Results 1 to 3 of 3

Thread: Free Range Parenting

  1. #1

    Free Range Parenting

    Since this is a local situation (for me), it has garnered some national attention as well:

    http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/26/living...child-neglect/

    Essentially, these parents are being investigated for child neglect (they've been cleared of one charge) for, during the winter, allowing their kids (10 and 6) to walk to and from a playground a mile away from their home in Silver Spring, Maryland alone without any supervision. In separate instances, the children were picked up by the police and taken home, sparking an phone call into CPS and a formal investigation into neglect and endangerment.

    This has sparked quite a debate here locally lately, so I thought I'd put it to the group.

    One thing I will say is that when we go out West to visit family, and things are a little bit more relaxed, I have a difficult time adjusting because I'm used to being out here where people just don't let their kids out of their site (Myself included: 6, 5, 2).

    It's been interesting to hear the debates from locals here, because, much like them I rode my bike everywhere around the town I grew up in, sometimes several miles away from the house. For better or worse, you just don't see that these days.

    Some have blamed the media for "fear mongering" and making it seem like kids are not safe these days, when apparently the statistics state otherwise. Anyways, interesting discussion.
    “It only ends once. Anything that happens before that is just progress.”

    Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren't looking for anything logical, like money. They can't be bought, bullied, reasoned, or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

  2. #2
    Sam the Sheepdog LA Ute's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2013
    Location
    Los Angeles, California
    Posts
    17,726
    I am a little torn here. When I was a kid walking a mile to a playground was no big deal, but not at age 10 and certainly not at age 6. Now, living in even the most quiet L.A. suburb I would not allow this. Now that's L.A, but I am pretty sure I wouldn't do it in Salt Lake City either. Has the world changed? Is there more danger for kids now than back in those times? I don't know. Maybe we are just more aware of it.

    "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
    --Antoine de Saint-Exupery

    "Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold."
    --Yeats

    “True, we [lawyers] build no bridges. We raise no towers. We construct no engines. We paint no pictures - unless as amateurs for our own principal amusement. There is little of all that we do which the eye of man can see. But we smooth out difficulties; we relieve stress; we correct mistakes; we take up other men's burdens and by our efforts we make possible the peaceful life of men in a peaceful state.”

    --John W. Davis, founder of Davis Polk & Wardwell

  3. #3
    This is a topic I think about a fair amount. One that my wife and I don't really see eye to eye on. Our kids are 7, 6, 2 and 1. year old. The three youngest are boys. I push to give them a little more freedom. My wants to keep the kids from getting hurt. I want to keep the kids from getting injured. I think there's positive value in skinned knees and elbows. We're just getting to the ages with the older two where independency gets more challenging. Here are two articles that I have really appreciated. The Atlantic one is from last year and the Salon article was just published.

    http://www.theatlantic.com/features/...-alone/358631/

    http://www.salon.com/2015/04/19/what...ds_in_the_car/

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •