May 22: “take our children to the park…and leave them there day”

Marie

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Lenore Skenazy, the mother who attracted international attention because she let her young son use the subway alone and the author of Free Range Kids, is "officially declaring Saturday, May 22 — the weekend before Memorial Day– the very first, “Take Our Children to the Park… And Leave Them There Day.”

On her blog and in her book she claims that crime rates are down and parents today are over-protective to the detriment of their children's emotional well-being and that we parents need to start letting our children play outside alone and that the risk is worth taking.

"I know there will be shrill voices insisting, “Predators are gonna love this holiday!” but keep a level head."
 
Yes, it is a crying shame we cant let our kids do the same things we used to do. I remember staying out all day with out my mom breathing down my neck. Or walking to the park alone. Going out exploring all day. Our kids are robbed of that and it is so unfair. Times have changed and we have to change with them. Yes, it bothers me we cant let our kids be "free range' like we were but I am aware of the dangers out there for kids today. Maybe I am overprotective to the detriment of my kids well being. I would rather have them here alive with me though.
 
I'm actually all for Free Range Kids, at least to some degree. But announcing that you are leaving your kids at the park on a certain day unattended? 2sisters is right, it's an invitation to pedophiles.
 
Too many kids are probably safer in the park with strangers than at home with the pedophiles they live with.
 
Free Range Kids are a thing of the past. I was a free range kid, my kids were free range kids but that was then. It is a different time. Until the law of the land is to keep violent offenders and pedophiles in prison where they belong, kids must be protected. That is not overprotective. Life is full of risks, but the odds are just too high these days.
That woman sounds like a nut.
 
That is just asking for trouble, IMO.
 
Crime may be down, but I ponder how many registered sex offenders are in close proximity of the park...
 
Hey what the heck, Calif just released how many sex offenders. Sometimes adults need adult supervision. Sounds like one of those people to me who would also stand in a bathtub and blow-dry their hair.

Speaking of parks, if you get a chance National Park week is coming up. Please accompany your child/children and spend time together as a family, have a picnic, see a monument.

Free entrance to all national parks: April 17-25, 2010
Free admission to any national park during National Park week.

http://www.nps.gov/npweek/

Go outside!

The entrance fee will be waived for all 392 units within the NPS - monuments, recreational areas, sea shores, etc.

IMO - There are several reasons besides abduction to accompany your children to parks, mentioning bee stings, snake bite, playground accidents, getting lost, drowning while looking at the duckies or red ants. I also believe true abduction is a crime of opportunity. There's a way it used to be and the way it is now. Have a great time but please play it safe.

Cheers
Pel
 
Free Range Kids are a thing of the past. I was a free range kid, my kids were free range kids but that was then. It is a different time. Until the law of the land is to keep violent offenders and pedophiles in prison where they belong, kids must be protected. That is not overprotective. Life is full of risks, but the odds are just too high these days.
That woman sounds like a nut.

It really hasn't changed all that much. Back "when" there was just as much danger for children as there is now, but "then" there wasn't much publicity, etc. to bring more awareness to the issue.

Public awareness, media coverage... that's what has changed.
 
MOO -- might as well afix a target to 'em. It's a dumb idea to set a date and announce it to the public. :eek:(
 
It really hasn't changed all that much. Back "when" there was just as much danger for children as there is now, but "then" there wasn't much publicity, etc. to bring more awareness to the issue.

Public awareness, media coverage... that's what has changed.
That is true, but I do think it's a combination of both. I was born in 1980, was a young child in the 80's, well you can do the math lol, sorry. We have quite a few cases on WS from that time frame. Then there was Adam Walsh. I guess we are just more educated about it now. I can recall my mom (who was a cautious worrier) leaving us in the car, sometimes running, to go in a store real quick, letting us run in a store alone to get something, or leaving us at the end of the drive taking it for granted that it was the school bus that picked us up. After all, I am just a month younger than Jaycee Dugard.
 
how about 'leave this unfit mother and her lousy writing skills at the park' day
 
she wants to play russian roulette with her own kids lives is bad enough.....now she wants to turn it into a national holiday
 
When I was a kid in the 70s/80s, the only rule in the house was to be back before dark. We would leave after breakfast (I'm thinking weekends and summers) and stay out all day. I suppose we came home for lunch, but I remember being in the park when the sun was setting and realizing it was time to run home.

I'm not that lenient, but I don't hover, either. I hope I'm somewhere in between. I'm strict about some things, like my kids going to other people's houses. But as far as going to the park or roaming the neighborhood to play (although they're getting old for that now), that's fine with me. I'm less worried aobut something happening to them in the neighborhood or park than I am at someone's house.​
 
I am just now at the point where I relax on a bench and don't hover at the park or in the yard. I have just started leaving the kids in the yard for brief periods, like if I am putting away groceries, or fixing lunch, etc. but thats only because we have a dog and the kids are not outside if he is not. He barks at the mail lady who has been our mail lady for 5 years. So if someone came in the yard, I would know.
 
That is true, but I do think it's a combination of both. I was born in 1980, was a young child in the 80's, well you can do the math lol, sorry. We have quite a few cases on WS from that time frame. Then there was Adam Walsh. I guess we are just more educated about it now. I can recall my mom (who was a cautious worrier) leaving us in the car, sometimes running, to go in a store real quick, letting us run in a store alone to get something, or leaving us at the end of the drive taking it for granted that it was the school bus that picked us up. After all, I am just a month younger than Jaycee Dugard.

OMG! I COULD BE YOUR MOM! LOL! All three of my children were born in the 80's: 82, 86 and 89

The 80s are about when the "awareness" started coming into play. Cases started making the news more and parents started realizing they needed to protect their kids more. Public started getting educated and more protective of our young.

I remember my 5 year old son "disappearing" when we moved to a new house/neighborhood. We'd been there maybe a week and I - 9 month preggers with my middle kid - in the streets yelling for him and the neighbors all swarmed out. We called the cops, looked everywhere and one of the neighbors started knocking door to door... and found him in the house of one of our new neighbors watching TV with their kids! They didn't come out, they didn't let us know that he was over there... nothing. Everyone else came out, but not these people. After that, I was very protective of my kids.

Back in the 60s and 70s (my childhood!) and even earlier years, it wasn't "news worthy" much. Mostly, it was "neighborhood" fear - if something happened in your neighborhood, the parents were cautious for awhile... then it all went back to "normal".
 
I swear to you I thought the title of this thread was sarcastic and meant in irony. Wow, just wow.
 

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