A few weeks ago, I got an email from my 7th grade son’s school. Apparently, a teacher had seen the 13-year-old as he walked around the downtown area near Penn State’s campus and was concerned. Rather than feel supported by a community checking in on him, the whole thing left us with the sense that we were under surveillance.
I’d never given the idea of allowing him to walk in our extremely safe town on his own much thought until the school contacted me, but the email led to some digging after which I discovered that what we experienced was a norm across the country. Turns out, the question of whether or not kids can be out and about on their own has been a significant topic of debate, so much so that Utah recently passed new legislation redefining child neglect. The new law makes Utah the first state in the country to protect “free-range parenting.” Up until the law was passed, a parent could be charged with neglect if their kids were left unattended in public.
I’ve recently written on corporal […]
Meanwhile childhood poverty is the highest among supposedly advanced countries. Life must be commoditized and monetized because you know that what the good lord intended. What’s your brand?
I spent my entire childhood roaming the woods even bicycling 50 miles from my home, just for the fun of it, and to see what the world looks like in those different areas. Growing up this way made me have a sense of freedom that has stuck with me ever since, and that is what I believe is the essence of a democracy in that all humans are equally endowed with a sense of adventure which leads to an attitude that permits me to feel that I can rely upon myself under any circumstance. I will never give up that feeling of freedom until I die, which will be my greatest adventure yet.