When a news story started circulating in the Washington Post last week entitled “Parents investigated for neglect after letting kids walk home alone“, it made me (Marie) think about my parenting style. Would I have done the same thing? Who is responsible for making those independent choices for my kids?
I started to do some Google searches and found the Free-Range Kids website. There was some thought provoking articles with a unique perspective. Here is a quote from Lenore Skenazy, who wrote Free-Range Kids – How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry:
Any risk is seen as too much risk. But if you try to prevent every possible danger or difficulty in your child’s everyday life, that child never gets a chance to grow up. We parents have to realize that the greatest risk of all just might be trying to raise a child who never encounters choice or independence.”If you are not a “helicopter parent” are you a “free-range parent”? Or do you fall somewhere in between? We believe that camp is all about giving children choices and independence in a safe environment. Maybe we can be part of their “free-range”. Thank you for allowing your children to grow each summer with us.