Last month, a Chicago suburban mother sent her 8 year old out to walk the dog around the block, only to have a neighbor call the police who arrived at the mother’s doorstep. Ironically, the police response is what actually what traumatized the young girl.
The story made national news and highlighted the concerning trend that children are over-programmed and over-protected, as well as how ludicrous it is for a neighbor to call the police on an 8 year old walking a dog by herself.
In an article about this incident, author Lenore Skenazy writes “When normal parenting can be interpreted as neglect or abuse, no family is safe.”
Skenazy has become a leading voice for “free range parenting” in response to the public outcry she received after allowing her 9-year-old to ride the subway alone. “Simply by questioning whether it really makes sense never to let our kids out of our sight … I became, to my shock, the face of a new movement: the Free Range Movement” a movement that challenges the “helicopter parenting” trend so pervasive in our culture today.
This month, Lenore’s blog and book, Free Range Kids, have been added to our Policy Circle book list. Consider using them as topics of conversation at your next circle meeting.
Also, Lenore will be featured at events hosted by The Policy Circle and the Kansas Policy Institute on September 25 and 26 in Kansas City, MO. Tickets are free and available here.
For other featured titles on our Policy Circle Reading List, click here.
It’s a movement!
Recommend a Circle Leader. Especially in Georgia, California, Wisconsin, and Michigan, Kansas and Arizona where circles are sprouting.
Start a Circle in your community. Your community may be your profession or your neighborhood, or both. The Policy Circle is a simple way to practice the language of leaders with the facts and the space to be at ease with weighing in on the impact of policy.
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The Policy Circle is a 501(c)3 that provides a fact-based, nonpartisan framework built to inspire women living in the same community to connect, learn about and discuss economic policies that impact their lives. Women across the nation are taking a leadership role in the public policy dialogue on what human creativity can accomplish in an open economy.