Over the last couple of decades many books and articles have born witness to the changing nature of childhood in contemporary society. Childhood has been hurried, over-programmed, over scheduled, commercialized, sexualized, overprotected, and overly focused on academics. Not surprisingly there is now a contemporary backlash to these trends. It is not clear how extensive these movements are nor how much headway they are making, but there are a couple that I believe to be of particular interest.

The first is a trend that has been documented by Lenore Skenazy who coined the phrase “Free Range Kids.” Her argument is that we are overprotecting our kids and not permitting them to learn the responsibility and independence needed for healthy personality growth. She allows her nine-year-old son to ride the subway on his own, lets him walk to school on his own and allows him similar freedoms when he shows the requisite level of responsibility. She is for bike helmets, knee pads and seat belts, but against not allowing children the freedom to engage in activities on their own. She believes the media have made us overly fearful about our children and deprive them of taking responsibility for themselves when there is no real threat to them.

The blogs on her website are full of examples. One mother writes of allowing her daughter to ride her bike to school. Others write about allowing their children to go to local stores to do some grocery shopping for the family. Many recall similar freedoms from their own childhood, and admit they have to overcome fears instilled by the media. A personal example comes to mind. We live in a very private, very safe, development on Cape Cod. Sometimes when I leave in the morning, even on beautiful sunny days, I see a row of cars waiting at the entrance of the development where the school bus stops. Many of the children are preteens and adolescents who could easily walk from their homes to the bus stop. It would give them exercise, a chance to interact with peers and an opportunity to enjoy the natural beauty of the Cape. Yet they are driven to the bus stop and picked up at the end of the day. They could use a little free range.

The other related trend has been documented by Richard Louv (2008) who argues that children today no longer have the freedom and opportunity to interact with nature. He argues that while contemporary children are very much aware of the threats to our environment, they have had relatively little direct contact with it themselves. Even summer camps have been transformed from opportunities to go on nature walks, swim, boat and sit around camp fires to camps for computers, math and sports training. Recent research suggests that city life can over stress the brain whereas nature, even in the form of being able to look at trees from a window, can enhance brain function. (Lehrer, 2009)

Both of these trends, giving children more responsibility for themselves in safe environments and settings, and having children involved in nature, walks, gardening, trips to the country are still just trends. But the more we learn about the benefits of both more freedom and more nature for children, hopefully the more they will catch on, and become the norm. I guess hope springs eternal.
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Lehrer, Jonah (2009) Nature Essential for the Brain Scientists Report. Boston Globe, January 02.

Louv, Richard (2008) Last Child in the Woods: Saving our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. New York: Algonquin Paperbacks.

Skenazy Lenore, (2009) Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry” New York: Wiley