The Whole Family Travels

A hot topic in parenting is how much do you let your children do alone in the Big Bad World. Many parents feel that the world has become a more dangerous place in terms of violent crime and yet the statistics show otherwise. One theory is that thanks to the omnipresence of the media in our lives we are simply privy to so much violence taking place in the world, and it seems like an awful lot. Whereas 40 years ago we’d only hear reports of local crimes or very extreme ones that hit the news.

Some parents are trying ignore the media paranoia and allow their children some of the same freedoms they experienced as children. Things like playing in the park with friends, without supervision, or going out for bike rides and coming home (alone) in time for dinner. A WordPress blog called Free Range Kids deals with this subject and has been garnering a lot of press lately. It’s a worthy concept to consider, especially when you think about potential negative outcomes of hovering over our children constantly, such as a lack of independence as they reach adolescence, or a need to escape their parents for some personal space.

Parenting has become an even tougher job lately when there are so many different ways we need to protect our children, including unknown, anonymous dangers lurking on the Internet. But giving children some freedom to grow is still an important part of raising healthy happy kids. What are some of the ways you walk the line between protecting your kids and allowing them room to grow?