There’s a parenting style in the news that has gotten some attention lately. Its called free range parenting. The basic concept is that children should be allowed to roam free while they are unattended by their parents (or other adults). This parenting style was common in the 1970’s and 1980’s. Today, it appears to be causing some controversy.
Parents Alexander and Danielle Meitiv are practicing free range parenting. It is pretty much the opposite of helicopter parenting. A helicopter parent wants to hover over their children and step in at the first signs of a problem. A free range parent, on the other hand, wants to give their children the opportunity to roam around outside unattended by parents. The goal is to raise children that become self sufficient adults.
ABC News had a story about the Meitiv family which has gotten people talking about free range parenting. People have some rather strong opinions about it.
The story starts with the Meitiv’s children, Rafi and Dvora, walking home from a park. Rafi is ten years old and Dvora is six years old. The children were about to cross the street when two police cars pulled up, stopped, and opened the doors. The police gave the children a warning about the dangers of walking alone, put them into the police car, and drove them home.
Alexander Meitiv was worried that the children had done something wrong. He said he would take them. That’s when he learned that the police were not going to let him have his children back.
The Maryland Child Protective Services have accused the Meitiv’s of neglect. They want the parents to commit to a safety plan. If the parents refuse, their children will be placed in foster homes. The Meitiv’s live in Silver Springs, Maryland. The law there states that leaving anyone who is under the age of 18 unsupervised constitutes neglect.
The Meitiv’s, on the other hand, feel that parents are the best ones to judge if their children are ready to be outside on their own. They believe parents are the best judges of whether or not their neighborhood is safe enough to allow for that. It is worth noting that many parents today were raised in the style that is called free range parenting when they were children. It wasn’t called that back then, though.
Other free range parents believe that sending their children to the park for a few hours, without the parents accompanying them, is good for the children. It encourages kids to be independent and to engage in problem solving.
There are critics of the free range parenting style. Their argument is that the world is not safe enough for children to be outside on their own without an adult supervising them. One big worry is that the children will be abducted by a stranger. Others point out that a child could become injured while he or she is unsupervised.
Image by Elizabeth on Flickr.
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