Free Range?

When I was little, I remember being allowed to explore my neighborhood on my own. I would come home from school at a young age (I walked to and from school on my own), do my homework, and would be gone until dinner time. My mother never had to check on me, or question where I had been, because I knew my boundaries and followed them.

Of course, things are different today. We live in a culture of fear, where few parents let their kids out on their own for fear of abduction, etc. And those parents who do dare to let their kids be kids are sometimes view as neglectful and uncaring.

A while back I heard of Lenore Skenazy and her book Free Range Parenting. While I haven't read the book yet, I do read her blog daily. Free Range Parenting has presented me with the solution to this culture of fear. According to her website:

Do you ever…

..let your kid ride a bike to the library? Walk alone to school? Take a bus, solo? Or are you thinking about it? If so, you are raising a Free Range Kid! 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. Most of us grew up Free Range and lived to tell the tale. Our kids deserve no less. This site dedicated to sane parenting.

I imagine her book has a lot of the same principles outlined in The Last Child In The Woods, which I have read and highly recommend. In the meantime, I enjoy reading her blog as she presents daily examples of "helicopter parenting" and opens the comments up for discussion, which can be very interesting.

The Knight and I let our girls go outside and play on their own. They follow the rules and know their boundaries. Sadly, when we first moved in here, we were hesitant to let them out on their own...not because we were afraid something would happen to them, but because we didn't know how the neighbors would react (we had friends who had neighbors call CPS on them because they let their children play outside on their own). While the neighbors seem to not care either way, I do find it sad that while I know there are other children our girls ages who live on our quiet, dead end street...we've never seen or met them. They are never allowed outside to play.

For us, this doesn't just apply to playing outside, either, but to many aspects of our parenting. Both my girls use scissors and knives. They can get their own drinks, food, and dress themselves. I've always allowed them to climb on toddlers on park structure, much to the shock of the other "helicopter parents" that are present. And yes, sometimes when I do have to run into the store really quick to pick up our pizza, or pay for gas, I leave them in the van by themselves.

I curious on your opinion on Free Range Parenting. If you are unfamiliar with the site, go and check out the Why Free Range? section on Lenore's blog, and let me know what you think.

Free Range?