America's worst mom?

[Vercetti Thug]

I just found this article on MSN

Would you let your fourth-grader ride public transportation without an adult? Probably not. Still, when Lenore Skenazy, a columnist for the New York Sun, wrote about letting her son take the subway alone to get back to her Manhattan home from a department store on the Upper East Side, she didn't expect to get hit with a tsunami of criticism from readers.

"Long story short: My son got home, ecstatic with independence," Skenazy wrote on April 4 in the New York Sun. "Long story longer: Half the people I've told this episode to now want to turn me in for child abuse. As if keeping kids under lock and key and helmet and cell phone and nanny and surveillance is the right way to rear kids. It's not. It's debilitating—for us and for them."

Online message boards were soon swarming with people both applauding and condemning Skenazy's decision to let her son go it alone. She wound up defending herself on the cable news networks (accompanied by her son) and on popular blogs like the Huffington Post, where her follow-up piece was ironically headlined "More From America's Worst Mom."

The episode has ignited another one of those debates that divides parents into vocal opposing camps. Are modern parents needlessly overprotective, or is the world a more complicated and dangerous place than it was when previous generations were allowed to roam unsupervised?

From the "she's an irresponsible mother" camp came: "Shame on you for being so cavalier with his safety," in comments on the Huffington Post. And there was this from a mother of four: "How would you have felt if he didn't come home?" But Skenazy got a lot of support, too, with women and men writing in with stories about how they were allowed to run errands all by themselves at seven or eight. She also got heaps of praise for bucking the "helicopter parent" trend: "Kudos to this Mom," one commenter wrote on the Huffington Post. "This is a much-needed reality check."

Last week, buoyed by all the attention, Skenazy started her own blog—Free Range Kids—promoting the idea that modern children need some of the same independence that her generation had. In the good old days nine-year-old baby boomers rode their bikes to school, walked to the store, took buses—and even subways—all by themselves. Her blog, she says, is dedicated to sane parenting. "At Free Range Kids, we believe in safe kids. We believe in helmets, car seats and safety belts. We do NOT believe that every time school-age children go outside, they need a security detail."

[Blur]

What a cioncidence a saw this article today on MSN too, but didn't bother to click on it. I don't see why people are saying shes such an irresponsible mother, its really non of there bussiness. I'm sure she cares a lot about her son and does whats best for him. Sure hes in the fourth grade but thats the way that she parents her kids then let it be. The title is pretty harsh too. Those reporters should get lost. Alright maybe I've been to generous. I would like to know if he rides at night or day. When? Riding at night is a whole different thing than during rush hour when many people are on board.

[Vercetti Thug]

I really dont know what I think. on one hand, what if her son got hurt, on the other, its a good test for independance, and not cuddling up with her kid baking cookies and telling him bedtime stories to make bad dreams go away.

[Mike356]

I say let the kid be free its his choice if he wanted to ride it or stay with his mom thats what parents these days dont do let their kids make decisions

[Connor]

There isn't really anything wrong with letting kids be more independent, as it will help them later in life. It all depends on what the kid is like.

[Angry Gorilla]

Why can't the people complaining just fuck off?

We have enough political correctness as it is, we don't need more!