Free Range Parenting
Posted by: Pastor Dave Lee | Wednesday December 2, 2009
File under: Perspectives & Pleas
My friend Dan recently lent me his issue of TIME magazine where the cover story was an article entitled, "The Argument Against Over-Parenting." Turning to the page where the article started, I was greeted with a colorful photo of a mother wrapping her child with bubble wrap.
It was an interesting article with what I saw as two major themes: (1) That we have become over-protective of our children even in areas where the world has become safer; and (2) So many American parents have become "so obsessed with [their] kids' success that parenting turned into a form of product development."
The article referenced a woman named Lenore Skenazy who, as a columnist for the New York Sun, let her 9-year old son ride the New York City subway alone as a "ride of passage." She was exoriated by many in the media as "America's worst mom." In fact, if you Google that phrase you see Ms. Skenazy's name everywhere. In response she launched a movement and a blog called "Free Range Kids" that advocates for a more relaxed approach to parenting. On a recent visit to her blog I saw a crazy video about how some kids in a remote Columbian village ride a 1/2-mile zipline on free-hanging pulleys to get to school - the point: let's not fret over our kids walking a couple blocks to their schools.
I have mixed feelings about all of this because the world has become a more dangerous and unpredictable place. But the answer is not to abandon faith in God or to smother our children. You can draw your own conclusions but I think it's an interesting issue to think through. You can read the article for yourself online here.
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