Letting your kids explore their world unsupervised?

My kids are a bit older now but when they were younger I used to get a lot of grief from other parents because I encouraged the kids to play in the neighbourhood school park on their own. Age appropriately, of course. I view it as my responsibility to allow and encourage the kids to explore their neighbourhood as soon as they can do so safely.

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about how paranoid parents are today. The speed that news travels and how news organizations capitalize on sensational stories haven’t helped.

As I have let the kids go out and explore I felt massive feelings of wondering if I was doing the right thing…thinking about how I would toss myself off a bridge if anything ever happened to them as I would feel guilty. It has been quite an inner struggle at times.

Then I read about Free Range Kids. I am happy that someone is taking a broader stand. With rates of child obesity skyrocketing we really need to reverse how cocoon’ish” we are.

How comfortable do you feel in letting your kids explore their surroundings without having you right behind or beside them? How important do you think it is?

An aside: I was at a park with a bunch of parents last year when one of the moms stated that she had told her daughter that if she was ever grabbed then the only thing she could do is pray to Jesus to help her get out of it. My mouth hit the ground and I told her that there were a bunch of things her daughter could do. I then had to suppress the urge to go and give her daughter a safety lesson.