I read a few articles today about a columnist in NYC (Lenore Skenazy) who allowed her 4th grader son to take a subway by himself from an Upper Eastside store back to their Manhattan home. She gave him a Metrocard, A Map, $20, some change in quarters, and told him "I'll see you at home." The reasoning behind this was that the son wanted to experience independence, so she allowed him to have this experience (he successfully made it home, btw).
Needless to say, there were groups of people who angrily spoke out against Skenazy's actions. Why would she let a child roam about alone? What if something happened to him? Is she a "bad, irresponsible mother?" Is she some sort of "child abuser?"
As much flack as she caught from some angry parents, Skenazy also received accolades from many others, who praised the fact that she allowed her child to have independence. As a result of all of this attention, Skenazy created a blog called "Free Range Kids", with the motto: "At Free Range Kids, we believe in safe kids. We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school-age children go outside, they need a security detail."
A good question came up in one of the articles...it's something like this: Are parents ridiculously overprotective these days, just spending crazy amounts of time "hovering" over their children...or are they in the right to do this since the world of today is so complicated and chaotic?
My first reaction to this story was, "Why the heck would she let her 9 year old go about alone?" I ran the "What Ifs" in my head, too. I don't think she's a bad mother, but I don't think she made the wisest of decisions. However, I can also see the other side of the story, since I myself have winced at parents who do the hovering thing to the extreme.
I remember growing up not having supervision all of the time. Sometimes I'd walk all by myself to and from the grade school several blocks away. I'd go to a neighbor's home a few houses away. I'd be with my brothers playing games down the block. I'd walk with my cousins to the nearby convenience store. Most of the time, I can say that nothing happened to me. However, there were a few times when something bad that occurred could have been prevented if we had more adult supervision.
Of course, I am talking about the days long gone, so I will bring this into the present. The subject of our modern, dangerous world came up. Is it indeed such a dangerous world that we cannot let our children out the door, or is it just all the hype of the media (the scare tactics) that we are reacting to? Are we depriving our children from the "freedom" we had as kids?
I have yet to experience parenting...so I'm not the best person to sound off on this topic. But I do plan to be a parent someday, and I would hope I'd find a nice balance between hovering and free ranging. I would hope I wouldn't go extreme on one or the other.
References:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/133103/page/1
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23935873/