The Happiest Kids in the World by Rina Mae Acosta

Author:Rina Mae Acosta
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Experiment
Published: 2017-03-21T04:00:00+00:00

Rina’s take on free-range parenting

The day we moved into our cottage last summer was the day we welcomed a more free-range parenting approach. The wrap-around garden is encircled by a fence and has a trampoline, a sandbox, trees and bushes to play hide-and-seek in, and plenty of grass to roll around on. We didn’t need to worry about keeping Julius entertained. He was transfixed by all the children passing by our home, some as young as five years old, biking and playing out on the streets without adult supervision. After checking to make sure he would be safe and secure, we left Julius alone in the gated garden to help the removal company to unpack and get our house set up. Bram and I would take turns checking up on him every ten minutes or so. Julius would also go in and out of the house, completely beside himself with his newfound freedom. In the US or the UK, chances are we could have gotten in serious trouble with the law if one of our neighbors had decided to report us. These days, Julius spends a lot of time playing in the garden unsupervised.

Ironically, many of today’s American parents enjoyed a very different childhood themselves, with unlimited freedom to ride their bikes and play in the parks, streets and woods without a parent hovering by. In 2015, President Obama signed off on a federal law that states that children should be allowed to travel to and from school on foot, by bus or by bike alone when their parents have given permission, and that parents should not be exposed to civil or criminal charges for allowing their child to responsibly and safely travel to and from school by a means the parents believe is age-appropriate.4 However, nothing in this law can preempt state or local laws, so each of the individual fifty states is still able to criminalize parents for such behavior. This means that if your nosy neighbor feels your child is too young to be walking to and from school unsupervised, there’s still the chance that they will call the police and Child Protective Services, leading to the possibility of your child being taken away from you, and criminal proceedings being instituted against you, which may lead to your arrest. This would never happen in the Netherlands.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.