According to the society we live in kids shouldn't walk to school by themselves, they shouldn't talk to strangers, and apparently they can't even handle wearing a drawstring anymore until they reach junior high.
I have literally argued with older generations who believe that the world is a much scarier place than it was when they were kids. I adamantly believed this wasn't the case even though I had no facts or statistics at the time to back me up. I truly felt that it was the television news sensationalism of stories related to very rare and horrific events involving children that has started freaking parents out.
I guess that is one of the reasons I love the book Free Range Kids so much. In many ways, it proved me right. I like to be right, but I also like this book for other reasons. I appreciate the author's sense of humor as well as all of the fact and statistic based reasoning found in the book. It made me feel good to know that I am not crazy and that the idea of raising my kids a little more "Free Range" isn't radical and unsafe. I want our kids to have confidence in themselves and their abilities. I don't want to treat them like they will break in half or get abducted by some weirdo if they are out of my sight for five minutes. I don't want my children to be afraid of everything and everyone around them. If you feel the same way, you should definitely read this book. And, if you go through your child's Halloween candy looking for poison and razors...you should probably read this book, too.
-Kira
