In his blockbuster Atlantic piece out today, “The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood,” my Let Grow Co-founder Jonathan Haidt says our culture gets it all wrong when it comes to kids: We “underprotect” them in the virtual world, and over-protect them in the real one. That’s the worst of both worlds, if we want to raise […]
What Age Would You Let Your Child Go to a Different Aisle at the Store?
The University of Michigan survey that came out in the fall had all sorts of shocking stats: The majority of parents of kids ages 9-11 would not let them walk to a friend’s house, or go to the park with a friend. Only 15% — this was a national sample of 1000 parents across the […]
Which Wolf Do You Feed?
This note about “news junkies” comes from a longtime friend of Free-Range Kids, Donald Christensen. Donald is a draftsman living in Brisbane, Australia, where he thinks about the forces that change cultures and minds. This is one of his websites, as is this. I loved this note he sent. So here it is, slightly edited!! […]
Frolicking is Forbidden! Playground Sign Lists 21 Rules
“Welcome! Play Safe” reads the sign at a Fairfax County Public School playground in Virginia just outside of DC. It goes on to list 21 rules, by my count. Gee, what a normal society we live in! First of all, the sign says, the playground should never be used when it’s frozen. Or wet. There […]
Okay for Kids, 9 & 12, To Stay Alone in Hotel Room for an Evening?
Amazing the range of opinions regarding this question on Let Grow’s Raising Independent Kids Facebook group. A mom named Michelle asks: Question about leaving kids alone at a hotel. My family lives in Texas and my husband and I were invited to his cousins wedding in Colorado, we really want to go, and we want […]
How To Make Kids Spend Even MORE Time on Phones?
The following note was passed along to us by a dad whose kids attend a public school in Texas. It says: Parents we need your help in keeping our children safe at the playground after hours and on the weekends. It is important that children are supervised at all times. We have had reports of […]
Canada Closing Several Schools So Kids Can Stay Inside During Eclipse
School’s out on April 8 for many kids in the U.S. and Canada. On that date, a full solar eclipse will be visible from Texas to Ontario, and “There are risks associated with viewing a solar eclipse,” several Toronto-area school boards announced. Those schools moved their May 17 kid-free professional development day to April 8 […]
Pediatric Society Declares Old-Fashioned, Unsupervised Play is Preventative Medicine
Kids need to climb trees, jump off things, and ride their bikes fast. That’s what the Canadian Paediatric Society is recommending in a white paper published on Thursday: “Healthy Childhood Development Through Outdoor Risky Play.” If that sounds positively radical — and also common sensical — you’re right. Mariana Brussoni, a developmental psychologist at the […]
How the Media Makes Us Scared for Our Kids
Here’s a little excerpt from the interview Katie Kimball, host of the Healthy Parenting Handbook Podcast, did with me. The full podcast is here. Katie Kimball: No matter what the parents do individually with the decisions we’re making, there is a toxic culture that could be holding us back. We talk a lot with food […]
Of Cars and Kids and Playing Outside
Kids running around and playing outside till the streetlights came on. That was Charles Brewer’s childhood — and dream. To make it happen in modern-day America, he developed Glenwood Park in Atlanta, a neighborhood that hewed to the tenets of “New Urbanism.” That mean it had, “town houses, offices, retail, walkable streets, a nice town […]