How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow
Over at Reason you ll find my story of one Ms. Gordon (no first names she s been harassed enough). Ms. G lives in a leafy Philly suburb, has three sons, 5, 7, and 9, and darned if she doesn t sometimes trust them to play together, or walk a few blocks, or even stand outside WITHOUT [...] The post Kids Outside, Cops Called: FOUR SEPARATE TIMES appeared first on Free-Range Kids .
Just re-discovered this oh-so-wonderful poem by Carrie Shipers of Wisconsin, author of Family Resemblances: Poems (University of New Mexico Press). It was published on the site American Life in Poetry way back when. If you have a favorite poem about childhood or parenthood please leave it (or a link!) in the comments. Mother Talks Back to the [...] The post Mom vs. The Monster Under the Bed: A…
We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all children are created playful, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty to roam, and the pursuit of at least some happiness without constant adult supervision. That to secure these rights adults must step back so kids step up, as [...] The post THE DECLARATION OF CHILDHOOD INDEPENDENCE! appeared first…
On Twitter (forgive me!) I asked if anyone who d been a camper back in the day wished their parents had had photos of them sent home daily, as so many overnight camps do now. The NO! vote was 93%. Small sample, but still Then came this fascinating tweet: Lenore, I speak as an older parent [...] The post 1500 Photos a Day Is Not Enough for Them appeared first on Free-Range Kids .
More than half of all 14-year-olds are NOT ALLOWED OFF THEIR BLOCK (finds an Institute for Family Studies survey of 25,000 Americans)? That is LITERALLY, not figuratively, WACKY! It s like believing that if you eat a KitKat your ears will SPURT BLOOD! A friend just wrote to say that my job is hard because not [...] The post Majority of 14-Year-Olds Not Allowed Off Their BLOCK??? appeared first on…
Bi-partisan bill would stop investigating Free-Range parents Son in Famous Meitivs of Maryland Case Weighs In as Does His Mom How do you get more kids out and about on their own – and assure parents this won’t be mistaken for neglect? That’s a question Let Grow has been addressing since we were founded [...] The post Congress to Consider Letting Kids Be Kids appeared first on Free-Range Kids .
Everyone s watching the Netflix 4-parter Lord of the Flies. So let me repeat what the great Peter Gray says about that story: IT. IS. FICTION. We can t use it as a reason to give kids less freedom because this is what happens. Because it s not. (The REAL story of 6 kids marooned on an island [...] The post The Lord of the Flies Problem appeared first on Free-Range Kids .
The social commentator Matthew Yglesias posted a note about his son s childhood on Twitter yesterday under an amazing (and, to me, infuriating and heartbreaking) graph from the Institute for Family Studies: Wrote Yglesias: My son (age eleven) is definitely allowed to go places in the neighborhood but compared to how I remember myself does [...] The post It s Hard to Get My Kid Outside appeared…
Lenore, did you say you don t CARE about kids and phones? That s what a child psychologist just emailed me. MY RESPONSE: It s NOT that I don t care about phones. It s that this is how kids are growing up (from an article I just read): Last week, my grandson asked permission to walk to the store [...] The post Lenore, Do You Not CARE About Kids and Phones? appeared first on Free-Range Kids .
I was writing up my email Vacation Response for today and tomorrow as I prepare for the Passover seders (the holiday is celebrated two nights in a row) and realized I wanted to share it here. So voila! Hi Friend! Today marks the beginning of Passover, the holiday celebrating freedom from Pharoah and [...] The post Free-Range Passover? appeared first on Free-Range Kids .