’s Worst Mom”.

I’ve been thinking some more about free range parenting particularly as it pertains to safety, or our society’s risk aversion. I think that the extent to which children can be left unsupervised is directly proportional to parents’ ability to count on their neighbors - writ large - to keep her children safe.

An interesting article in yesterday’s Globe & Mail about “free range parenting”, read it here. I meant to blog about it yesterday but was too busy driving my children to their Mandarin and Eastern art appreciation classes. Just kidding! Seriously, Tuesday is one of two days out of seven where our children don’t need to be driven somewhere.

If you talk to people you’ll hear all about how the world is going to hell because parents aren’t watching their children anymore. I can hardly go to church, have lunch or momchat on the playground without hearing this come up.

(Lenore Skenazy and her son Izzy) For those of you who don’t have kids, you may not be aware of Lenore Skenazy and her precocious son in desperate need of a haircut, Izzy.  They made headlines when Skenazy allowed her grade schooler to travel the buses and subways of New York City unescorted.

Filed under: Health and Safety, Doing it myself, Toddler, Preschooler, Pre-teen, Teenager, Blogs, Parental relationships, In the NewsWhen I was 11, I had a summer job. Five days a week, I rode my 10-speed two miles into town and babysat three kids. The oldest was 10, furious that her babysitter was only a year older than her.

You might recall the controversy that got kicked up by a New York Sun reporter's account of allowing her nine-year-old to ride the subway alone. She was both pilloried by people who compared her behavior to child abuse, and praised by people who want more freedom for their kids.

New York City, for instance, is safer than it’s ever been; it’s ranked 136th in crime among all American cities. Just before the new millenium rolled in I was reading about what would be the new buzz words for 2000. Your labels for this post are right on and I agree with the concept to a certain extent.