What did 2022 do to parents who were just trying their best? It scared, scarred and disheartened them — and once it a while it really cheered them up! Herewith, The 10 Worst Free-Range Stories of 2022 — and one REALLY great one! STRANGER DANGER, PART 1 The Lower Merion school district outside of Philadelphia cancelled all six of its elementary schools’ parades because, “Just the thought of having an entire school population of young children in a field surrounded by adults that we couldn’t possibly screen was worrisome,” said the district’s community relations director. Yes — kids near any…
Author: lskenazy
This remarkable report on the KQED website unpacks the problem that’s hard to ignore: Today’s young people suffering from depression, anxiety, immaturity — and what might be called the life-blahs. Actually, that’s a pretty depressing term. Let’s NOT call it the life-blahs. But it does make sense to look at what cultural forces could be undermining our kids’ confidence and good cheer (besides the past three years of COVID-related sorrow). And that’s what author Holly Korbey does. She makes a compelling case, summed up in her headline, that: Young adults are struggling with their mental health. Is more childhood independence…
What happens when a little kid picks up a honking HUGE stick at preschool on the playground? The adults in charge have to think quick! This one did: Dana Frantz Bentley, a Lesley University professor of early childhood education: If you’d like to see more free play — and trust — at your own child’s school, take a look at the Let Grow Play Club materials you’ll find here. If your school starts a Play Club, kids will get lots of experience solving problems, making things happen and having fun! (And a bruise here and there.)
Welcome to the bottom of the barrel! That’s where we find ourselves in this particular FoxNews’ segment (see below), as the anchor casts about for some reason — even a completely amorphous, garbled reason — to foment what Prof. Harold Hill called “MASS-TERIA!” And yet — he is foiled! As you’ll see, Hadley Heath Manning of the Independent Women’s Forum, deftly defends Free-Range / Let Grow parenting…and all parents. Sunnily she pivots from the hoary, “But couldn’t something bad happen…?” to remind the host that what kids need is someone who loves them and sets some boundaries. No one needs…
Seven-year-old Athena Strand of Paradise, Texas, was abducted near her home and murdered last week. It is horrible to even write those wrenching words. Below is a post I put up after a different tragedy and travesty: the murder of Leiby Kletzky, here in New York City, in 2011. Sadly as well as defiantly, it holds true today: Readers. It is with an actually, physically aching heart that I report to you the death of an 8-year-old Brooklyn boy, Leiby Kletzky, who disappeared from a short, solo walk yesterday and was later found in a dumpster. Here is the story. I…
What a thrill to watch CBS Mornings today and hear Amazon Books’ Sarah Gelman recommending…Free-Range Kids! Here’s the clip (with an ad before it — so it goes). Legitimacy at last! And speaking of last…mine is the last book Gelman recommends, about four minutes into the segment. BUT the other four books sound great, too! And there’s a theme to them — getting parents to relax. That means giving up on perfection AND giving kids more trust and freedom. AMEN!!!
Here you go! This is a Let Grow Play Club at a Title I (high poverty) elemetary school in South Carolina. Note how the kids are having…what’s that thing called again? FUN. No adults shouting, “Be careful!” No adults asking, “Are you okay?” No adults suggesting things like, “Next time, try to make it a little wider. Take turns raking. Wear long pants.” It’s like a time capsule, but it’s going on in real life, right now. And your kids’ school can start a Play Club too. All our materials are here — a letter to the parents, a description…
What works when it comes to making folks think twice about constantly hovering, helping, supervising and scheduling their kids? The message they mostly hear is that constant intervention is good, and anything less is lazy or dangerous. So below, please find my very basic attempt at a little culture-nudging video. Can you please let me know if this is something — more short videos — I should be pursuing? Or is it something you can make, too, to further the cause? Or maybe your kids can? Trying to get ever more traction! – L.
Samantha Boardman is a psychiatrist, professor, mom, author of Everyday Vitality AND an executive board member at Let Grow. We brought her in because of posts like this, snatched from her blog, Positive Prescription (which I highly recommend!): According to a recent paper published in the Journal of Positive Psychology, many parents assume incorrectly that teaching their children that the world is a bad place is best for them. In fact, 92% thought that seeing the world as safe to very safe will not prepare their children to navigate the world. Many parents expressed the belief that their children would benefit by…
A dad whose 6-year-old wanted Nutella for her pancakes on a recent Saturday morning made a deal: I’ll drive you to the grocery if you go in by yourself and buy the stuff. This is about a straightforward an activity as can be and I posted the dad’s brief write-up of it over at Let Grow. In ANY OTHER ERA this would seem about as weird as publishing a post like, “Dad allows child to eat sandwich.” Or, “Child manages to open door, exit house.” BUT BUT BUT… Today we expect SO LITTLE of kids when it comes to real…