The book I want to blog about today (and maybe in the future as well) is one I just finished up reading. Free-Range Kids was written by Lenore Skenazy. The subtitle is "Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry." This lady became famous (or infamous) when she decided to let her 9 year old son ride the subway in New York City by himself, and then wrote a column about it in the newspaper she writes for. She was not prepared for the media storm that ensued and spent the next few weeks on one talk show after another, often being introduced as "America's Worst Mom." What many people failed to realize is that her son had ridden the subway with his parents his entire life. He was given explicit directions in how to get home, and what to do if he ran into any trouble...and the most important aspect - he asked if he could. When he arrived home unscathed and un-abducted, he felt a proud sense of independence. Unfortunately, most kids don't get to have this feeling, until they are getting ready to leave for college.
I actually know a lady that I secretly call the "Fear-Lady." She confessed to me that she was still feeling uneasy about letting her 15 year old son ride his bike unsupervised around the block. Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure I was riding all over town before 15 - And I don't think the crime rate in this fair city has skyrocketed in the past 20 years. Anyway, this book really affirms what I've been feeling for awhile now, but often feel guilty admitting. My kids don't need 100% complete supervision every second of the day. It's good for them to go outside and explore, get dirty, make up games, and have to solve problems without grown-up involvement. Of course, there are bad things that can happen to kids, but to think that we can (or should) protect them from everything that could possibly come their way is a little egotistical, don't you think?
One of my favorite chapters is about turning off the news. When we were given the novelty of cable TV in the '80s, a lot of the paranoia began, thanks due in large part to 24 hour news channels. When there was nothing too newsworthy, they still had to fill 24 HOURS! People are obsessed with bad things happening to children and VOILA! this became a huge focus of these channels. Here's the reality, though: The author credited a book called How to Live Dangerously by Warwick Cairns as saying if you WANTED your child to be taken by a stranger, how long would you have to leave your child outside, unsupervised for this to be statistically likely? About seven hundred and fifty thousand years!
Are there terrible things that happen to kids? Absolutely! Can we actually prevent all of these things from happening and are they even totally likely to happen to our children if we aren't hyper vigilant even second of every day? Afraid not. I think God gave us a natural desire and tendency to want to protect our kids. I know there are wacko exceptions out there (and usually we know about it because of cable news), but most parents want what's best for their children. All I'm saying, and the point this book is making, is "Relax."
If you're interested in reading the book, or checking out the author's blog click http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/.
No comments:
Post a Comment