On America’s 250th, a Declaration of Childhood Independence

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all children are created playful, that they are endowed with certain inalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty to roam, and the pursuit of at least some happiness without constant adult supervision.That to secure these rights adults must step back so tots step up, as must the government, which means not arresting or investigating parents who let their children leave the house without a security detail.That whenever an institution becomes destructive of these ends — recess-free school days, travel soccer for 6-year-olds, overbearing homeowner associations, playgrounds prohibiting two tots on a slide — it is the right of the people to say, “Enough already” and to alter their habits and rules, and to institute a new norm of childhood, laying the foundation on such principles as autonomy, curiosity, trust and giving everyone — parents, children, strangers — a gosh-darn break.A decent respect for the innate creativity and spunk of child-kind requires that we declare the causes precipitating good riddance to the childhood norms of 2026.When a long train of restrictions and protections creates a childhood where 10-year-olds are treated like 2-year-olds, and moms are arrested for letting their children play outside, it is our duty to provide a new path forward.Let the facts be submitted to a candid world:— The average 14-year-old today is not allowed to leave the block.— The average child plays outside, unsupervised, for four to seven minutes a day.— Parents have been investigated for letting their tots ride their bikes, play outside and get a cookie.— Parents have been arrested for letting their children walk to the store, play at the park and go for a donut.— Whereas the majority of tots once walked to school, today 11 percent do.— Many schools will not allow a child to get off the bus unless an adult is waiting there to walk them home, even four houses down the block.— Today’s 19-year-olds are as sedentary as 60-year-olds.— Thirty-seven percent of American children will experience a Child Protective Services investigation by age 18, and that number rises to 53 percent for African Americans.— Seventy-one percent of children ages 8 to 12 have not used a sharp knife.In every stage of childhood our culture has come to undermine, overprotect, underestimate and over-criminalize.We the undersigned therefore appeal to the Supreme Judge of the World — and, more specifically, to our fellow parents, neighbors, elected officials, educators, friends and frenemies — to solemnly and publicly declare that childhood independence must and shall be restored.That it shall not be unlawful or uncommon to let a child walk boldly forth, maybe even without a tracking device.That it is every child’s God-given, inalienable right to enjoy life and liberty beyond the couch, car seat or console, now and forevermore, starting this Fourth of July, in the year of Our Lord 2026.Signed,Lenore Skenazy, president of Let Grow, author of “Free-Range Kids”Creators.com

On America’s 250th, a Declaration of Childhood Independence

On America’s 250th, a Declaration of Childhood Independence

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