Are Your Kids Free Range?
Posted on April 27, 2008 - Filed Under Uncategorized |
I´m not talking about treating your kids like chickens, but a new blog that I came across called Free Range Kids. It´s written by a woman who has been labeled “America´s Worst Mom” for letting her 9 year old son ride a New York subway alone and then writing about it.
I find the whole movement towards free range kids very interesting. According to the information online, most cities are actually SAFER than they were when we were kids! That´s hard to believe with all the media coverage, but it´s definitely reassuring.
Would you let your 9 year old on the subway alone? Do you think you´re too protective of your kids or are you criticized for letting them do more than the average child?
I know I´m overprotective. It´s in my blood. 
But I do try hard to let Dorian do things on his own. I watch him anxiously from the window as he runs to the inlaws´ house, something he´s been doing since he could toddle. I used to really worry about him but now I´m more confident. When the builder dug the trenches for the bathroom, I took Dorian outside and showed him the holes and told him not to play near them since he could fall in. And he didn´t.
I still don´t leave tubs of water out. I make sure any pointy or sharp things are put away out of reach. But that doesn´t mean I´m going to hide my kids from the world. Hard as it may be, I feel that my responsibility is to raise them into adults who can function well and who are confident in their abilities.
What are your thoughts on this?
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2 Responses to “Are Your Kids Free Range?”
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I know I’m protective. I can’t believe a mother would let her 9 year old ride the subway alone. There’s no way in… well, there’s no way I’d do it. There are 36 registered sex offenders in my area, and those are the REGISTERED ones. In the little bitty town next to mine, a man was caught in the boys bathroom at the little league baseball fields approaching children. So, no. My boys do not go out of my sight, will not go into a public restroom alone until they are much older, and will not roam free around the city for many more years.
Am/would I be protective… most likely. But there is a difference between some things…
Tubs of water, pointy edges and the like, goes wothout saying, but by the time a child is, say around 9 like in the blog, then I don’t think I would have a problem with them jumping on a train to go to school or whatever… In fact, I do see a lot of kids doing this on the train into work, and they seem to be managing ok… But, where is the line drawn, that I am not so sure of… Whilst 9 seems to be ok, what about 8? Or, is a 6-7yo ok in the company of an older sibling??
Oh well, there is a lot to consider… New post up, our bathroom is FINALLY finished!