Tag: snow plow parents

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Reader says parents wanting to give their children everything, forgot to give them the tools of life that mattered

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The bottom line is that parents and teachers are giving so much safe space that there is no thinking on the part of the student as they mature to find their way through difficulties and problems. Parents solve the child’s problems immediately and at every turn which sets them up when they are young adults for FAILURE since they have no clue how to interact to a amicable conclusion. Now the idea is just to call your opposing individual names and label them to intimidate or cry for a safe space. Those parents who have taught their children the skills to interact, accept success in a humble manner and accept failure and the consequences as a growth tool to tackle the problem differently in the future….are the ones that will succeed – you know them when you see them. These are the young adults that companies WANT to hire, the others will stumble and fall many times before figuring it out, but it didn’t have to be that way….their parents wanting to give them everything, forgot to give them the tools of life that mattered. Pity.

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Parents struggle to decide when to set their kids free

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file photo by Boyd Loving

JULY 5, 2015    LAST UPDATED: SUNDAY, JULY 5, 2015, 4:48 PM
BY KARA YORIO
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD

Go outside and play.

Those four words sent generations of elementary school kids out the door on their own each summer. The instruction was typically followed by another four-word directive: Be home before dinner.

These days, you’d be hard-pressed to find neighborhoods full of 6- and 7-year-olds in yards or streets, parks or playgrounds without adult supervision.

One of the most difficult and debated parental decisions is when to let kids be on their own — walk to school or the park with friends, go into town or even stay at the house without an adult. Some adamantly believe there’s only one choice: Never allow children out of sight until middle school and beyond or send an 8-year-old off on a solo bike ride around the neighborhood without a second thought. Most of us, though, sit somewhere in the middle.

We want to instill independence and a sense of adventure, but can’t quite bring ourselves to do it most of the time. The what-ifs overwhelm. Accidents can happen, but it’s the abductions that haunt us, the high-profile missing children cases whose names echo in our minds: Joan D’Alessandro, Etan Patz, Adam Walsh, Polly Klaas, Megan Kanka.

Sure, the abduction of a child by a stranger is statistically rare, but if it’s my daughter does it matter how rare it is? If it’s my kid that disappears on that first day I let her ride her bike around the block to her friend’s house then does it matter how many other kids do it without incident every single day? But why can’t I put those fears aside and give my daughter the same freedom I enjoyed?

https://www.northjersey.com/community-news/2.4225/parents-struggle-to-decide-when-to-set-their-kids-free-1.1368809

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How to Free-Range Your Kids (And Not Get Arrested)

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homealone1990-1

How to Free-Range Your Kids (And Not Get Arrested)

Flood the streets with kids.

Lenore Skenazy|Mar. 9, 2015 3:47 pm

How do we fight back against cops and child protection workers who think parents that let their kids walk outside are negligent?

By flooding the streets with kids.

Busybodies who dial 911 the instant they see an unsupervised child are not going to do that when they pass a park filled with 15 kids. (Well, most aren’t.)  And when masses of moppets take to the sidewalks after school, no one is going to call the cops to report, “Tons of children are walking home!”

But how do we get to that point? Today, only about 13 percent of children walk to school. One report I read found that only 6 percent of kids 9-13 play outside on their own. Part of the problem is that parents are scared of predators. But compounding that problem is the fear of the police. The Meitiv family in Maryland faced that fear firsthand when they were investigated for letting their kids, 10 and 6, walk a mile home alone.

But you know what Danielle Meitiv wrote to me, just after CPS declared her and her husband “responsible for unsubstantiated neglect”?

“Allowing kids to be Free-Range is critical for their development. We will continue to let our kids roam. Thankfully, CPS harassment like this is NOT common. The best way to make sure it doesn’t happen is to make Free-Ranging as common as it was when we were kids.”

If you’re ready to give it a try would like a little push, watch this video. Then, do what I do help this nervous family do: Give your kids one little errand that they feel they are ready for that you haven’t let them do yet.

https://reason.com/blog/2015/03/09/how-to-free-range-your-kids-and-not-get