Have you heard of Take Our Children To The Park . . . And Leave Them There Day? And does that shock you? I just read about it on the blog Free-Range Kids, one of the best parenting blogs I've stumbled across in a long time.
The idea of Free-Range Kids, also a book by Lenore Skenazy, is that children need freedom and independence to play and explore.
Most of us used to play outside in the park, without our parents, without cell phones, without Purell or bottled water and we survived! Thrived! We cherish the memories! And if you believe the million studies that I’m always publishing here, kids are healthier, happier and better-adjusted if they get to spend some time each day in “free play,” without adults hovering
And Skenazy points to a stats showing that the belief that our world is mor dangerous these days is a myth; our kids are safer now than when we parents were kids.
So she is offering this May 22nd as a day to Take Our Chilldren To The Park . . . And Leave Them There.
Across the country — what the heck, across the world — parents will converge upon local playgrounds and parks with their school-age kids. They will tell them to have fun, make friends and don’t leave with anyone. Then the parents will wave goodbye and the kids will amuse themselves for whatever amount of time they’ve decided with their folks. An hour. A morning. Or maybe even just half an hour, to get used to the whole thing, which, admittedly, sounds radical. But is it?
Check out her blog and decide for yourself!
