Free-Range Kids Michigan Mom Fights School District Rule That Says 7-Year-Old Can't Walk 3 Minutes Home From the Bus Stop The superintendent blamed the “significant liability the district assumes whenever we are transporting students.” Lenore Skenazy | 10.24.2025 4:25 PM
Free-Range Kids Mom Placed on Child Abuse Registry for Letting 13-Year-Old Babysit Pennsylvania’s “Reasonable Independence for Children” bill pushes back on overzealous child neglect laws. Lenore Skenazy | 10.16.2025 2:51 PM
Children Jonathan Haidt: Kids Should Put Down the Phones and Take More Risks "We're too afraid they'll get abducted," says the author of The Anxious Generation. "That sets kids up to be weaker." John Stossel | 9.17.2025 2:40 PM
Florida Florida Boy Walked to Chick-Fil-A Alone. Police Returned Him Home and Didn't Arrest His Parents. Five-year-old William woke early and snuck out for Chick-n-Minis. When cops were called, they spared the boy’s parents, breaking from their all-too-common habit of arresting and charging parents with neglect. Lenore Skenazy | 9.4.2025 12:05 PM
Free-Range Kids Child Protective Services Investigated Her 4 Times Because She Let Her Kids Play Outside A mom who trusted her kids to play outside ended up under repeated investigation. Lenore Skenazy | 8.9.2025 7:00 AM
Free-Range Kids Kids Don't Want Screens—They Want Freedom A new poll finds that children crave real-world play with friends, not more screen time. But we’ve made that nearly impossible. Lenore Skenazy | 8.6.2025 5:00 PM
Vacations Give Your Teen Some Freedom on Their Summer Vacation Most parents say they wouldn’t let their teen wander alone on vacation. But a study shows that declining independence in children could be feeding anxiety and depression. Lenore Skenazy | 7.9.2025 4:25 PM
Free-Range Kids A Car Hit and Killed Their 7-Year-Old Son. Now They're Being Charged for Letting Him Walk to the Store. Letting children walk alone isn’t a crime. But in North Carolina, prosecutors are treating it like one. Lenore Skenazy | 6.4.2025 1:30 PM
Children's Rights Mom Arrested, Facing 5 Years in Prison for Leaving 8- and 10-Year-Old Boys at Home A new Georgia law could protect Alexandra Woodward's parental decision—but it doesn't go into effect until July. Lenore Skenazy | 5.29.2025 10:30 AM
Awards Reason Nominated for 17 Southern California Journalism Awards Nominees include stories on inflation breaking brains, America's first drug war, Afghans the U.S. left behind, Javier Milei, and much more. Billy Binion | 5.14.2025 9:57 AM
Free-Range Kids Airport Human-Trafficking Posters Are Overstating the Risks to Young People "That guy isn't being trafficked by anyone," says sociologist Emily Horowitz. Lenore Skenazy | 5.13.2025 1:50 PM
Free-Range Kids Cops Called on Dad for Playing Catch with 14-Year-Old Son at Park "What is the end game here? Can you write a citation? Can you take me to jail?" Lenore Skenazy | 4.1.2025 5:20 PM
Free-Range Kids Georgia Backs Bill To Reaffirm Independent Kids, Protect Free-Range Parents "Some people think that this is not one of those things that's super important—until you're affected by it," says David DeLugas. Lenore Skenazy | 3.26.2025 3:21 PM
Children Why Do I Keep Finding Padlocked Playgrounds in New York City? We're hemorrhaging our child population for a reason. Liz Wolfe | 3.11.2025 6:30 AM
DOGE What Did You Do Last Week? Plus: German elections, how I almost got arrested this weekend, and more... Liz Wolfe | 2.24.2025 9:30 AM
Free-Range Kids Utah Resolution Would Encourage More Free-Range Parenting "Make childhood great again," says state Sen. Lincoln Fillmore. Lenore Skenazy | 1.27.2025 4:15 PM
Free-Range Kids A Shopping List for a Free-Range Family These products can give kids independence and parents peace of mind. Lenore Skenazy | 1.9.2025 6:00 AM
Free-Range Kids The 10 Most Infuriating Challenges to Free-Range Parenting in 2024 Here's hoping for a free-range 2025! Lenore Skenazy | 1.1.2025 6:30 AM
Free-Range Kids After Wrongful Diagnosis, Texas CPS Took This Baby Away Thankfully, a judge reunited the Boatright family last week. Lenore Skenazy | 11.18.2024 5:45 PM
Free-Range Kids Kids Are More Anxious. What If We Gave Them Independence? Giving kids freedom doesn't just help children, says Lenore Skenazy, founder of the nonprofit Let Grow. It helps parents, too. John Stossel | 11.13.2024 12:00 PM
Free-Range Kids Mom Jailed for Letting 10-Year-Old Walk Alone to Town "I was not panicking as I know the roads and know he is mature enough to walk there without incident," says Brittany Patterson. Lenore Skenazy | 11.11.2024 4:40 PM
Children This Mom Was Arrested and Jailed for Making Her Son Walk a Half-Mile Home Media hysteria and overzealous governments have led many to believe that childhood independence is a form of abuse. John Stossel | 10.23.2024 12:15 PM
Free-Range Kids Kids Should Be Blindfolded and Dropped in the Woods at Night In the Netherlands, kids grow up with more independence than in the United States. Lenore Skenazy | 9.28.2024 6:00 AM
Free-Range Kids British TV Star in Trouble With Child Services After Letting a 15-Year-Old Take a Trip Kirstie Allsopp posted online about her teen son's trip around Europe. Then someone reported her to the government. Lenore Skenazy | 8.26.2024 5:07 PM
Children The Best of Reason: The Fragile Generation Bad policy and paranoid parenting are making kids too safe to succeed. Jonathan Haidt | 8.20.2024 6:21 PM
Free-Range Kids Illinois Falsely Accused These Parents of Abusing Their Baby—and Now Won't Tell Them Who Actually Did It "I never thought that this was even humanly possible," says Sabra Brucker. Lenore Skenazy | 8.20.2024 10:00 AM
Education Texas School Bans All-Black Clothing, Claims It's Associated With 'Mental Health Issues' In a letter sent to parents, school officials say the clothing is more "associated with depression and mental health issues and/or criminality than with happy and healthy kids ready to learn." Emma Camp | 8.9.2024 2:10 PM
Free-Range Kids Cops Threaten To Take Kids From Family Terrorized by Anti-Christian Reddit Group Online trolls weaponized child protective services against J.D. and Britney Lott and their eight children. Lenore Skenazy | 7.23.2024 5:20 PM
Free-Range Kids Cops Called on 8-Year-Old Child for Being Outside "Can a child not ride her bike on the street in this neighborhood anymore?" Lenore Skenazy | 7.10.2024 12:50 PM
Free-Range Kids 'Independence Therapy' Could Revolutionize Treatment for Child Anxiety A pilot study encouraged parents to let their kids go free-range. Lenore Skenazy | 6.21.2024 9:57 AM
Free-Range Kids Government Warns That Playground Equipment Gets Hot Thanks for the heads up, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Lenore Skenazy | 6.17.2024 3:55 PM
Free-Range Kids Elementary Schools Ban Tag, Football, and Fun During Recess "It really feels as though maybe we've lost touch with what's developmentally appropriate," says one Montgomery County mom. Lenore Skenazy | 5.29.2024 2:55 PM
Free-Range Kids How Free-Range Kids Became an Answer on Jeopardy! It took a lot of work to clear this quiz show milestone. Lenore Skenazy | 5.16.2024 4:32 PM
Education Do Schools Really Need To Give Parents Live Updates on Students' Performance? This new school-to-parent pipeline allows parents to micromanage yet another aspect of their kids' lives. Lenore Skenazy | 4.30.2024 6:00 AM
Free-Range Kids Coddled Kids Become Depressed, Anti-Social College Students Young people need independent play in order to become capable adults. Lenore Skenazy | 4.29.2024 5:01 PM
Free-Range Kids Parents Investigated for Letting 7-Year-Old Get a Cookie From the Store "You just can't raise kids like that anymore—it isn't safe," the cops told the Widner family. Diane Redleaf | 4.2.2024 10:30 AM
Parenting Iowa Court Clears Mom of Endangerment Charges After She Let Kids Babysit "No parent can shield a child from all risks," the Iowa Supreme Court ruled. Diane Redleaf | 2.27.2024 5:25 PM
Free-Range Kids Are Parents Too Involved in Their Adult Children's Lives? A recent Pew survey says parents are "very involved in their young adult children's lives," but one might quibble with the definition of "very involved." Lenore Skenazy | 2.16.2024 3:58 PM
Free-Range Kids Toronto Schools Don't Want Children Harmed by the Solar Eclipse More like total eclipse of the fun. Lenore Skenazy | 2.8.2024 4:00 PM
Free-Range Kids Even Canada Thinks the Nanny State Has Gone Too Far on Outlawing Fun A new white paper from the Canadian Pediatric Society recommends more unstructured play time for kids. Lenore Skenazy | 1.29.2024 4:49 PM
Free-Range Kids Toronto Bans Tobogganing on 45 Hills, Puts Up Warning Signs "The fear of liability is ruining modern childhood," says one mom. Lenore Skenazy | 1.16.2024 2:30 PM
Fertility Tim Carney: Why Aren't People Having More Kids? Tim Carney discusses America's "baby bust" on the latest episode of Just Asking Questions. Liz Wolfe | 1.4.2024 1:04 PM
Free-Range Kids 10 Stories That Drove Free-Range Parents Crazy in 2023 And some good news, after all. Lenore Skenazy | 12.28.2023 4:32 PM
Parental Rights Take Care of Maya Verdict Could Help Mom Who Lost Kids After False Diagnosis "People understand that these child abuse pediatricians have unlimited power," says Aaron Rapier, an attorney for the Kruegers. Lenore Skenazy | 12.13.2023 3:45 PM
Family How To Prepare Your College-Bound Kids for a Successful Launch An excursion into Facebook groups for empty nesters shows many of them could use a hobby, a job, or even a straitjacket. J.D. Tuccille | 11.30.2023 6:00 AM
Free-Range Kids Kids at Oklahoma Football Games Must Sit With Their Parents Students in four Oklahoma school districts are also required to wear their school ID on a lanyard and sit on their own team's side. Lenore Skenazy | 11.28.2023 4:01 PM
Free-Range Kids Just 15 Percent of Parents With Preteens Would Let Them Trick-or-Treat Alone A new study shows the pervasiveness of helicopter parenting. Lenore Skenazy | 11.1.2023 5:00 PM
Halloween Teenage Trick-Or-Treaters Are Too Scary For These Cities Across the country, ghoulish cities have outlawed teenage trick-or-treaters. Emma Camp | 10.31.2023 5:20 PM
