Ms. Skenazy is president of Let Grow, a contributing writer at Reason.com, and…
So much growth happens when children have to figure things out for themselves — everything from how to reach a goal, to how to be a friend, to how to deal with frustration, disappointment and some pain.
‘Can a child not ride her bike on the street in this neighborhood anymore?’ one mother asks.
It’s called independence therapy: having children do new things, on their own, without their parents.
The press’s relentless, contextless focus on the worst of the worst is a pox on our sanity.
‘When we treat people as irresponsible,’ one psychology professor contends, ‘they become irresponsible.’
We’ve lost our ability to see children as competent. To regain it, we must put the cart before the horse: Send our children out before we are quite sure they — or we — can handle it. And then see the results.
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