http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/
I would be VERY interested in what moms and dads (and, frankly, anyone) out there have to say about the above blog and the woman who recently created it, Lenore Skenazy.
***You may be familiar with the story about this New York columnist and mom who allowed her 9 year old son to ride the subway alone to their Manhattan home from a department store on the Upper East Side. After writing about it in an article, people were either applauding or condemning Lenore--and voicing their opinion on message boards and blogs etc.
"The episode has ignited another one of those debates that divides parents into vocal opposing camps. Are modern parents needlessly overprotective, or is the world a more complicated and dangerous place than it was when previous generations were allowed to roam unsupervised?" ( from an article by Louise Crawford)
Lenore Skenazy and her son Izzy
3 comments:
O.k. fasten your seatbelt - here I go...I'm not quite sure how I feel about this issue. On one hand I think it's so important for kids to learn independence and self reliance. And to learn not to be afraid, but cautious.
On the other hand, when Ben was 5 I lost him for about an hour and I can honestly say it was the most horrific experience - I ran all the worst scenerios through my mind and can't imagine how I would have survived if any of those came true.
I am not as over protective as most parents - I let my kids play outside without me watching over them but I don't think I'd let my 10 year old navigate the streets of Chandler by himself. I'm not that brave. I just do what my gut tells me.
I think the mom is an idiot. I would never let my kids do that. You have to legally be 12 to babysit so why let a 9 year old loose. I would maybe let Abby do it if she was like 15 and was with a group of kids. I would never take the chance of loosing one of my kids. I don't think that is being overprotective. It is just a matter of being a smart mom.
I have been thinking about this all day and even e-mailed some friends asking their opinions. The more I think about it, the more irresponsible I think that mother was. You have to do what you feel is right as the parent - but as the parent you have more wisdom & knowledge. It's just stupid to let a 9-year old loose in a big city. I don't care how familiar with it they are.
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