Showing posts with label Free-Range Kids. Show all posts
Worldproof Your Baby
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This really falls in line with my core belief about raising children--we are raising them to be able to leave us and be independent. A smaller version of this idea I have blogged about is:
"Child-Proofing vs. House-Proofing." You can see similar ideas also in "Purposes of Parenting."
As Skenazy says, "Helping kids? Good. Doing everything for kids? Bad" (page xiii). She encourages parents to be "...preparing their kids for the world, instead of sheltering them from it" (page xvii).
The hard question to answer is when and how to do these things. Skenazy allowed her 9 year old son to ride the subway alone in New York City--an action that had people from all over shouting their opinions on whether or not it was okay. I think most people would agree that yes, at some point this person needs to be able to ride a subway alone. What people do not agree on is what age is appropriate. And you know what? I don't think putting a blanket statement age on it is a fair thing in most circumstances. For more on the topic of shielding kids and when to let go, see Fine Balance of Protecting Children.
Through the course in discussions on this book, we will talk about many different scenarios you can face as a parent. I think our real question, most of the time, will be when is this appropriate, not is it appropriate. Some will be an is; most will be a when. And the answer, I think, will vary greatly from person to person. We all live in very different areas of the world, and we all also have very different life experiences that influence what risks we are willing to take. It definitely leads to interesting discussion :)
Book Review: Free-Range Kids
I just finished reading
Free-Range Kids by Lenore Skenazy.
The premise of this book is that as a society, we have become too over-protective over our children and not allowing them to do normal things kids can do.
I would recommend reading this book to all parents. It is one of those books that causes a lot of self-reflection and reevaluation of yourself and how you parent. It really made me think about the rules we have and what we might want to change.
I do not agree with everything in the book. It is a light read and easy to get through, but she tends to be pretty critical (or mocking) of parents who choose to do things differently than she sees as the "common sense" way of approaching things, and I do not like that. I think her points could be made without that aspect. The earlier chapters are thicker with that feeling against other parents, then she backs off as the book progresses, so trudge through that aspect (if it bothers you).
Like I said, it is a book that gets you thinking and is absolutely worth your time to read. I think a book that causes parents to be introspective and more deliberate in their choices is always worth the time it takes to read it. That is what makes us better parents, even if we don't agree with everything we read to get there.
If you would like a feel of Skenazy before you read the book, you can see her website here: http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/.
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