Give parents back their rights to let their kids walk free

[Valin]

NY Post:

Lenore Skenazy

July 26, 2015

 

I’m so old that when I was growing up, my stay-at-home mom stayed at home.

 

She didn’t take me to school. She just waved goodbye and off I walked, starting at age 5. When I got to the one suburban street I had to cross, who was there to ensure my safety?

 

A 10-year-old in an orange sash. The crossing guard.

 

No one witnessing this adult-unsupervised scene called 911 because — well, first of all, no one had a cellphone, and second, no one thought it was weird or wrong.

 

(Snip)

 

These parents were not negligent! Obviously, parents in neighborhoods riddled with drive-bys and drug deals are quite justified in keeping their kids close. But parents who want to let their kids play outside but don’t, for fear of someone calling 911, need relief.

 

And it looks like they just may get it.

 

Last week, Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) added an amendment to the Every Child Achieves Act giving parents the right to let their kids walk or bike to school without threat of criminal or civil action.

 

The overall legislation deals with elementary education, which is why Lee framed his provision in terms of getting to and from school. But he believes in Free-Range Kids all around.

 

“Like many parents, I’ve been disturbed by recent stories of parents being prosecuted for giving their children the kind of age-appropriate independence that adults today remember as normal and happy parts of their own childhoods,” he wrote me in an e-mail. “Unsupervised adventure is part of how children learn, and grow, and build the skills and friendships that prepare them for

life, liberty, and pursuit of happiness.”

 

Kids deserve their independence, and so do parents — independence from busybodies and authorities who think they know how to raise our kids better than we do.