Lately I have come across a few articles that discuss whether or not our children are growing up too fast. The argument is, that because of the internet, children can access information about anything and everything, and they are exposed too and knowledgeable about things that we weren't until much later in life. While I can see how someone could make that argument, I don't buy it. There are a couple of articles, that you can access here and here, that discuss that the opposite might be true, our children may actually be more immature than we were.
My stepson is 17 years old. My husband had his son when he was 17 years old. When I look at stepson, there is no way in heck I could imagine him having a child. And it's not just because he "seems" so young. It's because he is young, naive, and immature. There are a lot of things he has no clue about because he has lived a pretty sheltered life. I just think back to when my husband and I were younger, and how much more responsibility we had. My husband was a latch-key kid (a term you never hear anymore), and I started babysitting when I was 10 years old. My 16 year old cousin doesn't even know how to change a diaper! I think that while kids are exposed to a lot of information, they are not given the real world experience that we gained as children.
I remember when I was young, around 7, I used to routinely walk two blocks to the supermarket to buy whatever ingredient my mom needed but didn't have. Milk, butter, flour, etc. I used to actually go door to door as a girlscout and sell cookies. These things are unheard of now-a-days. Because of the perceived threat of child-abductors, we have forced our children indoors, and now they are growing up without real world skills that prepare them for adulthood. When I drive past the rec center in my neighborhood, instead of being filled with kids playing football or baseball, it looks like a ghost town. Instead of kids playing roller hockey in the street, or riding their bikes, I see parents driving them to school (one block away) or arranging play dates, for 12 year olds!
Every parent has their own way of doing things, and at the end of the day you can only trust your own instinct in these matters. Part of the reason parents feel uncomfortable letting their children play outside is because we have not only forced our children inside, we ourselves have withdrawn ourselves, choosing to correspond with our friends via facebook, twitter, or text, rather than getting to know our nrighbors. Our parents never worried about letting us ride our bikes to our friends house because they knew exactly what route you were taking, and whos house you were passing on the way. If you were late for dinner, they would just call your friends parents, and every other parent in the nieghborhood to track you down.
I believe in being a "free-range parent" but in order to do that I will have to set up a network of parents that are willing to do the same thing. I'd like to be more active in my community, and get to know the people that live around me, as well as the teachers at the school in my neighborhood.
As a future educator, do you think you will be involved in your community? What is your view on free-range parenting?
