Free–Range Kids – How Parents and Teachers Can Let Go and Let Grow

LENORE SKENAZY: After her column "Why I Let My 9-Year-Old Ride the Subway Alone" created a media firestorm, Lenore got labeled "America's Worst Mom." Nice. She turned around and started the Free-Range Kids movement, lecturing around the world and hosting the reality show, World's Worst Mom. Now she's President of Let Grow, the nonprofit promoting childhood independence.

Foreword xi Introduction to the Introduction xv The Actual Introduction Already xvii 1 Know When to Worry 1 Play Dates and Axe Murderers: How to Tell The Difference 2 Turn off the News 11 Go Easy On The Law and Order, Too 3 Avoid Experts 23 Who Knew You Were Doing Everything Wrong? . . . . Them! 4 Boycott Baby Knee Pads 35 And the Rest of the Kiddie Safety-Industrial Complex 5 Don't Think Like a Lawyer 47 Some Risks Are Worth It 6 Ignore the Blamers 57 They Don't Know Your Kid Like You Do 7 Eat Chocolate 69 Give Halloween Back to the Trick-or-Treaters 8 Study History 81 Your Ten-Year-Old Would Have Been Forging Horseshoes (or at Least Delivering Papers) 9 Be Worldly 95 Why Other Countries Are Laughing at Zee Scaredy-Cat Americans 10 Get Braver 107 Quit Trying to Control Everything. It Doesn't Work Anyway. 11 Relax 121 Not Every Little Thing You Do Has That Much Impact On Your Child's Development 12 Fail! 133 Easy! Educational! Fun! 13 Lock Them Out 145 Make Them Play--Or Else! 14 Listen to Your Kids 157 They Don't Want to Be Treated Like Babies (Unless They Are Still Crawling, Etc.) 15 Take the Long View 167 Wasting Time Is Not a Waste Of Time 16 Trust Strangers 179 Even the Folks Who Put the Faces on the Milk Cartons Aren't Too Worried 17 De-Fang Anxiety 191 Independence Is the New Prozac 18 Embrace (Some) Tech 207 We All Scream for iScreens Calling All Educators 223 Conclusion 243 Acknowledgments 249 Sources 251 About the Author 263 Resources and Connecting 265 The Free-Range Kids Card 267 Index 269