She sounds pretty sane and reasonable to me. So here's a link to her blog. It's where I'll be spending my precious reading time for the next few hours: http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/
Great links. I have the free-range kids bookmarked already. Good info and pragmatic wisdom can be found written on that site.
I'm a combo of both types of mom's. Personally, I think having a free-range kid depends on the kid. I don't care if my kid wanders our cul-de-sac, but he can't go the school playground two blocks away by himself.
There is also a sense of community on my cul-de-sac. I know my neighbors and I've seen them step up to help and or correct a child. *shrug* You don't get that everywhere.
I also think there are various degrees of free-range vs. helicopter supervision depending on location.
I hear comments like "back when I was a kid, it was safer..."
I have a couple thoughts about that. On one hand, I think parents back then had a false sense of security.
On the other, our country didn't have such a large transient population. There was a greater sense of community. Think, a village to raise a child. I don't think that is the case anymore.
We also have more information at our disposal, like the ability to research sex offenders on our 'hood. You also have to take into consideration the meth epidemic, which has crossed ALL social barriers and causes even the sanest folks to turn on their own kids when addicted.
Hmm... this would be a fantastic topic to discuss over coffee as we let our oldest deal with the brat across your street. muhahahahahahahahhahahahahaha
Great links. I have the free-range kids bookmarked already. Good info and pragmatic wisdom can be found written on that site.
ReplyDeleteI'm a combo of both types of mom's. Personally, I think having a free-range kid depends on the kid. I don't care if my kid wanders our cul-de-sac, but he can't go the school playground two blocks away by himself.
There is also a sense of community on my cul-de-sac. I know my neighbors and I've seen them step up to help and or correct a child. *shrug* You don't get that everywhere.
I also think there are various degrees of free-range vs. helicopter supervision depending on location.
I hear comments like "back when I was a kid, it was safer..."
I have a couple thoughts about that. On one hand, I think parents back then had a false sense of security.
On the other, our country didn't have such a large transient population. There was a greater sense of community. Think, a village to raise a child. I don't think that is the case anymore.
We also have more information at our disposal, like the ability to research sex offenders on our 'hood. You also have to take into consideration the meth epidemic, which has crossed ALL social barriers and causes even the sanest folks to turn on their own kids when addicted.
Hmm... this would be a fantastic topic to discuss over coffee as we let our oldest deal with the brat across your street. muhahahahahahahahhahahahahaha
Hugs!