Mine are still 10 and under and I am pretty protective, but we go to places and events all the time and they can explore those independently to a pretty good degree at times. For instance if we are in the middle of the beach at OB…they can walk out on the pier or go down the beach the other way for a while. They are not locked in a room with a TV or games. They have an awesome tree fort well away from the house and a BMX track that I will let them improve to their skill level over time. They go to friend’s places, but I won’t let them hitch hike or drop them off downtown and say have a nice day or let them go to a lake with a steep drop off while they are still beginning swimmers, all things I did often as a kid. The idea of dropping them off at a mall,, something that seems pretty popular for suburbanites makes ME barf.
BTW, I am very anti-authority perhaps to a fault, can’t be locked up in a room 9-5 if my life depended on it. Perhaps all this freedom is not such a good life skill builder.
The question always comes up when these topics come up, Imagine what kind of trouble a parent could get into with CPS if something happened to a kid who was as independent as some of us were as kids?
I am strict about what the kid’s eat try to teach them about portions and low frequency of sweets/junk food. They don’t watch cable television,or have video games.
A kid that stays in his room all the time and veges out might be lost. Mine will be so glad to get away from me that they will learn to function in society no matter what it takes.
