Crazy Mom is Awesome!
Friday, November 2, 2012 at 12:44PM Lenore Skenazy, author of Free Range Kids, is a one-woman agit-prop advocate for children’s independence. When she allowed her nine-year-old son to use the NY subway system by himself she was dubbed “Crazy Mom” by the press and she embraced it. By the way, I grew up in the Bronx in the 1960s and 1970s and my parents let me ride the subways when I was about ten; they were much more dangerous then, but my parents didn’t get called names by the press or other people for letting me do so. Times have certainly changed—and for the worse for children’s play and explorations of the world.
Now Skenazy is back with a new twist to make parents think about why it is a good thing to let children play, learn, and explore on their own. The New York Daily News writes about it, too: Crazy Mom Strikes Again!
Skenazy describes about her rationale for doing this on her blog: “Hi Folks: Welcome to the first after-school class that lets kids play outside, together, unsupervised — the greatest developmental boon a parent can give a child!”
Do you think Skenazy is a crazy mom or is she giving children a gift of time and space to self-actualize?
Reader Comments (2)
She's not crazy, but clearly she's not understood by the majority, either. I originally thought "Why not just organize this with a local homeschooling group like most would?" But then, NY Daily News doesn't cover normal homeschooling group get-togethers, nor does that type of activity lead to this much discourse. Good for her!
I grew up unsupervised in the country with my three brothers in Switzerland. I realize that today is different. I followed that link...unsupervised in Central Park...depends on how old the kids are...but asking $350 for the class? What is that all about? Sounds like she is trying to get rich on some grand idea that isn't new at all. Parents have always let their children play unsupervised to some extent. If you live in the suburbs, it's in the backyard, if you live in the country, you have a bigger backyard...or a small forest you call your own that you consider safe for the kids. I wouldn't let my 7 year old run free in the neighborhood, but that's because we are new here and I don't know the neighbors yet. So it depends.