I remember loving the library like a second, more-exciting home. The children’s room was fun, but the Junior High Room? Aladdin’s cave! And the adult room? Studio 54! Or so it seemed to 13-ye...
https://www.freerangekids.com/i-let-my-kids-go-to-the-library-without-me/
After hearing a talk by Let Grow Co-Founder Jonathan Haidt at the Grace Church School in Manhattan, Larissa Romans did a bit of a dive into childhood independence. As she wrote me later (we’d n...
https://www.freerangekids.com/jon-haidt-inspired-me-to-let-my-kid-walk-home-from-school-and-then/
Putting Parental Fears in Perspective Kidnapping remains one of the top 3 fears of American parents despite its (thank God!) rarity. One way to fight that outsized fear is to watch the video belo...
In his blockbuster Atlantic piece out today, “The Terrible Costs of a Phone-Based Childhood,” my Let Grow Co-founder Jonathan Haidt says our culture gets it all wrong when it comes to kids:...
https://www.freerangekids.com/jon-haidt-says-dont-just-take-away-kids-phones-give-them-independence/
The University of Michigan survey that came out in the fall had all sorts of shocking stats: The majority of parents of kids ages 9-11 would not let them walk to a friend’s house, or go to the ...
This note about “news junkies” comes from a longtime friend of Free-Range Kids, Donald Christensen. Donald is a draftsman living in Brisbane, Australia, where he thinks about the forces that ...
“Welcome! Play Safe” reads the sign at a Fairfax County Public School playground in Virginia just outside of DC. It goes on to list 21 rules, by my count. Gee, what a normal society we live i...
https://www.freerangekids.com/frolicking-is-forbidden-playground-sign-lists-21-rules/
Amazing the range of opinions regarding this question on Let Grow’s Raising Independent Kids Facebook group. A mom named Michelle asks: Question about leaving kids alone at a hotel. My family l...
https://www.freerangekids.com/ok-for-kids-9-12-to-stay-alone-in-hotel-room-for-an-evening/
The following note was passed along to us by a dad whose kids attend a public school in Texas. It says: Parents we need your help in keeping our children safe at the playground after hours and on...
https://www.freerangekids.com/how-to-make-kids-spend-even-more-time-on-phones/
School’s out on April 8 for many kids in the U.S. and Canada. On that date, a full solar eclipse will be visible from Texas to Ontario, and “There are risks associated with viewing a solar ec...
https://www.freerangekids.com/canada-closing-several-schools-so-kids-can-stay-inside-during-eclipse/