Stop Criminalizing Parenting: Free Range Kids' Lenore Skenazy on Our Irrational Fears over Child Safety

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Stop Criminalizing Parenting: Free Range Kids' Lenore Skenazy on Our Irrational Fears over Child Safety

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"People say, 'Now that I can get arrested any time I let my child play outside or walk to school, I won't do it. And that's the opposite of what Free Range Kids is about," says Lenore Skenazy, proprietor of the blog FreeRangeKids.com. She adds, "Free Range Kids is about getting so many kids outside, that it doesn't seem strange to see a child playing in the park." 

In a conversation with Reason TV's Nick Gillespie, Skenazy debunks the myth that children left unattended in a car for a few minutes are in mortal danger, decries "busybodies" who feel a civic duty to call the police when they see an unaccompanied child, and offers helpful tools for terrified parents on how to let their kids enjoy more freedom to explore the world.

About 12 minutes. 

Produced by Anthony L. Fisher. Camera by Jim Epstein and Fisher, with help from Brett Crudgington.

Music: "Applicant" by The Matt Kurz One (http://www.angelfire.com/crazy/mattkurz/)

Scroll down for downloable versions and subscribe to Reason TV's YouTube Channel for notifications when new material goes live.

Comments

[EDG reppin' LBC]

Lenore Skenazy needs to break through her kind of private idea that kids belong to their parents or kids belong to their families, and recognize that kids belong to their communities.

[briannnnn]

It takes a village!

[trshmnster the terrible]

See, when kids belong to the community, enforcing my parenting standards in you isn't intolerant, it's protecting society!

[JW]

It's really great! Whenever the urge strikes me to spend a few days in the tropics, I just drop my kids with anyone in the community.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

EDG, take note:
http://www.facebook.com/KingTa.....37?fref=nf

40th anniversary of King Taco. $.50 Tacos all day Monday.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

I wouldn't say kids belong to their parents. I would say that there is generally every reason to believe that parents will have greater incentive and familiarity with their kids situation that governments don't such that there should be a strong presumption that matters involving them should be left to the parents.

[Hyperion]

Oh come on, probably 90% of the bullshit laws Congress passes these days is 'for the children', or at least that's the marketing they use to get them passed, and it works.

So if we stop protecting the children, why would anyone want to be a congress critter? How could a poor congress critter walk out a millionaire after a couple terms? Why do you libertarians hate children and our poor congress critters?

[Citizen Nothing]

That kid? You didn't raise it.

[Certified Public Asskicker]

Did I conceive it at least?

[Hyperion]

Well, if you decide to go AWOL, you can pay child support. We'll grant you that right, citizen.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

I believe Leon Trotsky did.

[Jordan]

Nothing nurtures healthy children like a police state.

[juris imprudent]

They are thus raised to know their proper place.

[Almanian!]

"If I had a son, hr'd look like Trayvon."

"Dead? What a fuckin' CREEPER!"

[briannnnn]

I was smoking a blunt with my friend the other day and that asshole totally Trayvoned it! I told him he could just finish it after that...

[Pi Guy]

Wow, dude. WTF?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

He doesn't like black names either.

[Idle Hands]

This is exactly the type of book that a kiddie diddler would say. It's a trap.

[Idle Hands]

*say. write.

[Ted S.]

I thought it was a cookbook, not a trap.

[lucycowleryuf]

my friend's sister makes $83 an hour on the laptop . She has been fired for ten months but last month her payment was $12435 just working on the laptop for a few hours
Find Out More. ?????? http://www.jobsfish.com

[Roger the Shrubber]

Has it really gotten that bad, Lucy?

[pokkelgodboldoie]

my best friend's sister makes $61 every hour on the laptop . She has been unemployed for 10 months but last month her income was $17313 just working on the laptop for a few hours. why not try this out...........

=================== http://www.netjob70.com

[pokkelgodboldoie]

my best friend's sister makes $61 every hour on the laptop . She has been unemployed for 10 months but last month her income was $17313 just working on the laptop for a few hours. why not try this out...........

=================== http://www.netjob70.com

[aelhues]

When did the online job spam come to Reason?

Bad parenting is assumed to be the case in nearly all families, by seemingly most people. Parents, and especially fathers are bashed in many different venues, and pretty constantly. Consequently, the prevailing opinion of those who don't think things through, is that kids need societal intervention to protect them from their crappy parents. I really don't see this trend reversing any time soon.

[John C. Randolph]

The spammers have been here for a couple of years now. Reason should start using Slashcode or some other commenting system that lets us up or downvote the comments. It would get rid of the spammers, and probably Tony, too.

-jcr

[Scarecrow Repair]

So slashcode with a separate vote category for fun bait.

[CatoTheElder]

If modern feminists believe every man to be a rapist, it is only natural that the politically correct opinion be that children are in deep danger whenever the venture beyond the line of sight of their mothers unless they are confined in one of the benevolent institutions of the State.

[ricbee]

And don't leave your kid in the car for 5 minutes-a SWAT team will join you at the ATM.

[Smokert5555]

It's like the lady said, parents are being punished for stuff that didn't happen, but might have, according to the panel of three judges. This judgement (and other similar judgements) means kids have to be totally supervised 24 hrs a day for fear that "something" may happen to them. Which means a mother taking a shower when it's just her and the kid at home could mean arrest. Or replace "shower" with "nap" or "talking on the phone" or a myriad of other "offenses".

[Christophe]

There's no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren't enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What's there in that for anyone? But just pass the kinds of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced nor objectively interpreted - and you create a nation of lawbreakers - and then you cash in on guilt.

Yay!

[Christophe]

That was supposed to be a reply to Smokert5555

[toolkien]

The issue with how kids are raised, and the over reaction by the State, is like so many other behavior based issues - the State has a tendency to go after the easily picked, low hanging fruit to hassle while the truly incorrigible get a free pass, at least until the worst happens.

I got a DWI about 20 years ago. Stupidity on my part, but I ended up getting run through a major bureaucratic wringer - pee tests, classes, etc etc. Meanwhile "professional" drunk drivers would get their 5-6-7 offense and basically would flip off the system and nothing would happen.

Similarly, there are kids living in abject poverty and filth, with government appointed social servants routinely checking in on, and nothing happens. Meanwhile, a parent leaves their child in an air conditioned car for a few minutes, and they are drug off in handcuffs.

The list goes on.

Of course, as a libertarian, whatever the less than optimal state that may exist should only be corrected by interested parties using the least amount of Force, whatever the severity of the situation. But it is frustrating to see fairly harmless behavior get the SWAT treatment, while identifiably dangerous situations seemingly get a more hands off approach, at least until something terrible happens.

[toolkien]

cont.

The bureaucrats and enforcers pretty much know the largely law abiding are easy meat to push around, fine, mandate to etc etc. The petty lawless get waived along because it's too much work and effort. And the deeply lawless are, in all reality, few and far between, and the cynic in me believes the enforcers are in bed with the deeply lawless and share in the bounty, or at least are given a pass because they're an informant.

So, in the end, we "civilians" aren't being protected from the "lawless" and are essentially caught between two sets of thugs. The lawless and the enforcers. Laws and regulations are made touting that the lawless must be brought to heel, compromises or expediencies are made are made for the lawless, and the laws are applied to the lowest possible threat. And the enforcers are essentially turned into pirates, holding your freedom hostage for booty using a serpentine set of rules created for those for whom the laws are rarely applied to.

[AlmightyJB]

I think there is some truth to that. Also, so many of these laws are so arbitrary. Neglect or child endangerment in many of these cases are in the eye of the beholder. Every parent in the neighborhood I grew up in would have been arrested because we were free to roam as we pleased. Hell we would take buses across town to see a movie at 10 and there harrasing people for letting kids play in the local park at that age.

[jmomls]

*I got a DWI about 20 years ago. Stupidity on my part, but I ended up getting run through a major bureaucratic wringer - pee tests, classes, etc etc. Meanwhile "professional" drunk drivers would get their 5-6-7 offense and basically would flip off the system and nothing would happen.*

Wow, there was a whole other justice system set up, just to screw you over. Amazing.

[Mike M.]

Hillary Clinton attending the so-called "Harkin Steak Fry" in Iowa today.

Unofficially, the Steak Fry is the starting gun for the 2016 presidential race in Iowa. Five thousand people have bought tickets to the fundraiser, where Hillary and then Bill Clinton will close out a speaking program featuring Democratic candidates, including Senate hopeful Bruce Braley. More than two hundred reporters have RSVPed. The super PAC "Ready for Hillary" has posted a billboard with Hillary Clinton's picture just outside the airport in Des Moines, and the group is holding an all-day session to organize volunteers, as well as a dinner at the Marriott downtown. Democratic operatives with Iowa ties have also descended on the state, holding events to celebrate Harkin but wondering openly about how a future Hillary Clinton campaign will be structured.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure she's running for president, folks.

[The Late P Brooks]

Bernie Sanders is on Meet the Press.

Holy shit, he sounds like some old style Prairie Populist front man for the Workers Party. THE KKKOCH BROS ARE TEH EEEEEEVUL! Citizens United was the worst decision ever. Redistribution of wealth is what we need, and President Bernie Sanders is the central planner most qualified to determine what is or is not a fair wage, whether you flip burgers, mow lawns, or manage a multibillion dollar industrial conglomerate.

[Idle Hands]

I really don't get how members of a standing political party can disparage the Kochs, a family that has never been involved in any criminal enterprise and has done more charitably than all of congress put together, the way they do on a daily basis without getting laughed out of an interview. Not to mention sued for slander.

[Bo Cara Esq.]

Eh, before the Kochs it was Soros, and before him someone else. When you get involved backing one of the two teams the partisans on the other side are going to go after you.

[Idle Hands]

the difference is the Republican MAJORITY leader wasn't disparaging soros on the senate floor.

[The Late P Brooks]

Also, putting Chuck Todd in front of a big background picture of the White House is a nice, if perhaps unintentionally honest, touch.

"Yeah, we're part of the President's propaganda machine. What about it?"

[AlmightyJB]

Will be interesting to see the conversation about Adrian Peterson disciplining his son with a switch. I don't think that's appropriate especially for 4 year old but a lot of people were raised that way. I know he'll be lynched in the media but outside of the media he'll probably get some sympathy especially from the older crowd. I did spank my children bare handed but my daughter does not spank her child.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

It's hard to justify the bleeding scrotum.

[AlmightyJB]

Didn't here that. I had not seen the actual doctor's report. I had heard he used a switch and had left marks but nothing specific. Yeah, that's pretty indefensible.

[AlmightyJB]

Hear

[Bo Cara Esq.]

No need for parents to spank when they can just take a child's tablet or game console away.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Spanking is way more effective for a number of reasons.

It's just not a good idea to do anymore, because a fair percentage of the population thinks it's child abuse, my wife included.

[AlmightyJB]

That sort of thing never worked on my kid's. My youngest was particullarly obstinant. Still is at 23:)

[AlmightyJB]

The taking stuff away didn't work.

[Dances-with-Trolls]

My response to my parents taking away my toys was to build new toys.

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Are you Amish or something?

[Dances-with-Trolls]

Heh, not quite, I was two counties away.

I just had a great enough variety of interests and imagination that I could mitigate that kind of punishment. If I couldn't replace what they impounded I built or altered something to keep myself entertained until they relented. Homemade bow and arrows, role-playing game crafted from memories and using slips of paper for dice, building a raft, constructing a miniature fort for my GI Joes and Army Men in anticipation of their return, that kind of thing.

[Ted S.]

It didn't work on your kid's what?

[Pl?ya Manhattan.]

Do you have a blog? I can't seem to remember.

[Marshall Gill]

No need for parents to spank when they can just take a child's tablet or game console away.

Yes and no. Computer/video game privileges are my major carrot/stick. My son is bigger than I am so spanking doesn't really work anymore but the 9 year old daughter will still get spanked. There are definitely times when it is appropriate. Of course, children are individuals so what works for some doesn't work for others. Nothing worked on me when I was a child, I am just too stubborn.

I did not know that Peterson's son was only 4. Baring permanent disability, leaving marks on a child really shouldn't be illegal. I have never punished my children so severely but it probably wouldn't be bad if I had.

Discipline is what is lacking in our society. I hesitate before thinking almost any kind is inappropriate. Considering the fact that the child was apparently spanked in the ass region, I find it difficult to call anything like that abusive, short of some permanent disability.

I am sure that the Nanny's of the world will disagree.

[Agile Cyborg]

Spanking is the mark of a parent that hasn't the intelligence or emotional control to discipline without violence.

Grown people don't need to be spanking little kids. Period.

[Redmanfms]

Spanking is the mark of a parent that hasn't the intelligence or emotional control to discipline without violence.

Uh-huh.

[Agile Cyborg]

What the fuck is wrong with you, man?Peterson 'violently assaulted' his child which is way more explanatory than 'inappropriate'. Holy hell.

[AlmightyJB]

So far I've heard more speculation (like what you are doing) than facts. If he indeed did violently assault the child as you are assuming then yes that goes way beyond inappropriate into criminal. The one thing I've learned about the 24 hour news cycle and instant condemnation and opinionating is that we rarely know what ACTUALLY happened for weeks.

[Agile Cyborg]

Speculation? Are you out of your fucking mind? This is what you are being flippant about: http://www.tmz.com/2014/09/12/.....ild-abuse/

[Buckyball magnets]

Your buckyballs has infinite solutions that you can create. A sense of achievement comes with inventing anything of artistry and fascination . With buckyballs you can mold infinite arrangements of shapes that you will love to flaunt, and create plenty of patterns that are unique, and have never even been seen before!