1 of 1- Just Fred
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Free-Range Parenting
As many of you know, a Maryland couple are getting alot of heat about their 'free-range' parenting style. It began when they dropped off their 10 year-old and 6 year-old kids at a park at 4pm and told them to be home around 6pm. The poop hit the fan after that.
Anyway, I'm not here to judge these people one way or another, but I have a simple question for my fellow posters and/or guests: At what age did your parents let you bang around the neighborhood or park without supervision?
I'm sifting through my foggy memory bank, and I can remember this:
We moved to the town of Lititz, PA from Aliquippa, PA when I was 8 (third grade). We lived within the borough about 1.5 miles from the school. There was no school bus service because we lived withing the borough, so my parents let me ride my bike to school and back. In the summertime, I can remember leaving the house after breakfast, maybe meeting friends, having lunch at a friend's house (or coming back home) and playing until dinnertime somewhere in the neighborhood with my buddies.
Anyhow, I'm not sure if my mom or dad gave it much thought, and I certainly didn't. I was wondering how many of you had similar childhood experiences like that, and if any of you thought you would be labeled 'free-range' kids or your parents would have gone through what these people are going through now.
I'm not interested in judging these people, I'm just interested in the freedoms and responsiblities you were given as a child and if you or your parents thought about it at the time.
Last edited by Just Fred (4/16/2015 4:27 pm)
- Goose
- Cogito ergo sum
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
By the age of 12 I had a bicycle and pretty much free ranged to baseball practice, whatever.
But I was always home for dinner. And my folks knew where I was after dark.
The danger in my small northernPA town was not abduction, but kids/cars/and beer/ accidents
We live in a time in which decent and otherwise sensible people are surrendering too easily to the hectoring of morons or extremists.
- tennyson
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
I had pretty much "free range" as they say, but not sure starting at what age. My guess woiuld be about 9-10 years old, BUT that as they say was a different age and time. While I agree you want to give kids as much freedom as possible, I think these parents are overboard. Hopefully they will not live to regret their decision.
"Do not confuse motion and progress, A rocking horse keeps moving but does not make any progress"
- Rongone
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
Growing up in Pittsburgh, PA around the age of 12, I can remember going down to Pirate games at Forbes Field with a group of neighborhood kids. We were all members of the "Knothole Club" which garnered us discounted tickets in the right field stands. We would take a streetcar downtown, transfer out to Oakland, watch the baseball game, get a hotdog and a coke, and return to the neighborhood after the game by the same transport. All without parents and at a cost of around $5.
Times have definitely changed.
- The Man
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
I was allowed at the park, or to play around the neighborhood with friends, at a young age, around 11 or 12 or so. As long as the parents know where their kid(s) are, and are freely available if there is an emergency, or the child just wants to come home, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. I do think it's wrong though if a parent drops their kid off at a park, while they go to work.
Last edited by The Man (4/16/2015 6:36 pm)
- flowergirl
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
Living in Shiloh moving into my early teens my friends and I were out in the fields playing ball or riding our bikes. Our parents had a good idea where we were and what we were doing. But that was many, many years ago and that locality, even today, is not even close to being comparable to today's Mongomerty Co., MD. I know the area well, having lived there for a couple of years and no way would I ever allow any child of any age to walk to or be in any park, mall or other venue without adult supervision. Just recently, the story of the two daughters of radio personality John Lyon and his wife Mary, resurfaced in the news. Their daughters, 11 and 12, I think, were walking alone to a local mall. Both just disappeared, never to be heard from . Detectives are still working on that case. These situations still happen today--it is worth your childrens' lives and the heartbreak?
- Common Sense
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Re: Free-Range Parenting
We were “free range” kids when I grew up. School was probably a bit more than a half a mile one way. We walked it every day. I don’t remember being restricted from going where I wanted too. I remember many times riding bikes with my friends several miles to the TG&Y store to buy baseball cards or get a drink. Especially in the summer we were on the go all the time. Never had a problem.
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