The Art of Manliness

#300: How to Raise Free Range Kids

Episode Summary

My guest today is Lenore Skenazy, author of "Free Range Kids." Today on the show, Lenore and I discuss how being labeled “America’s Worst Mom” led her to become a leader of a movement to give kids more unsupervised time, the cultural shifts that have happened in the past 30 years that have resulted in overprotective parenting, and why, contrary to popular belief, the chance of your kid getting abducted by a stranger is actually incredibly small. Along the way, Lenore shares some crazy stories of parents getting in trouble with the law simply for letting their children play outside by themselves. We end our conversation with some actionable steps you can take as a parent to raise independent, self-reliant kids and why it’s important for kids to have as much unsupervised play as possible. If you’re a parent or a parent-to-be, you don’t want to miss this hilarious, but informative episode.

Episode Notes

My guest today is Lenore Skenazy, author of "Free Range Kids."
Today on the show, Lenore and I discuss how being labeled “America’s Worst Mom” led her to become a leader of a movement to give kids more unsupervised time, the cultural shifts that have happened in the past 30 years that have resulted in overprotective parenting, and why, contrary to popular belief, the chance of your kid getting abducted by a stranger is actually incredibly small. Along the way, Lenore shares some crazy stories of parents getting in trouble with the law simply for letting their children play outside by themselves.
We end our conversation with some actionable steps you can take as a parent to raise independent, self-reliant kids and why it’s important for kids to have as much unsupervised play as possible.
If you’re a parent or a parent-to-be, you don’t want to miss this hilarious, but informative episode.