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Ready To Try Some Free-Range Parenting?

By on April 14, 2015

 

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2015/04/12/399141301/ready-to-try-some-free-range-parentingHere’s an interesting article about “hands off” parenting.  I think there are some good tips in here that we as a coach can use, especially in this day and age where the “old school” type of coaching is frowned upon.

For at least 7 waking hours a day, these kids are indoors and sedentary, in front of electronic screens, he said. Among those fighting back are free-range parents who aim to raise active, independent kids. Your kids could be snatched at any time!’ And on a visit to Ikea, a grandmother waved at a cute four-year-old holding her daddy’s hand.

If you want your young children active and independent outdoors, anthropologist Barbara J. King says free-range parenting may be right for you.

In a radio interview with WBUR’s Tom Ashbrook on March 26 , dinosaur paleontologist Scott Sampson, who’s also the author of How to Raise a Wild Child, said that the average child in the U.S. today spends between 4 and 7 minutes outdoors daily — a 90 percent drop from the time spent outside by their parents. For at least 7 waking hours a day, these kids are indoors and sedentary, in front of electronic screens, he said.

If these figures are accurate, they represent a stunning behavioral shift within a single generation.

A mom in an upscale Atlanta suburb won’t let her daughter walk out to the mailbox: ‘There’s just too much that could happen.’ Another mom was actually on the lawn with her kids, reading as they played, when a passerby yelled, ‘Put down that book! Your kids could be snatched at any time!’ And on a visit to Ikea, a grandmother waved at a cute four-year-old holding her daddy’s hand. ‘That lady SMILED at me!’ shrieked the girl. ‘Is she going to kidnap me?’

Negative consequences may accrue to parents even when there is no obvious local risk, however. This happened to a couple in Silver Spring, Md., who allowed their 10-year-old son and 6-year-old daughter to walk a mile home alone from a park; after a two-month investigation, they were charged with “unsubstantiated child neglect.” Read more…

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